Pest control answering statistics.
Every number on this page has a named source and a year, with a working link wherever a public one exists, and the famous numbers that fail the trace are called out at the bottom instead of being republished. Missed calls, after-hours demand, speed to lead, booking rates, and the US pest control industry, in one place.
Last updated August 21, 2026. Maintained by PestLine AI; corrections to hello@pestlineai.com.
The headline numbers
| Statistic | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Calls to small businesses that go unattended | 62% | 411 Locals, 2016 |
| Pest sales calls arriving after hours or weekends | 25% | Pest-industry call-center data, 2021 |
| Voicemail-routed callers who leave a message | <3% | Invoca, 2024 |
| Consumers who call a competitor when nobody answers | 82% | CallRail, 2025 |
| Contact odds calling a lead in 5 min vs 30 | 100x | InsideSales/MIT, 2007 |
| Home-service phone leads that convert on the call | 46% | Invoca, 2025 |
| Calls booked into jobs at shops under 5 techs | 24% | ServiceTitan, 2022 |
| US structural pest control revenue, 2025 | $13.4B | Specialty Consultants |
| US pest control firms with one or two locations | 81.4% | Specialty Consultants, 2025 |
| Pest control companies not yet using AI (2025) | 73% | FieldRoutes, 2025 |
How many calls to small businesses go unanswered?
Most of them, at the typical small business. The classic observational study found 62% of calls to small businesses go unattended. Platform studies of home-service calls put the missed rate between 14% and 27%, and only 55% of home-service callers ever reach a person.
62% of phone calls to small businesses went unattended: 37.8% were answered live, 37.8% went to voicemail, and 24.3% got no response at all.
62%Source: 411 Locals (2016)
85 businesses across 58 industries, monitored for 30 days. Small sample, still the original behind the most-quoted missed-call number on the internet, and usually recycled without this methodology.
Cite: 62%, 411 Locals (2016), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#62-of-phone-calls-to-small-businesses-went
70% of small businesses answered fewer than half of their incoming calls.
70%Source: 411 Locals (2016)
Cite: 70%, 411 Locals (2016), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#70-of-small-businesses-answered-fewer-than-half
27% of calls to home services businesses are not answered.
27%Source: Invoca platform data (2024)
Cite: 27%, Invoca platform data (2024), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#27-of-calls-to-home-services-businesses-are
In an analysis of 1.1 million real business phone conversations, home services businesses missed 14% of inbound calls (healthcare missed 32%, legal 28%).
14%Source: CallRail (2025)
CallRail customers already use call tracking and likely answer more than average; read 14% to 27% as the platform-study range.
Cite: 14%, CallRail (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#in-an-analysis-of-11-million-real-business
Only 55% of people who call a home services business end up speaking with a person.
55%Source: Invoca Home Services Call Conversion Benchmarks (60M+ calls) (2025)
Cite: 55%, Invoca Home Services Call Conversion Benchmarks (60M+ calls) (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#only-55-of-people-who-call-a-home
What actually happens after a missed call?
The caller moves on. Under 3% of callers pushed to voicemail leave a message, 82% of consumers say they will call a competitor when nobody answers, and even your callback often fails, because 72% of people have skipped answering unknown numbers over spam fears.
Fewer than 3% of callers who get pushed to voicemail leave a message.
<3%Source: Invoca platform data (2024)
A voicemail greeting is functionally a lost call. This is the sourced replacement for the folklore '85% never call back' claim quarantined below.
Cite: <3%, Invoca platform data (2024), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#fewer-than-3-of-callers-who-get-pushed
82% of consumers say they will call a competitor if a business does not answer the phone; 21% call another business immediately.
82%Source: CallRail consumer survey (1,000 US consumers) (2025)
Cite: 82%, CallRail consumer survey (1,000 US consumers) (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#82-of-consumers-say-they-will-call-a
78% of consumers say they have abandoned a business entirely because a call went unanswered.
