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Best cities to start a fence installer business

Solo revenue, competition and local demand across 51 metros

Where a solo fence installer business has the most room Our calculation

Raleigh, NC ranks first. One-person site prep & specialty contracting businesses there average $83,585 a year in revenue, with 18.6 site prep & specialty contracting businesses for every 10,000 residents (typical metro: 18.3). We scored all 51 metros where the Census publishes site prep & specialty contracting business counts.

  1. 1
    RaleighNORTH CAROLINA · NC · $83,585 avg solo revenue · 18.6 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fast population growth and lots of new building
    79
  2. 2
    RenoNEVADA · NV · $78,646 avg solo revenue · 11.6 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fewer competitors per resident and fast population growth
    74
  3. 3
    NashvilleTENNESSEE · TN · $96,252 avg solo revenue · 23.6 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on higher solo revenue and fast population growth
    73
  4. 4
    North PortFLORIDA · FL · $101,865 avg solo revenue · 31.7 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on higher solo revenue and fast population growth
    73
  5. 5
    OlympiaWASHINGTON · WA · $78,672 avg solo revenue · 14.2 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fewer competitors per resident and lots of new building
    71
  6. 6
    WinstonNORTH CAROLINA · NC · $78,324 avg solo revenue · 20.3 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fast population growth and lots of new building
    68
  7. 7
    ChattanoogaTENNESSEE · TN · $84,016 avg solo revenue · 22.1 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fast population growth
    67
  8. 8
    Little RockARKANSAS · AR · $82,837 avg solo revenue · 18.2 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Balanced across factors
    66
  9. 9
    TulsaOKLAHOMA · OK · $83,897 avg solo revenue · 24.0 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fast population growth
    65
  10. 10
    Atlantic CityNEW JERSEY · NJ · $88,601 avg solo revenue · 17.9 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on higher solo revenue
    65
  11. 11
    San JoseCALIFORNIA · CA · $80,397 avg solo revenue · 8.5 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fewer competitors per resident
    61
  12. 12
    SpokaneWASHINGTON · WA · $78,210 avg solo revenue · 17.5 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Balanced across factors
    60
  13. 13
    SacramentoCALIFORNIA · CA · $76,526 avg solo revenue · 14.4 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fewer competitors per resident
    60
  14. 14
    ChicoCALIFORNIA · CA · $77,168 avg solo revenue · 16.2 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Balanced across factors
    60
  15. 15
    OxnardCALIFORNIA · CA · $87,733 avg solo revenue · 14.7 site prep & specialty contracting businesses per 10k residents · Strong on fewer competitors per resident
    59

Weights: average solo revenue 3, fewer competitors per resident 3, revenue compared with the local employee wage 2, new home permits 2, population growth 1. Each factor is a percentile among these metros.

Top 5 by each factor Government data

Highest solo revenue

  1. North Port, FL: $101,865
  2. Nashville, TN: $96,252
  3. San Luis Obispo, CA: $95,176
  4. Helena, MT: $89,287
  5. Atlantic City, NJ: $88,601

Least competition

  1. San Jose, CA: 8.5 per 10k residents
  2. Stockton, CA: 9.9 per 10k residents
  3. San Francisco, CA: 10.2 per 10k residents
  4. Seattle, WA: 11.5 per 10k residents
  5. Charleston, WV: 11.5 per 10k residents

Most new building

  1. North Port, FL: 19.8 home permits per 1k
  2. Raleigh, NC: 11.8 home permits per 1k
  3. Lakeland, FL: 10.4 home permits per 1k
  4. Orlando, FL: 10.0 home permits per 1k
  5. Port St. Lucie, FL: 9.3 home permits per 1k

Fastest-growing population

  1. Lakeland, FL: +19.8%
  2. Port St. Lucie, FL: +16.0%
  3. North Port, FL: +13.2%
  4. Raleigh, NC: +12.6%
  5. Orlando, FL: +10.3%

Every metro Government data

Click a column to sort. “Rate to match it” is the hourly rate you'd need to bill to replace the local employee median, at our default assumptions (25% for tax and benefits, $30,000 overhead, 1,400 billable hours). Try your own numbers in the rate calculator.

