Across 12 industries and 126 named companies, sales runs 2.1% to 61.9% of SG&A headcount, median 31.1%. In people that is 2.5 to 435.5 per 1,000 employees, median 81.4. The lean quartile is 20.3% of SG&A headcount and the heavy quartile 37.3%. 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 | Sales share of SG&A, median | Range | Lean quartile | Heavy quartile | Per 1,000 employees, median | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foodservice distribution | 10 | 47.0% | 11.2% to 58.2% | 37.1% | 57.3% | 91.3 | September 2026 |
| Furniture & furnishings | 9 | 40.4% | 24.4% to 51.7% | 33.5% | 46.5% | 90.1 | September 2026 |
| Coatings & specialty chemical | 13 | 36.1% | 17.8% to 61.9% | 34.0% | 40.8% | 104.7 | September 2026 |
| Tool & industrial | 7 | 35.9% | 23.7% to 53.7% | n/a | n/a | 107.5 | July 2026 |
| Beverage | 12 | 35.8% | 20.3% to 47.0% | 32.8% | 39.5% | 107.3 | September 2026 |
| Building products | 9 | 35.2% | 20.5% to 40.6% | 32.7% | 38.2% | 73.0 | July 2026 |
| Appliance & housewares | 10 | 30.7% | 18.3% to 41.3% | 24.0% | 31.7% | 115.8 | September 2026 |
| Packaging & container | 12 | 25.1% | 11.8% to 41.3% | 17.3% | 33.8% | 30.8 | September 2026 |
| Food & CPG | 13 | 21.5% | 18.9% to 40.2% | 20.6% | 28.8% | 79.1 | July 2026 |
| B2B software | 10 | 21.0% | 6.7% to 31.1% | 16.5% | 21.8% | 103.4 | August 2026 |
| Toy & game | 9 | 19.0% | 7.3% to 26.6% | 16.5% | 19.9% | 124.8 | August 2026 |
| Apparel & footwear | 12 | 18.0% | 2.1% to 30.8% | 15.4% | 19.4% | 50.5 | August 2026 |
| Company | Industry | Share of SG&A | Observed contacts | Employees | Per 1,000 employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sherwin-Williams Company | Coatings & specialty chemical | 61.9% | 27,982 | 64,249 | 435.5 |
| Ben E. Keith Company | Foodservice distribution | 58.2% | 1,332 | 5,600 | 237.9 |
| The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Foodservice distribution | 57.9% | 534 | 5,156 | 103.6 |
| Gordon Food Service | Foodservice distribution | 57.3% | 3,412 | 22,000 | 155.1 |
| US Foods Holding Corp. | Foodservice distribution | 56.2% | 6,307 | 30,000 | 210.2 |
| Snap-on Incorporated | Tool & industrial | 53.7% | 2,868 | 13,000 | 220.6 |
| La-Z-Boy Incorporated | Furniture & furnishings | 51.7% | 918 | 10,200 | 90.0 |
| Shamrock Foods Company | Foodservice distribution | 50.0% | 167 | 5,000 | 33.4 |
| Bassett Furniture Industries | Furniture & furnishings | 48.7% | 321 | 1,194 | 268.8 |
| Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | Beverage | 47.0% | 1,660 | 16,000 | 103.8 |
| Virco Manufacturing Corporation | Furniture & furnishings | 46.5% | 67 | 731 | 91.7 |
| Ecolab Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 46.0% | 8,783 | 48,000 | 183.0 |
| Interface, Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | 44.5% | 516 | 3,570 | 144.5 |
| RPM International Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 44.0% | 1,683 | 17,546 | 95.9 |
| Sysco Corporation | Foodservice distribution | 43.9% | 7,845 | 75,000 | 104.6 |
| Primo Brands Corporation | Beverage | 43.3% | 991 | 12,000 | 82.6 |
| Traeger, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 41.3% | 114 | 433 | 263.3 |
