Meet this year’s Class of the PSN and Hayward Top 50 Builders.
Marking the program’s 23rd year, these elite swimming pool/spa contractors exemplify excellence in these unusual times. They come with impressive stats: They generated $1.76 billion in total revenue in 2024, with $1.35 billion coming from residential construction. Of that, $1.2 billion came from new residential construction. They built 10,327 pools last year, charging an average of $118,046 for their projects.
Behind the big numbers stands a diverse group of well-rounded builders, from a private-equity-backed consolidator building more than 1,700 pools in 2024, to an operation that produced 17 pool projects last year. To secure positions on the Top 50 Builders list, these companies submitted information about their performance in 2024, as well as their business practices. They were judged on the five pillars of the Top 50: residential revenue, staff management and training, industry involvement, web presence, and community involvement.
Each year the competition becomes more intense, in terms of both quantity and quality of applicants. This year was no exception.
Reflecting an Era
While this group shows consistent excellence, it still operates in uncertain times. Generally an optimistic bunch, even these builders hold a wide range of attitudes toward the current climate.
In a survey of this year’s Top 50 (found on page 40), some reported declines in volume and, in some cases, revenue. A final question asked for any miscellaneous comments participants wanted to make, after answering a series of multiple-choice questions. One builder didn’t mince words: “Nothing is easy right now.”
But while they acknowledge the challenges ahead, they also see opportunity in some of the very realities that present those challenges. In an environment where builders must work harder for every sale, some of these companies feel well-positioned to benefit, by outperforming and distinguishing themselves from weaker and less-qualified competitors, investing in more extensive marketing campaigns to build their brands, and expanding their geographic reach.
“I am excited about 2025 and 2026,” one builder said in the survey. “This is the time to grow market share.”
In addition to the list of Top 50 Builders and survey results, we’ve provided five-year trend data on a select group among the Top 50 (page 36), along with some standouts from the Top 50, including the nine companies that joined the list for the first time.
