Market report · New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
The State of Outbound Sales in New York, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro right now: who the buyers are, which trades have room, what is being built, what a rep costs to hire here. Then a 4-tool kit to work the market this month.
- 37,705business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #1 of our 100 metros
- 164buyer sites per commercial roofing contractor, #1 of 89 markets: the best rank of any trade here
Sites: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; rank among the 100 metros on our market pages. Room: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 sites per contractor in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1, among markets with at least 10 contractors.
Executive summary Read this if nothing else
5 things to know about outbound sales in New York
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 9,973 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in New York-Newark, ahead of retail stores (8,627).
Where the metro leans
Churches and religious organizations: 2.77x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: grocery stores (1.97x) and nonresidential building owners (1.86x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Roofing: #1 of 89 markets
164 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 159 local commercial roofing contractors. The most crowded is commercial HVAC & mechanical, #69 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
New Terminal One at JFK International Airport, 2.6 million sq ft
Under construction; first phase opening 2026, full completion 2030. One of 5 named, sourced projects in this report.
Hiring locally
$124,700 for an in-house SDR's first year (illustrative)
At a $55,000 base salary, once commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and training, turnover and manager time are added, before ramp time.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; project sources as of 2026-09; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Full list at the end.
Chapter 01 The market
Who buys in New York-Newark
37,705 business sites in New York-Newark have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #1 of the 100 metros we publish. Here is what those buyers are and where they sit.
The largest buyer categories
Sites with 20 or more people are the ones worth an SDR's time: big enough to have a facility lead, a service budget and a contract that comes up for renewal. The "vs. U.S. mix" column compares each category's share of local employment with its national share (1.00x is the U.S. average).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All sites | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RestaurantsLargest pool | 9,973 | 52,247 | 1.24x | -794 |
| Retail stores | 8,627 | 70,682 | 1.11x | -1,966 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 4,636 | 47,205 | 1.09x | +362 |
| Wholesale distributors | 3,747 | 30,739 | 0.87x | -926 |
| Manufacturing plants | 2,830 | 12,747 | 0.68x | -134 |
| Grocery stores | 1,882 | 19,524 | 1.97x | -592 |
| Senior living and nursing | 1,712 | 4,408 | 0.85x | +35 |
| Private K-12 schools | 1,222 | 1,928 | 1.50x | -16 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 924 | 8,561 | 0.76x | -195 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 790 | 7,477 | 2.77x | -79 |
New York-Newark leans toward churches and religious organizations (2.77x), grocery stores (1.97x) and nonresidential building owners (1.86x). A trade that already sells to those buyers elsewhere has a deeper pool here than the national numbers suggest, and a case study from one of them travels well on the phone.
It is thinner than the U.S. mix in hospitals (0.42x) and colleges and universities (0.48x). A program built around those buyers runs out of fresh accounts sooner here.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+362), senior living and nursing (+35) and hospitals (+32). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: 22 counties in this report's counts.
New York County, Suffolk County and Kings County hold 35% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| New York CountyStart here | 6,550 | 17% |
| Suffolk County | 3,397 | 9% |
| Kings County | 3,198 | 8% |
| Nassau County | 2,905 | 8% |
| Bergen County, New Jersey | 2,434 | 6% |
| Queens County | 2,385 | 6% |
| Middlesex County, New Jersey | 2,038 | 5% |
| Westchester County | 1,782 | 5% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in New York
Buyer sites per contractor is a rough read on how crowded a trade is: more sites for each local competitor means more doors nobody else is knocking on. Each trade's New York figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial RoofingMost room | #1 of 89 | 164 | 159 | +7 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #2 of 86 | 117 | 231 | -10 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #9 of 94 | 66 | 410 | +5 |
| Commercial Flooring | #7 of 68 | 114 | 180 | -7 |
| Commercial Construction | #32 of 100 | 5.6 | 2,483 | -7 |
| Commercial Electrical | #38 of 100 | 11 | 1,726 | -42 |
| Managed Service Providers | #43 of 100 | 3.0 | 7,844 | +164 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #48 of 100 | 3.7 | 7,741 | -85 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #49 of 100 | 3.8 | 4,704 | -86 |
| Fire Protection | #58 of 96 | 39 | 639 | +9 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #69 of 100 | 8.5 | 1,640 | -37 |
Commercial roofing (#1), commercial painting & coatings (#2) and paving & asphalt (#9) rank best in New York. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Commercial HVAC & mechanical is the most crowded trade here, #69 of 100: 8.5 buyer sites for each of 1,640 local mechanical contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Commercial cleaning & janitorial (-86) and commercial landscaping (-85) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Managed service providers (+164) and fire protection (+9) added them.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover New York yet. We take one client per trade per territory, so ask before you plan around it.