| Packaging Corporation of America | Packaging & container | 41.3% | 961 | 16,800 | 57.2 |
| Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 40.8% | 1,521 | 12,200 | 124.7 |
| JELD-WEN | Building products | 40.6% | 1,277 | 13,900 | 91.9 |
| Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | 40.4% | 391 | 3,062 | 127.7 |
| Flexsteel Industries, Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | 40.3% | 75 | 1,200 | 62.5 |
| Apex Tool Group | Tool & industrial | 40.2% | 572 | 5,300 | 107.9 |
| Mondelez International | Food & CPG | 40.2% | 7,743 | 91,000 | 85.1 |
| The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | Beverage | 39.7% | 488 | 2,736 | 178.4 |
| Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Beverage | 39.3% | 1,855 | 30,600 | 60.6 |
| Simpson Strong-Tie | Building products | 38.9% | 618 | 3,000 | 206.0 |
| Performance Food Group Company | Foodservice distribution | 38.5% | 1,920 | 43,780 | 43.9 |
| Trex Company | Building products | 38.2% | 203 | 1,839 | 110.4 |
| PPG Industries, Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 37.8% | 4,443 | 43,500 | 102.1 |
| Sealed Air Corporation | Packaging & container | 37.4% | 1,529 | 16,100 | 95.0 |
| The AZEK Company | Building products | 37.3% | 133 | 2,276 | 58.4 |
| Dot Foods | Foodservice distribution | 37.1% | 498 | 6,300 | 79.0 |
| Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Beverage | 37.0% | 312 | 1,497 | 208.4 |
| Kennametal Inc. | Tool & industrial | 36.9% | 1,225 | 8,100 | 151.2 |
| National Beverage Corp. | Beverage | 36.8% | 63 | 1,677 | 37.6 |
| Avient Corporation | Coatings & specialty chemical | 36.4% | 942 | 9,000 | 104.7 |
| Avery Dennison Corporation | Packaging & container | 36.4% | 2,475 | 35,000 | 70.7 |
| Innospec Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 36.1% | 191 | 2,450 | 78.0 |
| Klein Tools | Tool & industrial | 35.9% | 204 | 2,500 | 81.6 |
| WD-40 Company | Coatings & specialty chemical | 35.8% | 171 | 714 | 239.5 |
| UFP Industries | Building products | 35.2% | 1,008 | 13,800 | 73.0 |
| The Hershey Company | Food & CPG | 35.1% | 2,290 | 20,000 | 114.5 |
| Molson Coors Beverage Company | Beverage | 34.8% | 1,797 | 16,200 | 110.9 |
| Quaker Houghton | Coatings & specialty chemical | 34.4% | 279 | 4,700 | 59.4 |
| H.B. Fuller Company | Coatings & specialty chemical | 34.0% | 938 | 7,100 | 132.1 |
| IDEAL Industries | Tool & industrial | 33.5% | 160 | 2,502 | 63.9 |
| Haworth | Furniture & furnishings | 33.5% | 721 | 8,000 | 90.1 |
| Monster Beverage Corporation | Beverage | 33.5% | 1,361 | 6,332 | 214.9 |
| Brown-Forman Corporation | Beverage | 33.4% | 803 | 4,900 | 163.9 |
| James Hardie | Building products | 32.7% | 216 | 7,500 | 28.8 |
| Gibraltar Industries | Building products | 32.7% | 213 | 2,300 | 92.6 |
| Sensient Technologies Corporation | Coatings & specialty chemical | 32.7% | 425 | 4,070 | 104.4 |
| MillerKnoll, Inc. | Furniture & furnishings | 32.4% | 542 | 10,544 | 51.4 |
| Stanley Black & Decker | Tool & industrial | 32.3% | 4,678 | 43,500 | 107.5 |
| The Vita Coco Company, Inc. | Beverage | 32.1% | 100 | 336 | 297.6 |
| Masonite International | Building products | 31.9% | 381 | 10,000 | 38.1 |
| YETI Holdings, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 31.9% | 249 | 1,390 | 179.1 |
