HVAC Distribution Location Count

HVAC distribution location count measures the number of physical distribution locations serving HVAC/R contractors.

Watsco operated 695 locations at year-end 2025. The footprint spanned 43 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, with additional export coverage in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and served more than 130,000 active contractors across replacement and new-construction markets.

The roll-forward shows more activity than the net count

Watsco ended both 2023 and 2024 with 690 locations, but the flat year-end count did not mean the network stood still. During 2024, the company opened 9 locations, acquired 2, and closed 11.

In 2025, Watsco opened 7 locations, acquired 10, and closed 12, producing the year-end total of 695. The arithmetic is:

690 + 7 opened + 10 acquired - 12 closed = 695 locations.

That distinction matters because a small net change can mask meaningful openings, acquisitions, relocations, and closures. Location count is a stock measure of the footprint at a point in time, not a direct measure of organic sales growth.

Acquisitions can change network density quickly

Watsco's buy-and-build strategy makes acquisition context especially important. In June 2026, the company acquired Jackson Supply, which brought 25 locations, about 5,000 contractor customers, and approximately $230M of 2025 sales across Sunbelt markets.

Watsco also said 13 companies acquired in recent years represented about 145 locations and $1.8B of annualized sales by Q2 2026. The strategy is not simply to collect branches. Watsco describes building acquired businesses through additional locations, products, supplier relationships, and its technology platforms.

The 25 Jackson locations should not simply be added to the 695 year-end 2025 figure to declare an exact current companywide total. Openings, closures, and other footprint changes can occur between reporting dates, so the most defensible count remains the latest total the company actually reports.

Physical reach complements digital ordering

Contractors often need equipment and repair parts quickly because heating and cooling failures are time-sensitive. A dense network can improve product availability and shorten travel or delivery times. Branches remain important even as contractors increasingly use mobile and e-commerce tools.

Watsco's digital tools increasingly sit on top of that physical footprint rather than replacing it. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2026, Watsco said e-commerce sales reached $2.7B, or 37% of sales, and more than 70,000 contractors, installers, and technicians were engaging digitally with the company. Its HVAC Pro+ tools expose real-time inventory, pricing, product information, and technical help across the network.

Read location count with e-commerce sales mix and active contractor count. The physical footprint shows service reach; the digital metrics show how customers use that reach.

Same-store comparisons use a different perimeter

Watsco's same-store measures generally exclude locations opened, acquired, or closed during the preceding 12 months, unless a new location is close enough to an existing location to qualify under the company's methodology. In other words, a larger network can raise reported revenue while being excluded from same-store growth.

For investors, more locations are not automatically better. Productivity depends on local demand, sales density, inventory turns, supplier coverage, service levels, and the economics of each market. Location count does not measure same-store growth or branch productivity by itself; it measures network scale and density, not revenue or profit per location.

Primary sources:

• Watsco 2025 Form 10-K
• Watsco Q2 2026 SEC-filed earnings release

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