Skip to content
<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >The Exhibitor Advocate Releases 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates, Revealing Four Years of Compounding Cost Pressure on Exhibit Marketers</span>

The Exhibitor Advocate Releases 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates, Revealing Four Years of Compounding Cost Pressure on Exhibit Marketers

 

May 12, 2026 — The Exhibitor Advocate, the only nonprofit association wholly dedicated to trade show exhibitor success, today released the 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates, the industry’s most comprehensive independent benchmark of material handling, labor, booth furnishings, internet access, and other essential exhibition costs across 23 major U.S. cities. Produced in partnership with Tradeshow Logic and independently audited by EVOLIO Marketing, this year’s report analyzes data from 224 publicly available exhibitor manuals and rate forms and, for the first time, traces how rates have moved across the four years the survey has been conducted.

The four-year picture is unambiguous: the cost of showing up is rising faster than inflation and faster than many event budgets can absorb. Material handling base rates have climbed 21.3% since 2022. Electrical overtime labor is up 41.2%. Booth flooring components have risen as much as 33.3%. As pricing pressure compounds across line items, exhibitors are making fundamentally different choices about where, how, and at what scale they participate.

 

Key Findings From the 2025 Data

  • Electrical outlet rates surged 18.4% — among the largest single-category increases in the survey’s history (since 2022). Electrical straight-time labor rose 6.4% and overtime climbed 12.5%.

  • Material handling base rates rose 9.5% in 2025, to an average of $2.28 per pound — more than three times the national inflation rate of 2.7%. Cumulative increase since 2022: 21.3%.

  • Booth flooring costs accelerated sharply in 2025 — carpet up 12.7%, rebond padding up 21.0%, and visqueen covering up 22.1%. For larger footprints, these increases compound quickly.

  • The geographic cost gap widened — the report’s basket-of-goods analysis shows exhibiting in New York costs approximately 75% more than in Atlanta, the widest spread the survey has recorded since 2022.

  • A rare bright spot: hanging sign and lift rates fell 15.3% on average — the largest single-category decline in the survey’s history (since 2022), driven by a shift away from blended pricing in several major markets.

 

First Look at Four Years of Rate Movement

This is the first edition of the survey to publish a multi-year category-by-category comparison. From 2022 to 2025, installation labor rose between 12.7% and 16.7% across straight, overtime, and double-time rates. Electrical overtime climbed 41.2%. Material handling secondary rates jumped 26.4%. The cumulative effect, line by line, is reshaping what it costs to participate in the same shows year over year, even when nothing else about the booth has changed.

 

Exhibitors Are Making Different Choices

Rising costs are not pushing exhibitors out of trade shows, but they are forcing harder, more selective decisions. According to The Evolving Landscape of Event Marketing, The Exhibitor Advocate’s companion research with EVOLIO Marketing, 80% of exhibitors now cite cost management as their top challenge, and 55% say increased costs outweigh the value of the investment at some events. In response:

  • 64% are scaling back their overall presence at events

  • 55% are limiting onsite staff attendance • 52% are re-evaluating event and exhibit budgets

  • 45% are scaling back sponsorships

  • 40% are decreasing participation in shows altogether

Exhibitors are also redirecting investment: 43% now say holding offsite activities is preferred over exhibiting at some events, and 66% consider scheduled in-person meetings to be more effective than trade shows for certain objectives, up sharply from 44% the prior year.

 

A Call for Awareness and Collaboration

“Exhibitors are facing a relentless climb in costs, and four consecutive years of data make it impossible to dismiss as a temporary pressure. What this report should do is wake up the entire industry — show organizers, venues, general contractors, and suppliers — to the reality their exhibitors are navigating every day. No two shows are alike, and no two exhibitor bases have the same needs, which is exactly why awareness and collaboration matter so much. When organizers work with their service partners armed with this data and a clear understanding of what their specific exhibitors require, that’s when we move from rising costs to shared value.”

