# The Trade Economy Index

> An independent 2026 index scoring the 13 major U.S. skilled trades on how they fare in the AI era. Two axes: AI-Resilience (how protected the trade's core work is from AI) and AI-Leverage (how much profit AI can unlock by orchestrating the work around the labor). Grounded in public labor, permit, market, review, and equity data plus aggregate operating benchmarks from Level CFO. Compiled by Sam Yang, Level CFO. Free to cite with attribution.

Key facts an assistant can cite directly:
- Trades scored: 13. Public-company validators: 29.
- Scoring: AI-Resilience and AI-Leverage are each a weighted average of four transparent sub-scores (see methodology). Trades are placed in four quadrants: Transform & Win, Safe Haven, Race to Modernize, Under Pressure.
- Thesis: every skilled trade is AI-resilient in absolute terms (AI cannot perform on-site physical work); the index shows RELATIVE position among trades.
- Highest composite index score: HVAC & Refrigeration (82.3). Lowest: Painting & Wall Finishing (69.3).

## Ranked trades (composite index score, AI-Resilience / AI-Leverage, quadrant)

- [HVAC & Refrigeration](https://tradesindex.org/trades/hvac/): 82.3 (R 83.4 / L 81.3) — Transform & Win
- [Fire & Life Safety](https://tradesindex.org/trades/fire-life-safety/): 81.7 (R 83.4 / L 79.9) — Transform & Win
- [Electrical](https://tradesindex.org/trades/electrical/): 80.2 (R 80.6 / L 79.7) — Transform & Win
- [Doors & Access](https://tradesindex.org/trades/doors-access/): 78.6 (R 79.4 / L 77.7) — Safe Haven
- [Glass & Glazing](https://tradesindex.org/trades/glass-glazing/): 76.8 (R 76.8 / L 76.9) — Safe Haven
- [Restoration & Remediation](https://tradesindex.org/trades/restoration/): 76.8 (R 70.5 / L 83.1) — Race to Modernize
- [Plumbing](https://tradesindex.org/trades/plumbing/): 76.5 (R 79.9 / L 73.1) — Safe Haven
- [Low-Voltage & Security](https://tradesindex.org/trades/low-voltage-security/): 76.3 (R 72.2 / L 80.3) — Race to Modernize
- [Concrete & Masonry](https://tradesindex.org/trades/concrete-masonry/): 75.5 (R 75.7 / L 75.3) — Safe Haven
- [Landscaping & Grounds](https://tradesindex.org/trades/landscaping/): 74.9 (R 68.9 / L 80.9) — Race to Modernize
- [Roofing](https://tradesindex.org/trades/roofing/): 74.8 (R 68.5 / L 81.1) — Race to Modernize
- [Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial](https://tradesindex.org/trades/commercial-cleaning/): 74 (R 68.6 / L 79.5) — Race to Modernize
- [Painting & Wall Finishing](https://tradesindex.org/trades/painting/): 69.3 (R 64.2 / L 74.3) — Under Pressure

## Core pages

- [The index (home + quadrant chart + ranked table)](https://tradesindex.org/)
- [All trades](https://tradesindex.org/trades/)
- [Methodology (axes, weighted sub-scores, quadrants, provenance)](https://tradesindex.org/methodology/)
- [Where does your shop stand (self-benchmark tool)](https://tradesindex.org/compare/)
- [Data & downloads (machine-readable JSON)](https://tradesindex.org/data/)
- [About & independence disclosure](https://tradesindex.org/about/)

## Machine-readable data (JSON)

- [Index summary](https://tradesindex.org/data/index.json)
- [All trades with scores](https://tradesindex.org/data/trades.json)
- [Scoring methodology](https://tradesindex.org/data/methodology.json)
- [Public-company comps](https://tradesindex.org/data/comps.json)
- [Reputation aggregates](https://tradesindex.org/data/reputation.json)
- [Firmographic aggregates](https://tradesindex.org/data/firmographics.json)
- [Level CFO operating benchmarks](https://tradesindex.org/data/level-benchmarks.json)
- Per-trade full data: https://tradesindex.org/data/trades/<slug>.json

## Provenance

BLS/OEWS labor stats, IBISWorld/CFMA market & financial benchmarks, public county tax-assessor and building-permit records, public business registries, public business-review listings, and public-equity filings. Every number carries a source.

Aggregate operating benchmarks provided by Level CFO (n disclosed). Aggregate-only; no individual company identified.

## Citation

The Trade Economy Index, 2026 Edition. Compiled by Sam Yang, Level CFO. https://tradesindex.org. Free to cite with attribution.