Business Data & Benchmarks · United States

Ornamental and Architectural Metal Shop Revenue Benchmark

An ornamental and architectural metal shop fabricates railings, gates, fences, stairs, balconies, grilles and decorative metal work for homes, buildings and public spaces, usually measuring on site, fabricating in the shop and installing the finished piece. Steel and aluminum prices, welding skill, finishing and the construction cycle shape a fabrication trade that is part craft and part contracting.

NAICS 332323, 2022 editionUnited States data by defaultSources and dates shown

Average Ornamental and Architectural Metal Shop Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every ornamental and architectural metal work manufacturer with paid employees and publishes their combined annual receipts. Dividing that total by the number of shops gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$3,825,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

2,820

Employer establishments in the United States, 2022

as published $10.8 billion

Combined annual gross revenue of employer establishments, 2022

How this is calculated: about $10.8 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 2,820 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $3,825,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Ornamental and Architectural Metal Work Manufacturing, NAICS 332323. The category covers fabricators of ornamental and architectural metal work such as railings, gates, fences, stairs and grilles. Structural steel fabrication, sheet metal work and welding repair are counted in separate categories. Classified separately in group 3323: 332311 Prefabricated Metal Building and Component Manufacturing; 332312 Fabricated Structural Metal Manufacturing; 332313 Plate Work Manufacturing, and 2 further codes. Nothing outside that code is counted on this page.

Source US Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, Summary Statistics (ECNBASIC): ESTAB, RCPTOT and PAYANN by NAICS · Vintage 2022 Economic Census · Calculation BusinessNES · Accessed September 2026

Employer Establishments at Year Five Varies by cohort

Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing, NAICS 3323, the 2018 starting count compared with the count of five-year-old establishments in 2023.

72.2%the year-five count as a share of the starting count

Five-year establishment continuation benchmarkLine chart of industry continuation: 83.6 percent at 1 year, 77.6 percent at 2 years, 76.9 percent at 3 years, 74.2 percent at 4 years, 72.2 percent at 5 years. 597 establishments first reported paid employment in 2018; BusinessNES calculation from Census BDS.100%75%50%25%0%2014-2018 cohort range: 72.2 to 92.4 percentStart: 100 percent, the starting count1 year: 83.6 percent of the starting count2 years: 77.6 percent of the starting count3 years: 76.9 percent of the starting count4 years: 74.2 percent of the starting count5 years: 72.2 percent of the starting count83.677.676.974.272.2Start1 year2 years3 years4 years5 years597 establishments first reported paid employment in 2018; BusinessNES calculation from Census BDS.
Five years on, this industry group counted about 72 establishments aged five for every 100 that first reported paid employment in 2018. Census compares counts by age rather than following the same businesses, so read it as a broad continuation indicator for the industry group, not as a tracked survival rate.

Across the 2014 to 2018 cohorts, five-year results ranged from 72.2 to 92.4 percent. This benchmark covers Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing, NAICS 3323, as a whole, and this category accounts for 2,820 of the 14,826 employer establishments in it. A count by age is not a survival rate, because the figures compare two headcounts rather than follow one set of businesses.

Payroll as a Share of Revenue Official data

Payroll divided by receipts, both as published for the same year.

MeasureValue
Annual payroll share of receipts, United States≈23%

Payroll share of receipts, Ornamental and Architectural Metal Work Manufacturing, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 23.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a modest share because steel, aluminum, hardware and finishing carry a large part of each job while welders, fabricators and installers supply the rest.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes metal, consumables, powder coating or galvanizing and the vehicles and equipment used to install heavy pieces, which together carry much of what a shop spends.

Business Scale and Ownership Structure Official data

How large the average establishment is, and whether the population is independent operators or multi-site companies.

MeasureValue
Paid employees per employer establishment15.3
Employer establishments per firm1.02

Scale and ownership, Ornamental and Architectural Metal Work Manufacturing, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 15.3 people, and the industry averaged 1.0 employer establishments per firm, which confirms that multi-establishment ownership exists in the published population without showing how establishments are distributed across firms. As an illustration, that headcount could be a fabrication floor of welders and a small installation crew.

These are arithmetic industry averages. They state the size of the average establishment and show that multi-establishment ownership exists. They do not show the distribution of business sizes and they do not measure market concentration.

Explore More on BusinessNES

Neighbouring benchmark pages built from the same verified data, plus BusinessNES guides on the same subject.

Data Source Notice

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures above are from the 2022 Economic Census reference year, released by the Census Bureau in 2024 and 2025; markets have moved since.

Questions Worth Asking BusinessNES analysis

Ornamental and Architectural Metal Shop: what site measuring, finishing and installation do to the average.

Before you rely on this benchmark

  • Residential or commercial work? Railings and gates for homeowners come one job at a time through referrals and designers, while stairs and railings for commercial buildings come through contractors on schedules and specifications. The customer mix decides pricing, paperwork and cash flow.
  • How much of the job is installation? Measuring, delivering and installing heavy metal work on site takes crews, vehicles and sometimes cranes, and a site problem can consume a job's margin. Installation is a large part of the work and a large part of the risk.
  • What does finishing cost? Powder coating, galvanizing and painting are often sent to outside vendors, adding cost and lead time to every piece. The finishing route shapes both price and schedule and sits outside a revenue figure.
  • What does metal cost this year? Steel and aluminum prices can move between a railing's quote and its fabrication, and the difference comes out of the job.
  • Which codes apply? Railings, stairs and guards must meet building codes that vary by jurisdiction, and inspections can require rework. Code compliance is part of the craft and a cost the benchmark does not show.
  • Where does the work come from? Architects, designers, contractors and homeowners send work on different terms, and a shop's reputation for craft decides whether it wins the pieces that pay well. The referral network is a business asset invisible in the average.

Sources and Methodology

Revenue, establishment counts, payroll, employment and firm counts on this page come from the 2022 Economic Census, Summary Statistics, published by the US Census Bureau. Averages and shares are BusinessNES calculations from those published totals, and each one names the two figures it divides.

The Census counts employer establishments, meaning each fabrication shop with paid staff. Structural steel fabrication, sheet metal work and welding repair are counted in separate categories, and a welder working alone is not counted here.