Pool service scores 91. The work is invisible when done well, demand is set by chemistry and sunlight rather than sentiment, and the customer base in Sun Belt markets renews on a schedule no economy interrupts. It loses points only for visibility: unlike septic or bin cleaning, the trade carries no disgust barrier, so competition shows up, though mostly in the form of undisciplined operators who price badly and churn out.
The database Category
Pool service
The purest subscription in the trades: visit weekly, bill monthly, and the customer never thinks about it unless you stop. One documented operation anchors the category, a father and son running an America's Swimming Pool Company franchise in Frisco, Texas and reporting $851,000 a year in revenue. The industry math underneath is unusually well measured, and it says the same thing every route business in this database says: geography is the margin.
The entries
Why it scores boring
Common questions
How profitable is a pool cleaning business?
Owner-operators on the truck report 35 to 45 percent net, among the best margins in the home-service trades. Once employees do the servicing it settles at 15 to 25 percent, because labor takes 30 to 38 percent of revenue. For comparison, HVAC averages 8 to 10 percent and landscaping 5 to 12.
How many pools do you need to make a living?
At about $150 a pool per month, 100 pools is roughly $180,000 a year in revenue. The counterintuitive part, documented across the industry: moving from 50 to 100 pools can double revenue while owner income drops, because the first full-time technician absorbs most of the gain.
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