Across 12 industries and 124 named companies, legal and compliance runs 0.3% to 6.2% of SG&A headcount, median 2.0%. In people that is 0.4 to 33.2 per 1,000 employees, median 5.9. The lean quartile is 1.3% of SG&A headcount and the heavy quartile 2.9%. Measured from 440,636 public job titles, each classified one at a time, at every company named on this page. September 2026.
Median of the named companies on each industry page. Click through for the per-function detail and the filed-spend table.
| Industry | Companies | Legal and compliance share of SG&A, median | Range | Lean quartile | Heavy quartile | Per 1,000 employees, median | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food & CPG | 13 | 3.2% | 2.0% to 5.2% | 2.7% | 4.2% | 12.4 | July 2026 |
| Apparel & footwear | 12 | 3.0% | 1.9% to 4.0% | 2.3% | 3.7% | 7.7 | August 2026 |
| Toy & game | 9 | 2.8% | 1.3% to 5.5% | n/a | n/a | 15.3 | August 2026 |
| Appliance & housewares | 10 | 2.8% | 1.2% to 6.2% | 1.8% | 4.4% | 14.1 | September 2026 |
| Tool & industrial | 7 | 2.5% | 1.4% to 2.9% | n/a | n/a | 6.4 | July 2026 |
| B2B software | 10 | 2.1% | 1.3% to 3.6% | 1.6% | 2.4% | 9.0 | August 2026 |
| Coatings & specialty chemical | 13 | 1.9% | 0.3% to 5.1% | 1.4% | 2.4% | 5.2 | September 2026 |
| Building products | 9 | 1.8% | 0.8% to 3.9% | 1.0% | 2.2% | 3.3 | July 2026 |
| Beverage | 12 | 1.6% | 0.7% to 4.7% | 1.1% | 2.5% | 5.5 | September 2026 |
| Packaging & container | 12 | 1.2% | 0.4% to 2.7% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 1.6 | September 2026 |
| Foodservice distribution | 10 | 1.2% | 0.4% to 1.3% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 1.6 | September 2026 |
| Furniture & furnishings | 7 | 0.9% | 0.5% to 2.2% | n/a | n/a | 1.6 | September 2026 |
| Company | Industry | Share of SG&A | Observed contacts | Employees | Per 1,000 employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cricut, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 6.2% | 21 | 700 | 30.0 |
| The Pokémon Company International | Toy & game | 5.5% | 50 | 2,663 | 18.8 |
| Ingredion | Food & CPG | 5.2% | 169 | 11,200 | 15.1 |
| Innospec Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 5.1% | 27 | 2,450 | 11.0 |
| MGP Ingredients, Inc. | Beverage | 4.7% | 6 | 617 | 9.7 |
| Church & Dwight | Food & CPG | 4.6% | 112 | 5,550 | 20.2 |
| Helen of Troy Limited | Appliance & housewares | 4.5% | 40 | 1,854 | 21.6 |
| International Flavors & Fragrances | Food & CPG | 4.4% | 278 | 21,500 | 12.9 |
| Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company | Appliance & housewares | 4.4% | 14 | 650 | 21.5 |
| The Campbell's Company | Food & CPG | 4.2% | 154 | 13,700 | 11.2 |
| Ashland Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 4.2% | 59 | 2,900 | 20.3 |
| McCormick & Company | Food & CPG | 4.1% | 185 | 14,100 | 13.1 |
| MGA Entertainment, Inc. | Toy & game | 4.0% | 37 | 1,200 | 30.8 |
| lululemon athletica inc. | Apparel & footwear | 4.0% | 187 | 39,000 | 4.8 |
| Louisiana-Pacific | Building products | 3.9% | 39 | 4,300 | 9.1 |
| Deckers Outdoor Corporation | Apparel & footwear | 3.9% | 72 | 6,000 | 12.0 |
| James Hardie | Building products | 3.8% | 25 | 7,500 | 3.3 |
| Under Armour, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 3.8% | 103 | 14,100 | 7.3 |
| Carter's, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 3.6% | 100 | 15,400 | 6.5 |
| nCino | B2B software | 3.6% | 17 | 1,684 | 10.1 |
| Hasbro, Inc. | Toy & game | 3.5% | 150 | 4,520 | 33.2 |
| Constellation Brands, Inc. | Beverage | 3.5% | 88 | 9,400 | 9.4 |
| Olo | B2B software | 3.3% | 6 | 915 | 6.6 |
| The Clorox Company | Food & CPG | 3.2% | 139 | 7,600 | 18.3 |
| The J.M. Smucker Company | Food & CPG | 3.2% | 99 | 8,000 | 12.4 |
| Crocs, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 3.2% | 79 | 8,010 | 9.9 |