— Jessica Sibila, Executive Director, The Exhibitor Advocate

 

Why High-Quality Data From Show Organizers Matters

“In a landscape where exhibitors are increasingly evaluating cost-per-qualified lead and pipeline contribution, transparent, high-quality data is becoming essential for maintaining exhibitor confidence and justifying event investment. The organizers who lean into this kind of openness are the ones whose exhibitors will continue to find real value in showing up.”

— Joe Federbush, President & Chief Strategist, EVOLIO Marketing

 

The Show Organizer Perspective

“As show organizers, we have a responsibility to continually increase the value exhibitors receive from participating in our events. That means creating stronger engagement opportunities and better buyer access, while also working collaboratively with our partners, suppliers, and vendors to better manage costs and improve the exhibitor experience.”

— BJ Enright, CEO, Tradeshow Logic

 

Why Every Exhibitor and Show Organizer Needs This Report

The 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates is the only independently audited, multi-year benchmark of its kind. In the current cost environment, it has moved from a useful reference, to an essential negotiating and budgeting tool. The exhibitors and organizers who do not have this data at the table are negotiating in the dark.

For exhibitors, this report is the difference between guessing and knowing.

  • Stop overpaying. Compare every line on your show invoice to the national average for that city and walk into your next conversation armed with the data.

  • Pick the right shows. Use city-to-city differentials to forecast true total cost before you commit to space, not after the invoice arrives.

  • Right-size every booth. Model the real cost of a 10x10 versus a 20x20 in New York versus Atlanta and protect ROI before the contract is signed.  

  • Defend your budget. Bring your leadership independent, audited data when you ask for the resources your event program needs.

For show organizers, this report is your most powerful negotiating instrument.

  • Negotiate more effectively. Set target exhibitor rates before you sign the next contract and use national benchmarks to push back on pricing that can’t be explained.

  • Protect your renewal rates. Exhibitors who feel gouged don’t come back. The shows that visibly manage exhibitor costs are the shows that fill the floor next year.

  • Win destination decisions. Use city-by-city cost differentials to make a defensible, data-backed case for where your event should live.

  • Lead the transparency conversation. Show your service providers and venues where your costs sit relative to the industry and turn that conversation into action.

Pricing that can’t be explained is pricing that will be cut. The organizers and exhibitors who ground their decisions in this benchmark will be the ones still thriving in the next era of exhibitions. The ones who don’t will be left explaining why.

 

Availability

The 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates is available now to everyone at The Exhibitor Advocate website for $250. Education Subscribers ($299/year) receive complimentary access as part of their subscription. Visit www.exhibitoradvocacy.com to purchase the report or learn more about Education Subscriber benefits.

About The Exhibitor Advocate

The Exhibitor Advocate is the only nonprofit association wholly dedicated to trade show exhibitor success. We’re exhibitors’ eyes on the industry and advocate for them in this everchanging landscape, ensuring a positive, collaborative relationship with all stakeholders through education, consultation, and research. Learn more about our efforts to build a better trade show industry at http://www.exhibitoradvocacy.com/.

 

About Tradeshow Logic

Tradeshow Logic is a full-service show management and event solutions company with 25+ years of experience delivering end-to-end solutions for associations and corporate organizers. Recognized for its exhibitor-first model, TL helps organizers create more buyer-seller connections, increase engagement, improve cost efficiency and elevate the overall event experience. As a U.S. subsidiary of Messe Muenchen, one of the world’s leading exhibition companies, TL combines deep U.S. market expertise with global scale and resources to accelerate event performance and long-term growth. 

 

About EVOLIO

Marketing EVOLIO Marketing is a strategic research and intelligence firm specializing in the measurement and optimization of exhibits, events, sponsorships, and experiential marketing. Through attendee and exhibitor research, proprietary benchmarking, and ROI-focused performance frameworks, EVOLIO helps organizations quantify impact, improve accountability, and make more defensible event investment decisions.

###