Sign Manufacturing Company Revenue Benchmark

Average Sign Manufacturing Company Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every sign manufacturer with paid employees, from a small vinyl and banner shop to a maker of large illuminated signs, and publishes their combined annual receipts. Dividing that total by the number of manufacturers gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$2,484,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $14.5 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 5,830 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $2,484,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Sign Manufacturing, NAICS 339950. The category covers manufacturers of signs and displays, from illuminated and electric signs to printed and cut signage, including shops that also install what they make. Sign painting and lettering services are counted elsewhere. Classified separately in group 3399: 339910 Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing; 339920 Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing; 339930 Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing, and 7 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 Industry group

Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing, NAICS 3399, the 2018 starting count compared with the count of five-year-old establishments in 2023.

Across the 2014 to 2018 cohorts, five-year results ranged from 38.1 to 46.4 percent. This benchmark covers Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing, NAICS 3399, as a whole, and this category accounts for 5,830 of the 16,290 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.

Payroll share of receipts, Sign Manufacturing, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 28.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a modest share for a fabrication trade because aluminum, acrylic, vinyl, lighting components and installation equipment take a large part of every sign alongside the labor.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes materials, subcontracted installation, bucket trucks and permit fees, which together carry most of the cost of a sign project.

Business Scale and Ownership Structure Official data

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

Scale and ownership, Sign Manufacturing, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 12.6 people, and the industry counted 1.0 employer establishments per firm. A sign company of that size runs a design office, a fabrication shop and an installation crew, and the establishments per firm figure shows a trade of mostly independent single-location shops, some operating under franchise brands.

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.

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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

Sign Manufacturing Company: what materials, permits and installation do to a sign shop's revenue.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• Vinyl shop or electrical sign fabricator? A shop cutting vinyl and printing banners and a fabricator building illuminated channel letters and pylon signs share this category with very different equipment, tickets and licensing. The average blends both ends of the trade.
• Does the company install? Installation brings bucket trucks, cranes, electricians and liability, along with the revenue and control that come from finishing the job. Shops that subcontract installation report different revenue and payroll from those that do it themselves.
• Which permits apply? Sign codes, size limits, illumination rules and permit fees come mostly from cities and counties and vary from place to place, and landlord approvals add another layer. Navigating them is part of the service and a source of delay that a revenue figure cannot show.
• How much of the price is materials? Aluminum, acrylic, LEDs and printed vinyl move with commodity and supplier prices, and a large sign carries a lot of material through the invoice. The material share decides how much of a sign company's revenue is its own work.
• Who are the customers? New store openings, rebrands and construction projects drive demand, so a sign company rises and falls with retail and commercial building activity in its region. A franchise rollout can fill a year and its end can empty it.
• What does the shop's equipment cost? Wide-format printers, routers, laminators, welders and lifting equipment represent capital that must be maintained and replaced as technology moves. Equipment per shop is a fixed commitment invisible in this benchmark.