| Weber | Appliance & housewares | 31.7% | 189 | 4,302 | 43.9 |
| Hormel Foods | Food & CPG | 31.6% | 1,029 | 20,000 | 51.5 |
| Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company | Appliance & housewares | 31.3% | 100 | 650 | 153.8 |
| Graphic Packaging Holding Company | Packaging & container | 31.2% | 1,227 | 23,000 | 53.3 |
| Sprout Social | B2B software | 31.1% | 232 | 1,362 | 170.3 |
| Newell Brands Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 31.0% | 2,216 | 21,900 | 101.2 |
| Carter's, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 30.8% | 845 | 15,400 | 54.9 |
| Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 30.4% | 660 | 3,000 | 220.0 |
| The Kraft Heinz Company | Food & CPG | 28.8% | 4,749 | 35,000 | 135.7 |
| Amcor plc | Packaging & container | 28.6% | 2,365 | 75,000 | 31.5 |
| Whirlpool Corporation | Appliance & housewares | 28.2% | 2,905 | 41,000 | 70.9 |
| Ashland Inc. | Coatings & specialty chemical | 27.8% | 392 | 2,900 | 135.2 |
| United Natural Foods, Inc. | Foodservice distribution | 27.8% | 1,950 | 25,600 | 76.2 |
| Greif, Inc. | Packaging & container | 27.4% | 570 | 12,000 | 47.5 |
| Domo | B2B software | 26.9% | 140 | 876 | 159.8 |
| Funko, Inc. | Toy & game | 26.6% | 168 | 1,104 | 152.2 |
| International Flavors & Fragrances | Food & CPG | 26.5% | 1,679 | 21,500 | 78.1 |
| HNI Corporation | Furniture & furnishings | 24.4% | 1,405 | 18,500 | 75.9 |
| Constellation Brands, Inc. | Beverage | 24.4% | 621 | 9,400 | 66.1 |
| Helen of Troy Limited | Appliance & housewares | 24.0% | 215 | 1,854 | 116.0 |
| Cricut, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 24.0% | 81 | 700 | 115.7 |
| Enerpac Tool Group | Tool & industrial | 23.7% | 168 | 2,100 | 80.0 |
| Crocs, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 23.3% | 568 | 8,010 | 70.9 |
| Sonoco Products Company | Packaging & container | 22.8% | 660 | 22,000 | 30.0 |
| Crayola LLC | Toy & game | 22.4% | 151 | 2,464 | 61.3 |
| The Campbell's Company | Food & CPG | 21.8% | 799 | 13,700 | 58.3 |
| Semrush | B2B software | 21.8% | 179 | 1,567 | 114.2 |
| Ingredion | Food & CPG | 21.5% | 695 | 11,200 | 62.1 |
| Olo | B2B software | 21.4% | 39 | 915 | 42.6 |
| Silgan Holdings Inc. | Packaging & container | 21.4% | 229 | 17,320 | 13.2 |
| Amplitude | B2B software | 21.2% | 97 | 795 | 122.0 |
| McCormick & Company | Food & CPG | 21.1% | 952 | 14,100 | 67.5 |
| The J.M. Smucker Company | Food & CPG | 20.9% | 650 | 8,000 | 81.2 |
| Yext | B2B software | 20.9% | 149 | 1,120 | 133.0 |
| General Mills | Food & CPG | 20.6% | 2,609 | 33,000 | 79.1 |
| Louisiana-Pacific | Building products | 20.5% | 209 | 4,300 | 48.6 |
| The Clorox Company | Food & CPG | 20.3% | 890 | 7,600 | 117.1 |
| MGP Ingredients, Inc. | Beverage | 20.3% | 26 | 617 | 42.1 |
| Church & Dwight | Food & CPG | 20.2% | 492 | 5,550 | 88.6 |
| The LEGO Group | Toy & game | 19.9% | 1,305 | 33,000 | 39.5 |
| Under Armour, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 19.4% | 530 | 14,100 | 37.6 |
| VF Corporation | Apparel & footwear | 19.3% | 2,057 | 26,000 | 79.1 |
| Columbia Sportswear Company | Apparel & footwear | 19.3% | 507 | 9,620 | 52.7 |
