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Confidence was up among SDM 100 dealers looking ahead at 2025 revenues, with 86 percent predicting revenues will increase, versus 78 percent last year. Eleven percent predict revenues will stay the same, and just 3 percent think they will decrease. Of those who predict and increase, the average anticipated increase is 13 percent, up 1 percent from last year

Security companies derive their total revenue from a wide variety of product segments, including the three most sizable — integrated non-residential systems, video surveillance and intrusion (burglar) alarm systems. (Integrated-technology systems comprise two or more types of technologies.) This year integrated non-residential rose 4 percentage points; video and intrusion declined slightly, fire alarm and integrated residential increased slightly, and access control was unchanged.  

Security companies derive their revenue from a wide variety of categories of service, the two most sizable of which — sales/installation, and monitoring ― made up the bulk of SDM 100 companies’ service revenue in 2024.

The best opportunities for employment among SDM 100 companies are in technical service (24 percent) and installation (20 percent), followed by sales/marketing (12 percent) and executive/general management (8 percent, tied with “other”). This chart shows the average percentage of each position within an SDM 100 company’s total employee base. The most significant changes in the distribution of these positions compared with the prior year is technical service rose by 6 percentage points, and installation and customer service each declined by 4 percentage points and. All other changes were insignificant.

The percentage of SDM 100 companies reporting increased profits declined slightly by 2 percentage points, with 56 percent of security dealers reporting an increase in profit margins in 2024, compared to 58 percent in 2023, but were still above the 2022 number of 52 percent. Among businesses that improved, their average profit margin increase was 16 percent. 

Of the SDM 100 companies who reported their actual net profit margins, responses ranged from -7 percent to 78 percent, with the average net profit in 2023 of 16 percent — up 3 percentage points from 2023, when it was 13 percent. In 2022 the average was 14 percent.

Looking at the number of subscribers that dealers indicated they gained or lost in 2024, SDM 100 companies in aggregate gained 13 percent more subscriber accounts in 2024, continuing a multi-year upward streak. The comparison is among companies that reported number of subscribers for both the prior year (2023) and end of year 2024. 

SDM asked companies how many vehicles are in their company fleet that are used for technical service, sales, and other purposes. A total of 86 companies, reported 18,136 vehicles in use in 2024, nearly doubling the number from last year (9,755). 

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