By Marcelle Dibrell

In this first installment of three survey issues, we present the 2022 results on billing – specifically, how do you charge, and how much do you charge for your services.

This issue on billing is the result of our 35th annual survey. We present the results of nationwide service technician feedback form that asks professionals a variety of questions about their businesses. The data presented is the result of a survey made available to thousands of service professionals across the United States.

The information presented here is the result of survey participation from 29 states.

Responses came from service firms both large and small.

Because there are regional trends in how pool service professionals conduct their businesses, the data is broken down by geographic area, which might enable business owners to compare their own practices to their immediate peers.

Although it is not a purely scientific survey, we believe that our results present a representative picture of the state of the industry in 2022.

Reader participation this year was sufficient to enable us to choose those pricing categories that were supported by adequate data.

In some cases, light participation does not allow us to provide detailed breakdowns for each level of service.

Nonetheless, we have acquired enough data to provide some information for every area of the country.

Responses to our survey came in from 29 states. As we have come to expect, responses were heaviest from the areas with the highest number of pools. The top states in order of participation were California, Florida, Texas and Arizona.

For statistical purposes, we divided the country into seven geographic regions, based on their location and the number of responses we received.

The following is the way we broke it down: Northern California — From the Oregon Border south to Bakersfield. Northern California represents 10 percent of the responses we received. We also included Oregon in this region.

Southern California — From the Mexican Border north to Bakersfield. Southern California represents 31 percent of the responses we received.

Southwest — Arizona; Colorado; Nevada; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Texas; and Utah. The Southwest represented 16 percent of the responses we received this year.

Florida —The Service Industry is large enough in this state for it to qualify as a separate region. Florida represents 8 percent of the responses received.

Southeast — Alabama; Arkansas; Georgia; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Mississippi; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee; Virginia; and West Virginia. The Southeast represents 15 percent of the responses we received this year.

Northeast — Connecticut; Delaware; Maine; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; and Vermont. The Northeast represents 8 percent of the total number of responses that we received this year.

Midwest — Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; North Dakota; Ohio; South Dakota; Wisconsin; and Wyoming. The Midwest represents 12 percent of the responses we received this year.

The average is actually the median

Whenever possible, we use the median figure for determining averages. So, the “average” price for the various levels of service represents actual prices that someone is charging. Half of the reported pricing is higher than the median, and half is lower. When responses from a region were considered insufficient to give us an accurate reading, we dropped that region from our pricing survey. And whenever possible, we provide “highs” and “lows” for each level of service, to give you an idea of the ranges of pricing that we were dealing with.

When considering dollar amounts, we rounded up or down to the nearest whole dollar. We thank all of those who took part in this year’s survey who made it possible for the industry to get an idea of today’s regional trends.

In our next installment, we will take a look at labor fees that are charged by service professionals. These include not only hourly labor fees, but also the amounts that are charged for equipment repairs, seasonal jobs, and other specialty tasks.

Look for it in the June 15 edition of Service Industry News.