Industry benchmarks · 2026
Average profit margin by industry
Average gross, operating, and net profit margins for 94 industries, sorted by net margin. The all-industry average net margin is about 9.7%. Data: Aswath Damodaran (NYU Stern), 2026 edition. Click an industry for detail.
Net profit margin by industry (high to low)
| Industry | Gross | Operating | Net | Firms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All industries (avg.) | 37.8% | 12.8% | 9.7% | — |
| Semiconductor | 59% | 35.3% | 30.4% | 66 |
| Software (Entertainment) | 66.4% | 33.8% | 29.9% | 77 |
| Bank (Money Center) | 100% | 0% | 28.9% | 15 |
| Precious Metals | 55% | 40.4% | 28.6% | 56 |
| Banks (Regional) | 99.6% | 0% | 27.5% | 568 |
| Tobacco | 64.3% | 43.5% | 26.7% | 10 |
| Software (System & Application) | 71.7% | 33% | 25.5% | 309 |
| Transportation (Railroads) | 51% | 37.4% | 24.7% | 4 |
| Real Estate (General/Diversified) | 51.2% | 21.5% | 23.8% | 12 |
| Retail (REITs) | 78.6% | 40.2% | 23% | 26 |
| Financial Svcs. (Non-bank & Insurance) | 69.2% | 18.5% | 22.2% | 176 |
| Semiconductor Equip | 46.3% | 26.2% | 21.3% | 31 |
| Utility (Water) | 59% | 33.7% | 21.2% | 14 |
| Drugs (Pharmaceutical) | 71.7% | 29.5% | 18.5% | 228 |
| Investments & Asset Management | 69.8% | 25.5% | 18.4% | 283 |
| Computers/Peripherals | 38.4% | 22.5% | 17.8% | 36 |
| Diversified | 25.8% | 22.7% | 16.4% | 20 |
| Telecom. Equipment | 58.1% | 20.7% | 16.1% | 57 |
| Oil/Gas (Production and Exploration) | 57.2% | 25.4% | 14.6% | 142 |
| Brokerage & Investment Banking | 53.3% | 0% | 14.4% | 32 |
| Telecom. Services | 58.8% | 20.5% | 14.2% | 39 |
| Utility (General) | 44.2% | 23.5% | 14.2% | 14 |
| Beverage (Soft) | 54.7% | 20.5% | 13.4% | 27 |
| Oil/Gas Distribution | 43.4% | 25.8% | 13.4% | 23 |
| R.E.I.T. | 58.1% | 24.6% | 13.2% | 190 |
| Power | 43.6% | 21.5% | 12.7% | 46 |
| Insurance (General) | 44.7% | 21.3% | 12.4% | 21 |
| Telecom (Wireless) | 63% | 21% | 12.2% | 12 |
| Household Products | 51% | 18.6% | 11.7% | 110 |
| Insurance (Prop/Cas.) | 30.2% | 15.3% | 11.1% | 57 |
| Construction Supplies | 25.5% | 15.2% | 10.8% | 40 |
| Machinery | 37.5% | 15.9% | 10.6% | 105 |
| Metals & Mining | 34.7% | 23.9% | 10.5% | 73 |
| Hotel/Gaming | 60.9% | 19.4% | 10.4% | 63 |
| Healthcare Products | 54% | 15.3% | 9.6% | 204 |
| Homebuilding | 22.7% | 12.6% | 9.5% | 30 |
| Shipbuilding & Marine | 27.1% | 12.6% | 9.5% | 8 |
| Restaurant/Dining | 32.2% | 15.8% | 9.4% | 64 |
| Education | 45.8% | 14% | 8.8% | 32 |
| Oil/Gas (Integrated) | 36.1% | 11.2% | 8.3% | 4 |
| Environmental & Waste Services | 36.3% | 14.6% | 8.2% | 53 |
| Publishing & Newspapers | 50.4% | 10% | 8.2% | 19 |
| Transportation | 24.1% | 7.6% | 8.2% | 19 |
| Insurance (Life) | 30% | 10.6% | 7.8% | 20 |