78%Source: CallRail consumer survey (1,000 US consumers) (2025)
Cite: 78%, CallRail consumer survey (1,000 US consumers) (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#78-of-consumers-say-they-have-abandoned-a
72% of consumers have skipped answering a call over spam or fraud fears, only to learn they missed a call they actually wanted. Your callback rings as exactly that kind of unknown number.
72%Source: TransUnion / Toluna survey (1,517 US adults) (2023)
Cite: 72%, TransUnion / Toluna survey (1,517 US adults) (2023), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#72-of-consumers-have-skipped-answering-a-call
Only 33% of people listen to voicemails from business contacts, and only 18% listen to voicemails from numbers they do not recognize.
33%Source: eVoice survey, reported by CBS MoneyWatch (2013)
The original eVoice release is offline; CBS MoneyWatch names the source and figures.
Cite: 33%, eVoice survey, reported by CBS MoneyWatch (2013), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#only-33-of-people-listen-to-voicemails-from
How much pest control demand arrives after hours?
Roughly a quarter. Published pest-industry call-center data puts 25% of sales calls after hours and on weekends. And the calls that do get through in the evening mostly die: home-service booking rates collapse after 6pm, from 61% to 21% at big shops and 26% to 9% at small ones.
25% of pest control sales calls come in after hours and on weekends.
25%Source: Pest-industry call-center data, reported by PCT (2021)
The figure comes from a large pest-industry answering provider's own call base (millions of interactions), with no published methodology; PCT, the industry trade press, reported the same number. It is the only pest-specific after-hours figure with a large disclosed call base.
Cite: 25%, Pest-industry call-center data, reported by PCT (2021), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#25-of-pest-control-sales-calls-come-in
Call booking rates collapse in the evening: shops with 25+ techs fall from a 61% daytime peak to 21% after 6pm; shops with fewer than 5 techs fall from 26% to 9%.
61% → 21%Source: ServiceTitan data report (3,000+ trade businesses) (2022)
Cite: 61% → 21%, ServiceTitan data report (3,000+ trade businesses) (2022), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#call-booking-rates-collapse-in-the-evening-shops
US pest control employment swings 11.6% between winter trough and summer peak (143,300 in January 2024 to 159,900 in July 2024), the government-data proxy for how seasonal pest demand is.
11.6%Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CEU6056171001 (2024)
Widely repeated claims that summer call volume runs '2 to 3x winter' trace only to vendor blogs with no methodology; the BLS payroll swing is the honest measurable.
Cite: 11.6%, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CEU6056171001 (2024), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#us-pest-control-employment-swings-116-between-winter
How fast do you have to respond to a lead?
Minutes, not hours. The original MIT and InsideSales research found contact odds are 100 times higher at 5 minutes than at 30, Harvard Business Review found firms responding within an hour qualify leads 7 times more often, and Velocify measured 391% higher conversion when the call came within one minute.
The odds of making contact with a new lead are 100 times higher when the first call happens within 5 minutes of the inquiry versus 30 minutes.
100xSource: InsideSales.com / MIT Lead Response Management Study (Oldroyd) (2007)
The original famous study: 3 years of data, six companies, 15,000+ leads, 100,000+ call attempts.
Cite: 100x, InsideSales.com / MIT Lead Response Management Study (Oldroyd) (2007), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#the-odds-of-making-contact-with-a-new
The odds of qualifying a new lead are 21 times higher when called within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.
21xSource: InsideSales.com / MIT Lead Response Management Study (2007)
Cite: 21x, InsideSales.com / MIT Lead Response Management Study (2007), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#the-odds-of-qualifying-a-new-lead-are
Firms that contacted potential customers within an hour of an online query were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify the lead as those an hour slower, and more than 60 times as likely as those that waited 24 hours or more.