| Oxford Industries, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 3.1% | 36 | 6,000 | 6.0 |
| WD-40 Company | Coatings & specialty chemical | 3.1% | 15 | 714 | 21.0 |
| The Hershey Company | Food & CPG | 3.0% | 194 | 20,000 | 9.7 |
| Stanley Black & Decker | Tool & industrial | 2.9% | 419 | 43,500 | 9.6 |
| General Mills | Food & CPG | 2.9% | 366 | 33,000 | 11.1 |
| Columbia Sportswear Company | Apparel & footwear | 2.9% | 76 | 9,620 | 7.9 |
| National Beverage Corp. | Beverage | 2.9% | 5 | 1,677 | 3.0 |
| Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 2.9% | 62 | 3,000 | 20.7 |
| YETI Holdings, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 2.9% | 23 | 1,390 | 16.5 |
| Klein Tools | Tool & industrial | 2.8% | 16 | 2,500 | 6.4 |
| The LEGO Group | Toy & game | 2.8% | 186 | 33,000 | 5.6 |
| Ralph Lauren Corporation | Apparel & footwear | 2.8% | 191 | 23,600 | 8.1 |
| IDEAL Industries | Tool & industrial | 2.7% | 13 | 2,502 | 5.2 |
| The Kraft Heinz Company | Food & CPG | 2.7% | 450 | 35,000 | 12.9 |
| Hormel Foods | Food & CPG | 2.7% | 87 | 20,000 | 4.3 |
| O-I Glass, Inc. | Packaging & container | 2.7% | 52 | 19,000 | 2.7 |
| Mattel, Inc. | Toy & game | 2.6% | 189 | 31,000 | 6.1 |
| SharkNinja, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 2.6% | 48 | 4,143 | 11.6 |
| Enerpac Tool Group | Tool & industrial | 2.5% | 18 | 2,100 | 8.6 |
| Conagra Brands | Food & CPG | 2.5% | 91 | 17,400 | 5.2 |
| Spin Master Corp. | Toy & game | 2.5% | 52 | 3,000 | 17.3 |
| Tapestry, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 2.4% | 141 | 19,000 | 7.4 |
| Amplitude | B2B software | 2.4% | 11 | 795 | 13.8 |
| Cabot Corporation | Coatings & specialty chemical | 2.4% | 33 | 4,064 | 8.1 |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | Apparel & footwear | 2.3% | 155 | 19,000 | 8.2 |
| Domo | B2B software | 2.3% | 12 | 876 | 13.7 |
| Ball Corporation | Packaging & container | 2.3% | 91 | 16,000 | 5.7 |
| Gibraltar Industries | Building products | 2.2% | 14 | 2,300 | 6.1 |
| Zuora | B2B software | 2.2% | 10 | 1,200 | 8.3 |
| MillerKnoll, Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | 2.2% | 36 | 10,544 | 3.4 |
| Ecolab Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 2.2% | 419 | 48,000 | 8.7 |
| VF Corporation | Apparel & footwear | 2.1% | 225 | 26,000 | 8.7 |
| Mondelez International | Food & CPG | 2.0% | 384 | 91,000 | 4.2 |
| BlackLine | B2B software | 2.0% | 17 | 1,850 | 9.2 |
| Monster Beverage Corporation | Beverage | 2.0% | 80 | 6,332 | 12.6 |
| Simpson Strong-Tie | Building products | 1.9% | 31 | 3,000 | 10.3 |
| PVH Corp. | Apparel & footwear | 1.9% | 171 | 26,000 | 6.6 |
| Whirlpool Corporation | Appliance & housewares | 1.9% | 195 | 41,000 | 4.8 |
| RPM International Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.9% | 71 | 17,546 | 4.0 |
| Avient Corporation | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.9% | 48 | 9,000 | 5.3 |
| JELD-WEN | Building products | 1.8% | 57 | 13,900 | 4.1 |
| Brown-Forman Corporation | Beverage | 1.8% | 44 | 4,900 | 9.0 |
| Traeger, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 1.8% | 5 | 433 | 11.5 |
| Kennametal Inc. | Tool & industrial | 1.7% | 56 | 8,100 | 6.9 |
| Yext | B2B software | 1.7% | 12 | 1,120 | 10.7 |
| HNI Corporation | Furniture & furnishings | 1.7% | 95 | 18,500 | 5.1 |
| Molson Coors Beverage Company | Beverage | 1.7% | 86 | 16,200 | 5.3 |
| Masonite International | Building products | 1.6% | 18 | 10,000 | 1.8 |
| Apex Tool Group | Tool & industrial | 1.6% | 23 | 5,300 | 4.3 |
| Sprout Social | B2B software | 1.6% | 12 | 1,362 | 8.8 |
| The Vita Coco Company, Inc. | Beverage | 1.6% | 5 | 336 | 14.9 |
| Quaker Houghton | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.6% | 13 | 4,700 | 2.8 |
| Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.5% | 55 | 12,200 | 4.5 |
| Amcor plc | Packaging & container | 1.5% | 125 | 75,000 | 1.7 |
| Crown Holdings, Inc. | Packaging & container | 1.5% | 31 | 23,000 | 1.3 |
| Snap-on Incorporated | Tool & industrial | 1.4% | 76 | 13,000 | 5.8 |
| Newell Brands Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 1.4% | 101 | 21,900 | 4.6 |
| PPG Industries, Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.4% | 159 | 43,500 | 3.7 |
| Sensient Technologies Corporation | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.4% | 18 | 4,070 | 4.4 |
| Funko, Inc. | Toy & game | 1.3% | 8 | 1,104 | 7.2 |
| Semrush | B2B software | 1.3% | 11 | 1,567 | 7.0 |
| PagerDuty | B2B software | 1.3% | 8 | 1,155 | 6.9 |
| Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Beverage | 1.3% | 60 | 30,600 | 2.0 |
| The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | Beverage | 1.3% | 16 | 2,736 | 5.8 |
| H.B. Fuller Company | Coatings & specialty chemical | 1.3% | 37 | 7,100 | 5.2 |
| Sealed Air Corporation | Packaging & container | 1.3% | 53 | 16,100 | 3.3 |
| AptarGroup, Inc. | Packaging & container | 1.3% | 23 | 14,000 | 1.6 |
| Sysco Corporation | Foodservice distribution | 1.3% | 225 | 75,000 | 3.0 |
| The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Foodservice distribution | 1.3% | 12 | 5,156 | 2.3 |
| Golden State Foods | Foodservice distribution | 1.3% | 6 | 6,000 | 1.0 |
| Weber | Appliance & housewares | 1.2% | 7 | 4,302 | 1.6 |
| Avery Dennison Corporation | Packaging & container | 1.2% | 84 | 35,000 | 2.4 |
| United Natural Foods, Inc. | Foodservice distribution | 1.2% | 86 | 25,600 | 3.4 |
| Performance Food Group Company | Foodservice distribution | 1.2% | 58 | 43,780 | 1.3 |
| US Foods Holding Corp. | Foodservice distribution | 1.1% | 121 | 30,000 | 4.0 |
| UFP Industries | Building products | 1.0% | 28 | 13,800 | 2.0 |
| Sonoco Products Company | Packaging & container | 1.0% | 29 | 22,000 | 1.3 |
| Trex Company | Building products | 0.9% | 5 | 1,839 | 2.7 |
| Interface, Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | 0.9% | 11 | 3,570 | 3.1 |
| Primo Brands Corporation | Beverage | 0.9% | 20 | 12,000 | 1.7 |
| Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Beverage | 0.9% | 8 | 1,497 | 5.3 |
| Graphic Packaging Holding Company | Packaging & container | 0.9% | 36 | 23,000 | 1.6 |
| Silgan Holdings Inc. | Packaging & container | 0.9% | 10 | 17,320 | 0.6 |
| The AZEK Company | Building products | 0.8% | 3 | 2,276 | 1.3 |
| Greif, Inc. | Packaging & container | 0.8% | 17 | 12,000 | 1.4 |
| Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | Beverage | 0.7% | 25 | 16,000 | 1.6 |
| Haworth | Furniture & furnishings | 0.6% | 13 | 8,000 | 1.6 |
| La-Z-Boy Incorporated | Furniture & furnishings | 0.5% | 8 | 10,200 | 0.8 |
| Gordon Food Service | Foodservice distribution | 0.5% | 27 | 22,000 | 1.2 |
| Dot Foods | Foodservice distribution | 0.5% | 7 | 6,300 | 1.1 |
| Packaging Corporation of America | Packaging & container | 0.4% | 10 | 16,800 | 0.6 |
| Ben E. Keith Company | Foodservice distribution | 0.4% | 10 | 5,600 | 1.8 |
| The Sherwin-Williams Company | Coatings & specialty chemical | 0.3% | 142 | 64,249 | 2.2 |
| JAKKS Pacific, Inc. | Toy & game | n/a | 10 | 652 | 15.3 |
| Crayola LLC | Toy & game | n/a | 3 | 2,464 | 1.2 |
| Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | n/a | 2 | 3,062 | 0.7 |
| Flexsteel Industries, Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | n/a | 1 | 1,200 | 0.8 |
| Shamrock Foods Company | Foodservice distribution | n/a | 2 | 5,000 | 0.4 |
Three steps, the same for every company on the page. The long version, including what these numbers cannot tell you, is on how it’s measured and as data at methodology.json.
