Every year since 2008, the NAHB has conducted a member census in order to better understand the composition and characteristics of the people who belong to its organization.  In 2015, 68 percent of NAHB’s members were associate members—those indirectly involved in home building.  The remaining 32 percent were builder members—those directly involved in home building.  Last month we gave readers an in-depth look at NAHB’s builder members, and this month we are going to focus on associate members.

Of the 82,070 associate members, 40 percent are primarily subcontractor/specialty trade contractors, 13 percent have a professional specialty, 12 percent are retail dealerships or distributorships, 10 percent perform financial services, 5 percent are wholesale dealerships or distributorships, and 19 percent have some other type of primary activity (Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1. Share of Associate Members by Primary Business Activity – 2015 (Percent of Respondents)

In 2015, associate members had a median[1] of 10 employees on payroll, one more than the median employee count recorded in 2014 and 2013. Seven percent of associate members had 1 employee, 17 percent 2 to 4 employees, 22 percent had 5 to 9, 35 percent had 10 to 49, 7 percent had 50 to 99 employees, and 11 percent had 100 or more paid employees.  One percent had no payroll at all.

The median revenue of NAHB associate members reached its highest point yet since the launch of the NAHB Census. In 2015, median revenue was approximately $2.5 million, compared to $2 million in 2014, and $1.8 million in 2013.

In 2015, the median age of NAHB associate members was 55, the highest since 2008. NAHB associate members have been NAHB members for a median of 10 years and half of associate members have at least a college degree.

For more details about NAHB associate members and a profile of each type of member, please visit housingeconomics.com or click here for the full article.

[1] This article will use median values, as averages can be inflated by large companies. Medians are largely unaffected by these outliers because it calculates the middle most value, not taking into account how high the highest values are.  An increase in a median’s value indicates an overall shift of all the associate members, not a change in a few large associate members.