Meet the County All-Star Team Trending to Double Up on 2022 U.S. National Growth

Analyzing county employment data updated twice annually by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) can help electrical marketers pinpoint growth areas in larger metropolitan markets.

Distributors and independent reps can use contractor and industrial employment data to benchmark their performance in local markets with the two end-user segments that on average account for 75% of all electrical sales. Manufacturers can use the data to evaluate their sales penetration through reps and distributors at the county level.

The one downside of the BLS data is that it takes a while for the government to collect and publish it. The most recent county data comes from 2Q 2022, and it wasn’t released until early December. The chart on page 2 lists the 50 U.S. counties with the largest estimated electrical sales potential. Electrical revenue estimates for more than 1,000 additional counties are available by clicking here.

Through 2Q 2022, Pima County in the Tucson, AZ, MSA (+25.5%) and Brazoria County in the Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, MSA (+25.3%) were tracking for some eye-popping gains in EM’s total electrical potential estimates developed with Electrical Wholesaling’s sales-per-employee multipliers in the 2023 Market Planning Guide. Three other counties enjoying impressive estimated revenue increases were Lee County in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL, MSA, with a +10.2% gain, and Fresno County in the Fresno, CA, MSA and Collin County in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX , MSA, which both had annual gains of more than +9%. As a point of comparison, EM’s estimate for growth in the total U.S. market is +3.4%.

Analysis of local market data always drives home the reality that the U.S. electrical market is quite consolidated. For example, the 50 counties in the chart on page 2 have a total estimated sales volume through 2Q 2022 of $42.8 billion — 30% of all U.S. estimated electrical sales. Accounting for a big chunk of this market dominance are the 11 markets that individually account for more than $1 billion in total estimated electrical sales — 13% of the national sales. Three counties have estimated sales potential of more than $2 billion — Los Angeles County; Harris County in the Houston metro; and Maricopa County in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, MSA.

Other counties in the Top 10 through 2Q 2022 are Dallas County, TX; the Chicago metro’s Cook County, IL; San Diego County; the Seattle metro’s King County; Santa Clara County in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, MSA and Riverside County in Southern California.

Click here to download all of EM's County-Level Electrical Sales Estimates