NAHB Cost of Doing Business 2025 (FY 2023 single-family builders) — 8.7% net margin

Claim: NAHB's 2025 Cost of Doing Business Study reports average net profit margin of 8.7% for U.S. single-family builders in fiscal year 2023.

Source: NAHB, Cost of Doing Business Study, 2025 edition.

Confidence: Verified.

For Candid: Single-family builders run slightly fatter than remodelers ([[nahb-remodelers-cdb-2024-6-3pct-net-margin]]) but the difference is not enough to change the take-home framing — at 8.7% net, a marketing retainer is still ~12% of pre-tax owner income on the same $3M / $36K example.