7xSource: Harvard Business Review, 'The Short Life of Online Sales Leads' (1.25M leads) (2011)
Cite: 7x, Harvard Business Review, 'The Short Life of Online Sales Leads' (1.25M leads) (2011), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#firms-that-contacted-potential-customers-within-an-hour
In HBR's audit of 2,241 US companies sent a test web lead, only 37% responded within an hour, 23% never responded at all, and the average response took 42 hours.
42 hrsSource: Harvard Business Review (2011)
Cite: 42 hrs, Harvard Business Review (2011), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#in-hbrs-audit-of-2241-us-companies-sent
Prospects called within one minute of their inquiry were 391% more likely to convert than those called any time after.
391%Source: Velocify, 'The Ultimate Contact Strategy' (3.5M leads) (2016)
Cite: 391%, Velocify, 'The Ultimate Contact Strategy' (3.5M leads) (2016), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#prospects-called-within-one-minute-of-their-inquiry
47% of US companies never responded at all to a lead submitted through their own website form, and among those that called back, the median first call came 3 hours 8 minutes later.
47%Source: InsideSales.com Lead Response Report (9,538 companies audited) (2014)
Cite: 47%, InsideSales.com Lead Response Report (9,538 companies audited) (2014), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#47-of-us-companies-never-responded-at-all
82% of consumers rate an immediate response as important or very important for sales questions, and 'immediate' means 10 minutes or less.
82%Source: HubSpot Research (2018)
Cite: 82%, HubSpot Research (2018), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#82-of-consumers-rate-an-immediate-response-as
In home services, over 55% of customers expect a response within the hour, and 28% expect an immediate reply.
55%+Source: Jobber Home Service Trends Report (2026)
Cite: 55%+, Jobber Home Service Trends Report (2026), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#in-home-services-over-55-of-customers-expect
Do pest control sales really happen on the phone?
Yes. Published pest-industry call-center data puts 70 to 90 percent of pest sales on the phone, and Invoca's 60-million-call benchmark found home services converts 46% of phone leads during the call itself, the highest of the nine industries measured.
70 to 90 percent of pest and home-service sales happen over the phone.
70-90%Source: Pest-industry call-center data (2022)
A pest-industry answering provider's own call base; no published methodology. Quoted with that caveat, and paired with the audited Invoca numbers below.
Cite: 70-90%, Pest-industry call-center data (2022), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#70-to-90-percent-of-pest-and-home-service
46% of home-services phone leads convert during the call itself, the highest phone-conversion rate of the nine industries Invoca measured.
46%Source: Invoca Call Conversion Benchmarks (60M+ calls) (2025)
Cite: 46%, Invoca Call Conversion Benchmarks (60M+ calls) (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#46-of-home-services-phone-leads-convert-during-the
Across industries, 37% of phone leads convert during the call, and only 61% of callers to businesses ever reach a live person.
37%Source: Invoca Call Conversion Benchmarks (60M+ calls) (2025)
Cite: 37%, Invoca Call Conversion Benchmarks (60M+ calls) (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#across-industries-37-of-phone-leads-convert-during
How many calls actually become booked jobs?
Fewer than half. Across 3,000+ trade businesses, the typical shop booked just 42% of inbound calls into jobs. Size is destiny: shops with 25 or more techs booked 59%, while shops with fewer than five techs booked only 24%.
The typical home-service shop books only 42% of inbound calls into jobs, roughly 4 in 10.
42%Source: ServiceTitan data report (3,000+ trade businesses) (2022)
ServiceTitan trades data (plumbing, HVAC, electrical and others); pest control is not broken out separately.
Cite: 42%, ServiceTitan data report (3,000+ trade businesses) (2022), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#the-typical-home-service-shop-books-only-42-of
Home-service shops with fewer than 5 techs book only 24% of their calls, versus 59% at shops with 25+ techs. The smallest companies lose the largest share of the demand they already paid to generate.
24%Source: ServiceTitan data report (2022)
Cite: 24%, ServiceTitan data report (2022), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#home-service-shops-with-fewer-than-5-techs-book
How big is the US pest control industry?