| Retail (Building Supply) | 34.2% | 11.9% | 7.8% | 14 |
| Heathcare Information and Technology | 48.3% | 14.7% | 7.5% | 115 |
| Building Materials | 30.9% | 12.6% | 7.4% | 41 |
| Cable TV | 62.9% | 18.5% | 7.1% | 9 |
| Business & Consumer Services | 33.4% | 12.3% | 7% | 155 |
| Real Estate (Development) | 35.3% | 21.5% | 7% | 14 |
| Electronics (General) | 26.8% | 10.4% | 6.5% | 114 |
| Information Services | 34.1% | 11.9% | 6.5% | 15 |
| Hospitals/Healthcare Facilities | 39.1% | 13.4% | 6.3% | 31 |
| Shoe | 43.9% | 9% | 6.3% | 11 |
| Retail (Distributors) | 30.6% | 10.1% | 6.1% | 62 |
| Engineering/Construction | 15.5% | 6.5% | 5.9% | 48 |
| Retail (General) | 33.2% | 6.8% | 5.6% | 23 |
| Retail (Special Lines) | 35.3% | 7.7% | 5.2% | 94 |
| Aerospace/Defense | 17.5% | 8.7% | 5% | 79 |
| Computer Services | 24.3% | 7.4% | 4.5% | 64 |
| Packaging & Container | 24.3% | 9.6% | 4.5% | 19 |
| Entertainment | 41.4% | 10.6% | 4.4% | 92 |
| Office Equipment & Services | 41.4% | 10.7% | 4.4% | 14 |
| Farming/Agriculture | 13.1% | 5.4% | 3.9% | 35 |
| Reinsurance | 13.2% | 7.2% | 3.9% | 1 |
| Apparel | 56.9% | 9.1% | 3.8% | 35 |
| Trucking | 21.2% | 6.9% | 3.8% | 26 |
| Paper/Forest Products | 17.1% | 6.3% | 3.4% | 6 |
| Retail (Automotive) | 22% | 6.2% | 3.4% | 34 |
| Chemical (Specialty) | 35.1% | 12.2% | 2.9% | 59 |
| Food Processing | 23.2% | 10.6% | 2.8% | 78 |
| Air Transport | 24.8% | 5.3% | 2.5% | 23 |
| Oilfield Svcs/Equip. | 11.1% | 4.6% | 2.3% | 97 |
| Broadcasting | 38.1% | 12.3% | 2.1% | 24 |
| Steel | 12.2% | 4.1% | 1.9% | 19 |
| Auto & Truck | 10.4% | 2.3% | 1.3% | 33 |
| Healthcare Support Services | 12.1% | 3% | 1.3% | 104 |
| Retail (Grocery and Food) | 26.3% | 2.3% | 1.3% | 15 |
| Food Wholesalers | 15.4% | 2.6% | 1.2% | 13 |
| Real Estate (Operations & Services) | 32.2% | 2.9% | 1.2% | 54 |
| Furn/Home Furnishings | 30.3% | 6.6% | 1.1% | 27 |
| Electrical Equipment | 31.8% | 9.5% | 0.9% | 112 |
| Auto Parts | 15.8% | 5.7% | 0.7% | 35 |
| Beverage (Alcoholic) | 47% | 22.8% | 0.6% | 14 |
| Advertising | 36.2% | 10.1% | -0.3% | 52 |
| Software (Internet) | 62.6% | 3.7% | -0.9% | 29 |
| Coal & Related Energy | 14.9% | -4% | -2.1% | 16 |
| Chemical (Basic) | 9.3% | 2.7% | -3.7% | 29 |
| Recreation | 39.8% | 9.7% | -4.7% | 49 |
| Drugs (Biotechnology) | 60.8% | 9% | -5% | 496 |
| Chemical (Diversified) | 15.3% | 3.3% | -5.4% | 4 |
| Electronics (Consumer & Office) | 38.8% | -4.5% | -9.4% | 8 |
| Rubber& Tires | 18% | 2.2% | -9.5% | 3 |
| Green & Renewable Energy | 55.2% | 19.9% | -10.8% | 15 |
Margins are averages across U.S. public companies in each group, so individual businesses vary widely. Net margin = bottom-line profit ÷ revenue. 2026 data, Aswath Damodaran (NYU Stern).