#MetroScoreSolo revenueBusinesses / 10k peopleEmployee medianRate to match itPermits / 1k
1Raleigh, NC79$83,58518.6$40,570$58/hr11.8
2Reno, NV74$78,64611.6$48,530$65/hr5.2
3Nashville, TN73$96,25223.6$46,820$63/hr9.2
4North Port, FL73$101,86531.7$48,410$65/hr19.8
5Olympia, WA71$78,67214.2$49,350$65/hr5.6
6Winston, NC68$78,32420.3$36,580$54/hr6.8
7Chattanooga, TN67$84,01622.1$39,720$57/hr5.1
8Little Rock, AR66$82,83718.2$45,070$62/hr4.1
9Tulsa, OK65$83,89724.0$38,480$56/hr5.0
10Atlantic City, NJ65$88,60117.9$54,250$70/hr4.3
11San Jose, CA61$80,3978.5$58,250$73/hr2.8
12Spokane, WA60$78,21017.5$49,160$65/hr5.3
13Sacramento, CA60$76,52614.4$48,820$65/hr4.4
14Chico, CA60$77,16816.2$44,800$61/hr4.8
15Oxnard, CA59$87,73314.7$56,310$72/hr1.9
16Ogden, UT58$77,76920.5$47,840$64/hr5.5
17Portland, ME58$81,32727.4$49,750$66/hr6.2
18Stockton, CA57$76,1419.9$58,750$74/hr3.2
19San Luis Obispo, CA57$95,17621.9$48,230$64/hr2.4
20Philadelphia, PA56$83,11415.1$59,530$75/hr2.1
21Seattle, WA56$75,94911.5$55,440$71/hr3.9
22Kansas City, MO55$77,30919.3$44,350$61/hr4.5
23Helena, MT55$89,28736.2$48,170$64/hr2.3
24Hickory, NC54$74,07722.1$36,360$54/hr8.5
25Cincinnati, OH53$78,57518.9$48,530$65/hr3.2
26Sioux Falls, SD53$75,67620.1$51,580$67/hr7.8
27Jackson, TN52$78,17518.7$45,800$62/hr2.6
28Augusta, GA51$70,98920.6$39,230$56/hr6.6
29Orlando, FL48$68,42331.2$37,420$55/hr10.0
30Billings, MT48$79,93627.8$57,380$73/hr5.4
31Fort Wayne, IN47$71,89717.0$46,160$63/hr3.6
32Riverside, CA47$73,13716.1$55,060$71/hr3.4
33Lakeland, FL47$70,82224.0$45,550$62/hr10.4
34Atlanta, GA45$73,09424.8$45,350$62/hr5.4
35Fargo, ND45$61,25815.7$49,410$66/hr5.8
36San Francisco, CA45$76,81810.2$58,640$74/hr1.7
37Los Angeles, CA43$72,68313.3$50,290$66/hr2.1
38Allentown, PA43$78,34418.8$58,610$74/hr2.3
39Dayton, OH43$72,67516.3$47,700$64/hr2.4
40New Haven, CT41$77,38716.3$60,310$75/hr1.8
41St. Louis, MO40$69,89716.2$44,080$61/hr2.2
42Modesto, CA36$67,60312.0$59,600$75/hr2.2
43Providence, RI35$72,14818.3$46,450$63/hr1.7
44Charleston, WV33$60,27211.5$41,600$59/hr0.6
45Detroit, MI32$68,09416.4$48,350$65/hr2.0
46Anchorage, AK30$75,81618.3$64,600$79/hr0.7
47New York, NY30$67,48816.3$51,600$68/hr2.2
48Port St. Lucie, FL29$64,71645.6$57,600$73/hr9.3
49Davenport, IA28$67,22615.4$52,510$68/hr1.6
50Memphis, TN26$65,03221.5$44,610$61/hr2.5
51Bangor, ME22$61,04127.3$44,320$61/hr3.1

How to read this

Revenue is what one-person businesses take in before expenses, not take-home pay. A high figure with lots of competitors per resident usually means a busy but crowded market; a lower figure with few competitors can mean room to grow. Business counts come from the Census Nonemployer Statistics (2024) and County Business Patterns (2023), grouped as “site prep & specialty contracting”, so they include some firms outside the trade itself.

For pay as an employee in any of these cities, see the fence installer salary overview or the best cities for fence installers to work.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024; County Business Patterns 2023; Census Building Permits 2025; Census population estimates; BLS OEWS May 2025. Our data

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