A $13.4 billion industry of overwhelmingly small companies. US structural pest control revenue hit $13.416 billion in 2025, growing 6% year over year, across 16,565 firms, and 81.4% of those firms operate from just one or two locations.
The US structural pest control industry generated $13.416 billion in service revenue in 2025, up 6% from $12.654 billion in 2024.
$13.4BSource: Specialty Consultants, via PCT (2025)
From the 26th edition of 'A Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Structural Pest Control Industry' (survey of 800 owners and managers). NPMA carries the same figures.
Cite: $13.4B, Specialty Consultants, via PCT (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#the-us-structural-pest-control-industry-generated-13416
16,565 pest control firms operated in the US in 2025, and 81.4% of them ran one or two locations.
16,565Source: Specialty Consultants, via PCT and NPMA (2025)
Cite: 16,565, Specialty Consultants, via PCT and NPMA (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#16565-pest-control-firms-operated-in-the-us
65.3% of US employer pest control firms have fewer than 5 employees (8,882 of 13,603 firms), and 83.6% have fewer than 10.
65.3%Source: US Census Bureau, SUSB, NAICS 561710 (2022)
Raw government file (percentages computed from the published counts). This is the industry that cannot staff a 24/7 front desk.
Cite: 65.3%, US Census Bureau, SUSB, NAICS 561710 (2022), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#653-of-us-employer-pest-control-firms-have
An estimated 109,384 service technicians were employed by the US industry in 2025.
109,384Source: Specialty Consultants, via PCT (2025)
Cite: 109,384, Specialty Consultants, via PCT (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#an-estimated-109384-service-technicians-were-employed-by
36.8% of pest control companies say growth is constrained by not having enough technicians on staff.
36.8%Source: Specialty Consultants survey, via NPMA (2025)
Cite: 36.8%, Specialty Consultants survey, via NPMA (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#368-of-pest-control-companies-say-growth-is
Recurring revenue accounts for 85.4% of US residential pest control service revenue, across nearly 13.29 million residential customers.
85.4%Source: Specialty Consultants, via NPMA (2025)
Cite: 85.4%, Specialty Consultants, via NPMA (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#recurring-revenue-accounts-for-854-of-us-residential
At Rollins, Orkin's parent and the largest US-listed pest control company, roughly 75% of business is recurring services and only 15% is one-time work.
75%Source: Rollins, Inc. Form 10-K (2025)
SEC filing. The recurring plan is the business model, which is what makes each answered first call worth years of revenue.
Cite: 75%, Rollins, Inc. Form 10-K (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#at-rollins-orkins-parent-and-the-largest-us-listed
The mean annual wage for US pest control workers was $47,070 in May 2025.
$47,070Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 37-3012 (2025)
Cite: $47,070, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 37-3012 (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#the-mean-annual-wage-for-us-pest-control
How many pest control companies use AI today?
A fast-growing minority. 73% of pest control companies were not using AI in 2025, down from 82% the year before, and by 2026 AI had jumped to the number one most-anticipated technology in the industry, with planned software investment more than doubling year over year.
Only 27% of pest control companies used AI to boost business performance in 2025, up from roughly 18% in 2024.
27%Source: FieldRoutes State of the Pest Industry (Thrive Analytics, n=1,025) (2025)
Cite: 27%, FieldRoutes State of the Pest Industry (Thrive Analytics, n=1,025) (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#only-27-of-pest-control-companies-used-ai
AI jumped to the number one most-anticipated technology among pest control operators for the next 1 to 3 years, and planned investment in new software more than doubled year over year.
No. 1Source: FieldRoutes Pest Control Industry Report (1,000+ operators) (2026)
Cite: No. 1, FieldRoutes Pest Control Industry Report (1,000+ operators) (2026), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#ai-jumped-to-the-number-one-most-anticipated-technology
Only 52% of pest control companies use routing software, and 45% rank recruiting and retaining employees among their top business goals.