Chapter 03 The projects
What is being built, and who owns the buildings
5 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in New York-Newark. Each one is a reason to call that has nothing to do with your company and everything to do with the buyer's building.
The projects
- 01 · 2.6 million sq ft New Terminal One at JFK International Airport Under construction; first phase opening 2026, full completion 2030 A new international terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, part of the Port Authority's $19 billion JFK redevelopment. The first phase opens in 2026 and later phases run to 2030, so fit-out work continues for years. The operator has already contracted out maintenance of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and fire life safety systems, a sign of the steady service work a terminal this size creates. PR Newswire (The New Terminal One press release), 2025-12-03
- 02 NYU Langone academic medical center in Melville Planned; subject to state and local approvals A new hospital with more than 500 private inpatient rooms and 70 emergency department bays, plus research and medical school space, on a 45-acre site at the Huntington Quadrangle in Melville, Suffolk County. NYU Langone bought the site in May 2026 and expects up to 8,000 union construction jobs over a multiyear build once approvals clear. Contractors on Long Island should plan for hospital mechanical, electrical, and fire protection scopes, plus large site paving and landscaping packages for a 45-acre campus. PR Newswire (NYU Langone Health press release), 2026-06-02
- 03 · $1.1 billion SUNY Downstate hospital modernization and new annex Demolition contract approved; design underway Renovation of SUNY Downstate's hospital in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, including private-room conversions and an emergency department expansion, plus a new annex with an ambulatory surgery center for cardiology and oncology. The state approved the garage demolition contract in February 2026 to clear the annex site. Renovating an occupied hospital means phased HVAC, electrical, and fire protection upgrades, with flooring and painting work in each converted unit. Office of the Governor of New York, 2026-02-17
- 04 · Over 2 million sq ft Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) Kips Bay Deconstruction 2026; construction starts 2027 A life sciences, public health, and education campus for CUNY and city partners in Kips Bay, Manhattan, replacing existing buildings on the site. Demolition runs through 2026 and new construction begins in 2027. Lab and academic space carries heavy mechanical, electrical, and fire protection requirements, which makes this a long pipeline for those trades in Manhattan. Office of the Governor of New York, 2025-12-23
- 05 Woodmont Industrial Partners Rahway redevelopment (349 and 389 New Brunswick Ave.) Under construction; completion Q1 2027 Two Class A warehouse buildings (201,000 and 76,000 square feet of warehouse space) replacing an obsolete 212,000-square-foot facility on a 25-acre site in Rahway, Union County, New Jersey. Ground broke in June 2026 with completion targeted for early 2027. New warehouse shells need roofing, truck court paving, and electrical work during construction, then sprinkler, landscaping, and cleaning contracts once tenants move in. ROI-NJ, 2026-06-26
Projects current as of 2026-09; each source is linked on its card. Values are as reported by the source.
The anchor owners
Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings in New York-Newark. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · New Hyde Park, Nassau County
Northwell Health
Northwell calls itself the largest health system in New York, with 104,000-plus employees, 28 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations.
Hospitals and more than 1,000 care locations across Long Island, the city and Westchester give one owner a deep bench of buildings needing HVAC, life-safety, cleaning and flooring work.
Northwell HealthCampus · New York, New York County
The City University of New York (CUNY)
CUNY says it enrolls 247,000 degree-seeking students at 26 colleges spread across New York City's five boroughs and calls itself the nation's largest urban public university.
Twenty-six college campuses across five boroughs run classroom, lab and dormitory buildings that need cleaning, HVAC, roofing and painting work.
The City University of New YorkMajor employer · New York, New York County
JPMorganChase Tower, 270 Park Avenue
6sqft reports JPMorganChase's 60-story global headquarters at 270 Park Avenue can accommodate 10,000 employees across 2.5 million square feet of workspace.
An all-electric Midtown tower of this size, plus the bank's other Midtown offices, needs janitorial, electrical, mechanical and interior finish work.
6sqftAirport · Newark, Essex County
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
The Port Authority says Newark Liberty served 22.8 million passengers in the first half of 2026, up 3 percent over the first half of 2025.
