5.3.1.3Vertical

Landscape Architecture

Landscape architects designing outdoor spaces, parks, campuses, and site environments.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Architecture & Design Services (5.3.1), the segment that Landscape Architecture sits within. They are not figures for Landscape Architecture on its own.

Market size
~$49B
Growth
~5.1%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~21,294 firms
Firms by employee count

92.2% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 19,643 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe1,651 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
1,36182%
100–499
22814%
500+
624%

A practice business, not a construction one: over nine firms in ten are under twenty people and revenue per firm is the lowest in the sector. Fee income tracks the building cycle with a lead of a year or more, which makes architecture an early indicator for everything else on this page, and a fragile standalone acquisition when the cycle turns.

NAICS 541310. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Design fees (hourly, fixed, or percentage-of-construction)

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$2,280,738
Revenue per employee
$241,447
Employees per firm
8.6
Recurring revenue
Low

project-based, with repeat clients

EBITDA margin
Talent-leverage-driven professional economics
Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 36% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 62 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Knowledge- and talent-driven professional design.
  • Global practices plus a vast boutique base.
  • Sustainability and adaptive reuse current themes.

NAICS 541310. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandColoradoMassachusettsDistrict of ColumbiaHawaii

Design practices cluster where institutional and federal work is commissioned rather than where building happens. The District of Columbia is nearly three times more concentrated than the country as a whole, with Colorado and Massachusetts on university and civic work.

District of ColumbiaHawaiiColoradoMassachusetts

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 541310. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Large architecture & A&E strategics
  • Multidisciplinary design consolidators
  • PE-backed platforms

What’s driving deals

  • Consolidation of boutique practices.
  • Non-residential and renovation demand.
  • Sustainability and specialized-design expertise.

Find Landscape Architecture acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Landscape Architecture (5.3.1.3) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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