52%Source: FieldRoutes State of the Pest Industry (2025)
Cite: 52%, FieldRoutes State of the Pest Industry (2025), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#only-52-of-pest-control-companies-use-routing
74% of residential home-service contractors view AI as key to efficiency, but only about 25% currently use it; 48% of early adopters report increased productivity.
74%Source: ServiceTitan Residential State of the Trades (Thrive Analytics, n=1,000) (2026)
Cite: 74%, ServiceTitan Residential State of the Trades (Thrive Analytics, n=1,000) (2026), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#74-of-residential-home-service-contractors-view-ai-as
Can an AI actually be more empathetic than a human?
In the landmark blinded comparison, yes. Licensed health care professionals rated AI chatbot responses to real patient questions empathetic or very empathetic 9.8 times as often as the physicians' responses, rated them good or very good quality 3.6 times as often, and preferred them in 78.6% of evaluations.
Licensed health care professionals rated AI chatbot responses to real patient questions empathetic or very empathetic 9.8 times as often as verified physicians' responses (45.1% vs 4.6%), and preferred the chatbot's response in 78.6% of 585 blinded evaluations.
9.8xSource: Ayers et al., JAMA Internal Medicine (195 exchanges, blinded triplicate evaluation) (2023)
The landmark peer-reviewed comparison. Chatbot responses were also 3.6 times as likely to be rated good or very good quality (78.5% vs 22.1%). The setting is medicine and a text forum, not a pest phone line; it is quoted here as the strongest controlled evidence that machine empathy is real and measurable.
Cite: 9.8x, Ayers et al., JAMA Internal Medicine (195 exchanges, blinded triplicate evaluation) (2023), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#licensed-health-care-professionals-rated-ai-chatbot-responses
What is a pest control job worth?
A one-time visit runs $100 to $600 and an annual plan $300 to $900, per HomeGuide cost data. With recurring plans making up 85.4% of residential revenue industry-wide, the realistic value of one answered call is often a plan relationship, not a single ticket.
A one-time pest control visit costs homeowners roughly $100 to $600; an annual pest control plan typically runs $300 to $900; quarterly visits cost $100 to $300.
$300-900Source: Today's Homeowner, from HomeGuide cost data (2026)
Honest gap: no independently published study of average pest control customer lifetime value exists. The recycled '$1,500 to $6,000 CLV' figures trace only to marketing blogs, so we do not publish them. The defensible arithmetic is illustrative: a $300 to $900 plan retained across a few years, with 85.4% of residential revenue recurring industry-wide.
Cite: $300-900, Today's Homeowner, from HomeGuide cost data (2026), via pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics#a-one-time-pest-control-visit-costs-homeowners-roughly
The folklore file: famous numbers we refuse to publish
These statistics appear in almost every article about missed calls and answering services. None of them survives a trace to an original study, so this page quarantines them instead of repeating them.
'Up to 85% of callers who get no answer never call back.'
85%No traceable original study. It circulates through vendor blogs citing each other, and even appears in press releases linking only to another blog. Two independent fact-check pages dead-ended on it. Use Invoca's audited 'under 3% of voicemail-routed callers leave a message' instead.
'78% of customers buy from the company that responds first.'
78%Attributed everywhere to a 'Lead Connect survey' that has no published methodology, report, or original page anywhere. The attribution even varies by teller. The traceable equivalents: HBR's 7x within-the-hour qualification edge and CallRail's 82%-call-a-competitor survey.
'80% of callers sent to voicemail don't leave messages.'
80%The citation chain dead-ends four hops back in a 2009 lifestyle article, not a study. Invoca's platform measurement (under 3% leave a message) is both stronger and real.
How to cite this page
Cite the original source named on each statistic; that is what the links are for. To reference this collection: PestLine AI, "Pest control answering statistics," pestlineai.com/pest-control-answering-statistics, updated August 21, 2026. Anything here may be quoted with attribution.
What to do about these numbers: after-hours coverage, what voicemail actually catches, and how PestLine AI answers.