Terminals, garages, cargo buildings and airfield support facilities need cleaning, HVAC, electrical and pavement work.
American Journal of Transportation (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey release)Logistics hub · Newark and Elizabeth, Essex and Union counties
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority says the port moved 4,427,159 TEUs over the first half of 2026, virtually even with the prior year.
Container terminals and the warehouses and distribution buildings around Port Newark and Elizabeth need paving, roofing, electrical and fire protection work.
American Journal of Transportation (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey release)Industrial park · Bronx, Bronx County
Hunts Point Food Distribution Center
The Bronx Times describes the 329-acre Hunts Point Food Distribution Center as the largest wholesale food hub in the country, with more than 200 wholesalers and distributors across its three markets.
Refrigerated produce, meat and fish market buildings with heavy truck traffic need refrigeration and mechanical service, roofing, paving and sanitation cleaning.
Bronx TimesAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial Electrical | 10 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 9 |
| Fire Protection | 7 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 6 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 5 |
| Commercial Flooring | 5 |
| Commercial Roofing | 4 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 3 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 2 |
| Commercial Construction | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The New York selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the New York-Newark metro's counties, month by month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail and damaging wind reportstotal, 2015 to 2024 | 5 | 45 | 59 | 116 | 159 | 499 | 738 | 344 | 117 | 35 | 76 | 12 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 160 | 322 | 272 | 97 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,052 | 892 | 766 | 423 | 164 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 310 | 600 | 892 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 39 | 42 | 50 | 61 | 71 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 65 | 54 | 44 |
NOAA logged 172 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 2,033 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #24 of 100 markets for hail and #3 for wind. June, July and August carried 72% of the reports. Storm calls are a real door-opener here, and the contractor who is already known before the season gets the inspection.
The metro averages 893 cooling degree days a year (#58 of 97 markets) and 5,155 heating degree days (#38 of 97). Cooling load peaks in July and August; heating in January, February, March, November and December. Peak months are when HVAC calls lead with service and response times; the rest of the year they lead with planned work and budgets.
7 months average a high of 60°F or more (April, May, June, July, August, September and October). That is when exterior painting, paving and landscaping crews are busiest, so in-season calls catch owners while they can see the work that needs doing. The contracts themselves are bid on each property's own dates, so the selling runs all year.
Trades with no weather season
Cleaning, construction, electrical, flooring and fire protection sell on contract end dates, budgets and inspection cycles. Learn each account's date on the first call and come back before it.
Roofing demand spikes after hail and wind events, when owners want an inspection and documentation for their insurer, so be the known contractor before the storm, not one of many calling after it. Planned work follows each owner's budget: inspections feed capital requests, and replacements are approved ahead of installation. Outbound runs every month, keyed to each building's roof age and budget date.
Chapter 05 The numbers
What one meeting takes, trade by trade
What booking a meeting has taken on our own calling floor for the trades we run in New York, next to the records we can prospect here. The sales center figures are national; it does not break them out by city yet.
| Trade | Dials per appointment | Reached proposal | Proposals won | Dials for 10 meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire ProtectionFastest to book | 78 | 21.6% | 13.2% | about 780 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 86 | 32.2% | 7.4% | about 860 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 88 | 18.8% | 12.7% | about 880 |
| Commercial Electrical | 96 | 14.6% | 21.1% | about 960 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 98 | 16.6% | 24.9% | about 980 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 115 | 31.2% | 14.4% | about 1,150 |
| Commercial Flooring | 122 | 30.8% | 9.8% | about 1,220 |
| Commercial Roofing | 140 | 25.9% | 16.1% | about 1,400 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 142 | 23.9% | 21.7% | about 1,420 |
| Managed Service Providers | 162 | 10.0% | 20.5% | about 1,620 |
All of these trades together: 122 dials per appointment
The records behind a New York program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the 6 Abstrakt territories territory.
- 49,623Commercial Roofing
- 49,623Commercial Construction
- 21,414Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 15,682Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Source: Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: estimated decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each program in the territory. Shown for the programs the count covers.
Read it this way
Divide the records by the dials one meeting takes and you see how long a list lasts before it repeats. A thin list means a program has to work every record well, not just call more.
