Roofing Contractor and BNP Market Research again reached out to roofing professionals across the country to capture their perspectives on the residential and commercial markets in 2016, and gauge their prospects for the coming year. Here’s a closer look at just who responded to the annual RC State of the Industry survey, sponsored by GAF. 

Gender

• The overwhelming majority of survey respondents in both the residential (84 percent) and commercial sectors (87 percent) were men.
• Sixteen percent of this year’s female respondents said they were residential contractors.
• Commercial roofing contractors comprised of roughly 13 percent of all female respondents.

Age

• The mean age of the survey respondent was 52, and the largest age group represented among roofing contractor respondents were those between ages 50-59.
• Thirty-five percent of them were commercial contractors and 31 percent were residential.
• Seven percent of survey respondents were 70 years old or older.

Rank and Performance

• More than 60 percent of survey respondents were in the corporate or executive management positions.
• Roughly 20 percent were in general management in both the residential and commercial sectors.
• The majority of respondents (30 percent residential, 38 percent commercial) were with companies that grossed between $2 million and $7.5 million in annual sales. 

By Region

• Of the contractors in the Midwest, 31 percent identified as commercial and 27 percent said they’re commercial contractors.
• The difference was slimmer in the West, where 20 percent of contractors identified as commercial and 18 percent were commercial.
• In the Northeast, 15 percent of respondents were residential contractors and 13 percent were commercial.
• In the South, 39 percent of survey respondents were in residential roofing, and 36 percent identified as commercial.