Key Findings
- The median plumbing, HVAC or roofing website took 8.3 seconds to load on a phone. The average was 11.5 seconds.
- 93% took longer than 3 seconds, the point where Google found more than half of mobile visitors give up.
- 43% took longer than 10 seconds, and 16% took longer than 20.
- Only 3% met Google’s “good” standard of 2.5 seconds or less.
- Great reviews didn’t mean a fast website. Businesses rated 4.8 stars or higher had the same 8.3-second median as everyone else.
We tested 502 plumbing, HVAC and roofing company websites on a simulated phone in October 2026. The median site took 8.3 seconds to show its main content, and 93% took longer than 3 seconds. Only 16 of the 502 sites met Google’s own standard for a good mobile experience.
That matters because most people looking for a plumber, an AC repair or a roofer search on their phone, often in a hurry. Google’s own research found that 53% of mobile visits are abandoned when a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load. By that measure, almost every contractor website we tested is losing visitors before they ever see a phone number.
How We Ran the Study
- Who we tested: the top 20 Google Maps results for “plumbers,” “HVAC contractors” and “roofing companies” in 10 U.S. metro areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland and San Antonio.
- What we kept: every business with a website, fast or slow. We didn’t pick sites because they looked slow. We removed duplicates and the national franchise brands (9 sites), leaving 502 independent businesses.
- How we measured: Google PageSpeed Insights, mobile test. Load time is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how long it takes for the main content of the page to appear. The test simulates a mid-range phone on a slow 4G connection.
- When: October 13, 2026.
Because the test uses a slower connection than many people have, real visitors on fast Wi-Fi or 5G will often see shorter times. That’s also why Google uses this test: it shows what the site is like for customers on an average phone with an average signal, which is exactly who a contractor needs to reach.
How Long Contractor Websites Take to Load on a Phone
All 502 contractor websites, by mobile load time
Each dot is one plumbing, HVAC or roofing website we ran through Google’s mobile speed test. Dots further right took longer for their main content to appear. Hover or tap a dot to see its trade, city and time.
Source: Cindaro Contractor Website Speed Study, October 2026. Google PageSpeed Insights mobile test; load time is Largest Contentful Paint.
| Load time on a phone | Share of websites |
|---|---|
| 2.5 seconds or less (Google: “good”) | 3% |
| 2.5 to 4 seconds (Google: “needs improvement”) | 14% |
| 4 to 6 seconds | 19% |
| 6 to 10 seconds | 21% |
| 10 to 20 seconds | 27% |
| More than 20 seconds | 16% |
Google rates anything over 4 seconds as “poor.” 83% of the contractor websites we tested fell into that group. The slowest took more than a minute.
Google Mobile Scores: Most Sites Are Average or Worse
PageSpeed Insights also gives each site a performance score out of 100. The median score was 56.
| Google mobile score | Share of websites |
|---|---|
| 90 to 100 (good) | 5% |
| 50 to 89 (needs improvement) | 59% |
| 0 to 49 (poor) | 36% |
Results by Trade
No trade did well. HVAC websites were slightly slower than plumbing and roofing sites, but the differences were small.
| Trade | Sites tested | Median load time | Slower than 3 seconds | Slower than 10 seconds | Median score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers | 164 | 8.7s | 91% | 45% | 57 |
| HVAC | 157 | 8.7s | 96% | 45% | 53 |
| Roofers | 181 | 8.0s | 92% | 39% | 57 |
| All | 502 | 8.3s | 93% | 43% | 56 |
Results by City
Pittsburgh had the slowest contractor websites, with a median of 13.1 seconds. Atlanta and Denver were the fastest, at about 6.5 seconds, which is still more than twice Google’s 3-second mark.
| Metro area | Sites tested | Median load time | Slower than 3 seconds | Median score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA | 49 | 6.5s | 96% | 58 |
| Denver, CO | 51 | 6.6s | 88% | 60 |
| San Antonio, TX | 53 | 6.9s | 96% | 55 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 53 | 7.9s | 91% | 61 |
| Charlotte, NC | 48 | 8.1s | 94% | 59 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 52 | 8.6s | 92% | 52 |
| Kansas City, MO | 46 | 8.8s | 93% | 53 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 51 | 9.1s | 82% | 56 |
| Portland, OR | 50 | 9.5s | 100% | 51 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 49 | 13.1s | 96% | 54 |
Good Reviews, Slow Websites
Most of the businesses we tested are well regarded: 435 of the 502 had a Google rating of 4.8 stars or higher. Their websites were no faster. The median load time for 4.8-star businesses was 8.3 seconds, exactly the same as the group overall.