Chapter 06 Build or buy
What an in-house SDR costs in New York
Before you hire a sales development rep in New York, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 91,680 people hold the role in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro, and every one of their employers is competing for the same hires.
| Cost | Year one |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $55,000 |
| Commission and bonus | $15,000 |
| Payroll taxes and benefits (25% of pay) | $17,500 |
| Tools and data ($550 a month) | $6,600 |
| Recruiting and training | $7,000 |
| Turnover (35% a year, rehiring) | $2,450 |
| Manager and QA time (5 hours a week) and admin (4 hours a month) | $21,150 |
| Total, before ramp time | $124,700 |
Headcount: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091). The cost lines are the starting values of our SDR cost calculator: $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $550 a month in tools, $7,000 recruiting and training, 35% yearly turnover, and manager, QA and admin time. Change any of them there.
$124,700
for one in-house SDR's first year at a $55,000 base salary.
That buys one rep. It does not buy the list, the manager's coaching system or cover when the rep leaves.
Part two Apply this
The New York market toolkit
4 working tools built from the chapters above. Tick the boxes as you go (they stay ticked in this browser), copy the scripts into your CRM, or save the whole guide as a PDF and print this part as a worksheet.
Tool 01
Account scorecard
Before an account goes on the call list, check every line that fits. Call the accounts with the most ticks first, and leave the ones with none for later.
Tool 02
Discovery question bank
Ask fewer, better questions. Pick three or four for the call and save the rest for the meeting. Each one comes with the reason it earns its place.
Restaurants: 9,973 sites here
From our fire protection talk track. Staying open and passing inspection. Multi-unit operators are worth more than single locations.
- When was your hood suppression system last inspected, and when is the next one due?Due dates tell you when to call and what to offer.
- Have you had a failed inspection or a citation recently?Failed inspections threaten the ability to stay open and create urgency.
- How many locations do you operate, and does each one use a different vendor?Multi-unit operators are more valuable and often want one vendor across locations.
Retail stores: 8,627 sites here
From our roofing talk track. Leaks in front of customers. Qualify early whether the store or the landlord owns the roof.
- Does the store or the landlord own the roof under your lease?This is the first qualifying question, since many retail roofs are the landlord's responsibility.
- Where have leaks hit, the sales floor, the stockroom or around rooftop units?Leak location shows how much they affect customers and inventory, which drives urgency.
- Is a remodel or refresh scheduled for this location?Remodels are when replacement or major repair gets funded and scheduled.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 4,636 sites here
From our paving talk track. Patient safety and accessibility. Many practices lease, so the landlord or property manager is often the buyer.
- Does the practice lease the building, and if so, who manages the lot?Many practices lease, so this tells you whether the landlord or property manager is the real buyer.
- Have patients mentioned trip hazards, potholes or trouble with accessible parking?Patient safety concerns and accessibility issues drive action quickly at medical offices.
- Are your accessible spaces, ramps and curb cuts in good condition and up to current requirements?Accessibility updates are a common, well-defined scope for paving and concrete work.
Any first meeting
Plain practice that works in every market.
- How are you handling this today, and what would you change about it?The gap between today and what they want is the whole reason to meet.
- What happens if nothing changes this year?Tells you whether there is a cost to waiting, or only curiosity.
- Who else would need to agree before anything moves?Names the people who can stall the deal, while you can still invite them.
- When does the current contract or budget come up for review?Gives you the date to plan around, even when the answer today is no.
- What would make a first meeting worth your time?Lets the buyer set the agenda, which is the agenda they will show up for.
Tool 03
Trigger watchlist
Each of these changes gives a buyer a reason to take the call this month instead of next year. Tick the ones you will track, and set a news alert or CRM field for each so you hear about it first.
Tool 04
30-day action plan
4 weeks, 15 steps, nothing you need to buy. Tick each one off as you finish it; your progress stays in this browser.
Week 1Draw the territory
Week 2Check the rules, then write the talk track
Week 3Make the calls
Week 4Measure and decide
Sources and notes
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023: business sites by category, size and county, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1: contractor establishments, one-year change and concentration (location quotient).
- Projects: named public sources linked on each card, current as of 2026-09.
- Anchor owners: sources linked on each card, checked 2026-10.
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2015 to 2024: hail and damaging wind reports by month across the metro's counties.
- NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages: degree days and average highs by month.
- Abstrakt sales center, Performance Intelligence, national, as of October 2026: dials, appointments, proposals and wins by trade. Method.
- Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: decision-maker records per program in the 6 Abstrakt territories territory.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
