Estimated Electrical Sales Potential: 2Q 2026 Update
Total estimated sales through electrical sales appear to be about even with last year through 2Q 2026, according to EM's latest metro- and state-level sales estimates.
Estimated U.S. electrical sales through distributors increased +0.2% over 2Q 2025 to $154.7, according to EM's calculations. However, some states are doing much better than the national average (see chart on page 4). Louisiana is leading the pack with a +5% increase to roughly $2.5 billion in estimated sales, followed by Idaho (+3.7%); Nevada (+3.6%); Minnesota (+3.1%); and Missouri (+2.7%).
It's interesting to note that Electrical Marketing estimates that the 10 states with the largest sales volume account for roughly 51% of all products sold through electrical distributors. Those states are California, Texas, Florida New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia.
That concentration in sales is also evident in the 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the largest estimated sales volume (see chart on pages 3-4). At $102.7 million in estimated 2Q 2026 sales, they account for a whopping 66% of total distributor sales. The Top 10 markets grab an impressive 24.6% of total estimated sales through distributors. The major cities in those MSAs are New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago Houston, Phoenix, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Miami and Philadelphia.
The MSAs with the largest estimated YOY percent sales increases through 2Q 2026 are Baton Rouge, LA (+11.6%); St. Louis, MO (+7.2%); Charleston-North Charleston, SC (+5.6%); Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA (+5.4%); and San Jose, CA (+5.2%).
Click on the link below to download updated sales estimates at the metro, state and national level
About the Author
Jim Lucy
Editor-in-Chief
Over the past 40-plus years, hundreds of Jim’s articles have been published in Electrical Wholesaling and Electrical Marketing newsletter on topics such as the impact of new competitors on the electrical market’s channels of distribution, energy-efficient lighting and renewables, and local market economics. In addition to his published work, Jim regularly gives presentations on these topics to C-suite executives, industry groups and investment analysts.
He launched a new subscription-based data product for Electrical Marketing that offers electrical sales potential estimates and related market data for more than 300 metropolitan areas, and in 1999 he published his first book, “The Electrical Marketer’s Survival Guide” for electrical industry executives looking for an overview of key market trends.
While managing Electrical Wholesaling’s editorial operations, Jim and the publication’s staff won several Jesse H. Neal awards for editorial excellence, the highest honor in the business press, and numerous national and regional awards from the American Society of Business Press Editors. He has a master’s degree in Communications and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, N.J. (now Rowan University).