That points to a gap many contractors don’t know they have. A business can do great work, earn great reviews and rank well on Google Maps, and still lose customers in the few seconds after someone taps through to its website.
Why So Many Contractor Websites Are Slow
We didn’t diagnose every site, but the same causes come up again and again on small business websites:
- Huge images. Photos uploaded straight from a phone or camera, often several megabytes each, on the very first screen.
- Too many add-ons. Chat widgets, review feeds, booking tools, tracking codes and pop-ups each add their own code. See how third-party scripts slow a site down.
- Heavy page builders and themes that load far more code than the page needs.
- No caching, so the server rebuilds every page from scratch for every visitor. See how website caching works.
- Cheap, crowded hosting that responds slowly before the page even starts to load.
- Nobody looking after the site. Websites get slower over time as plugins, images and scripts pile up. See why websites slow down after launch. Regular website maintenance keeps it from happening.
What a Slow Website Costs a Contractor
Someone with a leaking pipe or a broken AC unit doesn’t wait. They search, tap the first few results and call whoever loads first. If your site is still showing a blank screen at 8 seconds, many of them have already gone back to Google and called someone else. You never see those lost calls: they don’t show up anywhere except in a lower number of jobs. See what a slow website really costs.
Speed also feeds into how Google judges your site. Load time is part of Google’s Core Web Vitals, the measures it uses to assess page experience.
How to Check Your Own Website
- Run your homepage through our free website speed test. It uses the same Google test as this study and shows your result next to a fast site.
- Look at the load time (Largest Contentful Paint) on the mobile result, not desktop. Under 2.5 seconds is good; over 4 seconds is poor.
- Test the pages customers actually land on, such as your main service pages, not just the homepage.
- If it’s slow, start with the biggest wins: compress images, remove plugins and widgets you don’t use, and turn on caching. See how to test and fix mobile speed.
How These Results Compare
Our numbers line up closely with other independent research. WebCore’s Ontario Trades Web Index measured 295 trade and clinic websites across 15 Ontario towns using the same Google test and found a median load time of 6.8 seconds, with 92% taking longer than 3 seconds.
Different country, same problem: almost every small trade business website is too slow on a phone.
Using This Data
You’re welcome to cite or share these findings. Please link to this page as the source: “Cindaro Contractor Website Speed Study, October 2026.” If you’re a journalist or writer and want the city or trade breakdowns in more detail, contact us.
Contractor Website Speed: FAQs
How fast should a contractor website load on a phone?
Google rates a load time (Largest Contentful Paint) of 2.5 seconds or less as good, 2.5 to 4 seconds as needing improvement, and over 4 seconds as poor. In our study, only 3% of contractor websites hit 2.5 seconds.
What is the average load time for a contractor website?
In our October 2026 test of 502 plumbing, HVAC and roofing websites, the median load time on a simulated phone was 8.3 seconds and the average was 11.5 seconds.
Why does my website load fast on my phone but test slow?
Your phone may have the site cached from earlier visits, and you may be on fast Wi-Fi. Google’s test acts like a first-time visitor on an average phone and connection, which is closer to what a new customer experiences.
Does website speed affect Google rankings?
Speed is one of the page experience signals Google measures through Core Web Vitals. It’s rarely the only reason a site ranks or doesn’t, but a slow site loses visitors whether or not it ranks.
Which trade had the slowest websites?
HVAC websites were slightly slower: 96% took longer than 3 seconds, compared with 91% for plumbers and 92% for roofers. The differences between trades were small. Every trade had a median load time over 8 seconds.
Browse more in the website performance guide or all topics at Cindaro Resources.
Cindaro builds and manages fast websites for plumbers, HVAC companies, roofers and other service businesses for a flat monthly fee. Hosting, speed, security and updates are all included. See how it works or test your website’s speed.
