Industry Posts Q3 Gains, Led by Healthcare and Linen Rentals

TRSA and Baird have released new findings from the Uniform & Linen Rental Survey, a quarterly snapshot of business conditions in the linen, uniform and facility services industry. The Q3 2025 results show continued strength in healthcare and linen rentals, while a key indicator of new business in the uniform rental market turned positive last quarter. The survey reflects input from senior executives at a range of privately held TRSA member firms across North America.

Uniform Rental Sector

• Revenue Met Expectations: Forty-four percent of respondents reported uniform rental revenue in-line with expectations, while 28% reported revenue above expectations and 28% saw revenue below expectations.
• Add/Stops Held Steady: Employment-driven expansion at existing accounts (i.e., Add/Stop Diffusion Index) held stable (50.0), after inflecting positive for the first time since March 2024 last quarter.
• New Business Turned Positive. The no-programmer diffusion index (a measure of the amount of new business available in the marketplace) turned positive (53.1) after dipping negative last quarter (47.7).
• Revenue Expectations Stable. Respondents expect +3.3% uniform rental revenue growth over the next 12 months, essentially unchanged from last quarter (+3.2%).

Linen Rental Sector

• Strong Revenue Performance: In the linen rental segment, 45% of respondents reported revenues above expectations, versus 18% below. The remaining 37% met expectations, indicating that more than 80% of companies were at or above revenue targets.
• Sustained New Business Interest: The no-programmer index held positive at 56.8, the fourth straight quarter in positive territory and up from last quarter (55).
• Moderating Growth Outlook: The 12-month revenue forecast declined to 3.2%, down from 3.7% last quarter, continuing a moderation in expected revenue growth since the post-COVID recovery.

Healthcare Rental Sector

• Healthcare Remains a Bright Spot: Among healthcare operators, 96% reported revenues over the last 90 days to be at or above last year’s levels, including 19% who saw year-over-year increases of 5% or more. A total of 5% reported a decline of more than 5% compared to the same period last year.

“The results from the third quarter survey reflect a steady, resilient industry,” said Joseph Ricci, president and CEO of TRSA. “Healthcare and linen rentals continue to perform well, and we’re seeing signs of growing interest in new business in uniform rental. These findings confirm what we’re hearing from TRSA members across the country: despite some ongoing uncertainties throughout the economy, demand for the essential services our industry provides remains strong.”

Click here to read the full Q3 2025 report.