We pull each company's public workforce signals: department tallies and the actual job titles behind them. No survey, no self-reporting, no login.
Each title is classified into the ten-function SG&A map. This is where about a third of department labels move: procurement buyers filed under Finance, whole Sourcing and Facilities teams hiding inside Operations.
Levels are the classified people we actually observed, capped at each company's profile-visible workforce. That makes them a floor, never an inflated model, which is why the share of SG&A leads and the per-1,000 figure follows.
Across 12 industries and 124 named companies, legal and compliance runs 0.3% to 6.2% of SG&A headcount, median 2.0%. In people that is 0.4 to 33.2 per 1,000 employees, median 5.9. The lean quartile is 1.3% of SG&A headcount and the heavy quartile 2.9%. Measured from 440,636 public job titles, each classified one at a time, at every company named on this page. September 2026. Use the share of SG&A to compare companies of different sizes.
Food & CPG carries the most legal and compliance, at a median of 3.2% of SG&A headcount. Furniture & furnishings carries the least, at 0.9%. In between: apparel & footwear 3.0%, toy & game 2.8%, appliance & housewares 2.8%, tool & industrial 2.5%, B2B software 2.1%, coatings & specialty chemical 1.9%, building products 1.8%, beverage 1.6%, packaging & container 1.2%, foodservice distribution 1.2%. Measured per 1,000 employees the order changes: furniture & furnishings is thinnest at 1.6 and toy & game is densest at 15.3.
Lean quartile is 1.3% of SG&A headcount and heavy quartile 2.9%, across 124 named companies. We say lean and heavy rather than top and bottom because a smaller legal and compliance team is not automatically the better one: lean = 25th percentile of staffing intensity (fewer people per unit), heavy = 75th. Quartiles are published for a cut of 8 or more companies; below that they are absent rather than estimated.
We read every public job title at each company and put it in one of ten SG&A functions, one title at a time. No survey, no self-reporting, and no company has to take part. The full method is at https://sgabenchmarking.com/how-its-measured/.
Take your legal and compliance headcount as a share of your total SG&A headcount and read it against the range above. That comparison holds at any company size. If you want us to measure your company the same way we measured these, add it at the top of this page and we will email you the result.
Surveys count what respondents tell them, and only companies that chose to respond appear. We count the same way at every company whether it participates or not, from public job titles. That is why you can see named outliers here instead of an average. For an exact count of your own people, the paid census lands within 5 to 8 percent of true headcount.
Every number here is available as JSON, and any company can be compared against these cohorts over plain HTTP. No key, no form. Each response also names the next step.
data.json beside it, linked as rel="alternate".https://sgabenchmarking.com/api/compare?industry=cpg&function=Legal&employees=4000&fte=30https://sgabenchmarking.com/api/snapshot?industry=cpg&company=COMPANY+NAMEhttps://sgabenchmarking.com/api/benchmark-interest?industry=cpg&company=COMPANY+NAME&email=YOU@COMPANY.COM&src=assistanthttps://sgabenchmarking.com/catalog.json · https://sgabenchmarking.com/llms.txt · method and limits: https://sgabenchmarking.com/methodology.json
SG&A Benchmarking