New Mexico Outpaces All Other States with +12.5% Increase in Estimated Sales Potential

Although total U.S. sales through electrical distributors didn’t grow much in recent months, registering a +0.4% gain to $151.2 billion, according to Electrical Marketing sales estimates, plenty of states and select Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) outpaced this rather pedestrian increase (See MSA sales potential on pages 2-3 and state-level sales potential in the chart below). Electrical contractor sales increased a sluggish +0.91% to $87 billion, while industrial sales declined -0.8% to $33.9 billion. This level of growth is well under the industry’s historical annual growth range of +4% to +8%.
On the state level, New Mexico was the clear leader, with a +12.5% increase year-over-year (YOY) to $88.5 billion in total estimated sales potential that was based largely on a corresponding +12.5% increase of $79.2 billion in electrical contractor sales potential.
West Virginia (+6.4%); Idaho (+5.8%); Alaska (+4.9%); Virginia (+4.6%); District of Columbia (+4.5%); and Kentucky (+4.1%) also registered solid gains on a percentage basis, while Texas (+$301.2 million); Ohio ($202.3 million); and North Carolina ($128.9 million) were the leaders on an estimated sales increase basis and were the only states gaining more than $100 million in estimated sales potential, according to EM data.
The Boise City, ID, MSA, led all MSAs with a +7.6% gain to $622.3 million in estimated sales potential, followed by the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC, MSA, with a +7.2% increase to roughly $2.5 billion; the Cincinnati, OH, MSA, with a +5.9% increase to $1.2 billion; the Columbia, SC, MSA with its +5.9% increase to $361.9 million; the Jackson, MS, MSA, with its +5.8% increase to $280.9 million; Oklahoma City, OK, MSA with a +5.5% increase to $601.4 million; and the Akron, OH, MSA, with a +5.1% increase  to $348.9 million.