| AptarGroup, Inc. | Packaging & container | 19.3% | 342 | 14,000 | 24.4 |
| Spin Master Corp. | Toy & game | 19.1% | 400 | 3,000 | 133.3 |
| MGA Entertainment, Inc. | Toy & game | 19.0% | 177 | 1,200 | 147.5 |
| Conagra Brands | Food & CPG | 18.9% | 682 | 17,400 | 39.2 |
| PVH Corp. | Apparel & footwear | 18.4% | 1,621 | 26,000 | 62.3 |
| JAKKS Pacific, Inc. | Toy & game | 18.3% | 146 | 652 | 223.9 |
| SharkNinja, Inc. | Appliance & housewares | 18.3% | 340 | 4,143 | 82.1 |
| Cabot Corporation | Coatings & specialty chemical | 17.8% | 246 | 4,064 | 60.5 |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | Apparel & footwear | 17.6% | 1,204 | 19,000 | 63.4 |
| PagerDuty | B2B software | 17.3% | 107 | 1,155 | 92.6 |
| Mattel, Inc. | Toy & game | 16.5% | 1,198 | 31,000 | 38.6 |
| BlackLine | B2B software | 16.5% | 138 | 1,850 | 74.6 |
| Ralph Lauren Corporation | Apparel & footwear | 15.5% | 1,073 | 23,600 | 45.5 |
| Deckers Outdoor Corporation | Apparel & footwear | 15.4% | 289 | 6,000 | 48.2 |
| Oxford Industries, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 15.4% | 179 | 6,000 | 29.8 |
| Zuora | B2B software | 15.3% | 68 | 1,200 | 56.7 |
| O-I Glass, Inc. | Packaging & container | 15.3% | 296 | 19,000 | 15.6 |
| Tapestry, Inc. | Apparel & footwear | 14.3% | 844 | 19,000 | 44.4 |
| Crown Holdings, Inc. | Packaging & container | 14.2% | 287 | 23,000 | 12.5 |
| Hasbro, Inc. | Toy & game | 13.0% | 564 | 4,520 | 124.8 |
| Ball Corporation | Packaging & container | 11.8% | 462 | 16,000 | 28.9 |
| Golden State Foods | Foodservice distribution | 11.2% | 50 | 6,000 | 8.3 |
| The Pokémon Company International | Toy & game | 7.3% | 67 | 2,663 | 25.2 |
| nCino | B2B software | 6.7% | 32 | 1,684 | 19.0 |
| lululemon athletica inc. | Apparel & footwear | 2.1% | 97 | 39,000 | 2.5 |
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 126 named companies, sales runs 2.1% to 61.9% of SG&A headcount, median 31.1%. In people that is 2.5 to 435.5 per 1,000 employees, median 81.4. The lean quartile is 20.3% of SG&A headcount and the heavy quartile 37.3%. 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.
Foodservice distribution carries the most sales, at a median of 47.0% of SG&A headcount. Apparel & footwear carries the least, at 18.0%. In between: furniture & furnishings 40.4%, coatings & specialty chemical 36.1%, tool & industrial 35.9%, beverage 35.8%, building products 35.2%, appliance & housewares 30.7%, packaging & container 25.1%, food & CPG 21.5%, B2B software 21.0%, toy & game 19.0%. Measured per 1,000 employees the order changes: packaging & container is thinnest at 30.8 and toy & game is densest at 124.8.
Lean quartile is 20.3% of SG&A headcount and heavy quartile 37.3%, across 126 named companies. We say lean and heavy rather than top and bottom because a smaller sales 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 sales 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.
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=foodservice&function=Sales&employees=4000&fte=30https://sgabenchmarking.com/api/snapshot?industry=foodservice&company=COMPANY+NAMEhttps://sgabenchmarking.com/api/benchmark-interest?industry=foodservice&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