2026 Cross-Industry Compensation & Benefits Study
CDA’s Cross-Industry Compensation & Benefits Report helps distributor members understand how their company’s compensation and benefits programs compare against wholesale distribution companies nationwide. The report covers executive and employee compensation including salaries, bonuses, commissions and perks, as well as key fringe benefits such as health insurance, retirement programs and paid time off.
Today’s labor market presents both challenges and opportunities for employers as competition for skilled and critical talent remains strong across many roles and industries. Employees continue to evaluate not only pay, but the full value of their total rewards, including benefits, flexibility, and long-term career support, when deciding where to work and whether to stay. In this environment, providing a competitive and well-aligned total rewards package remains essential to attracting and retaining key employees. This study offers a practical framework and resources to help organizations evaluate the competitiveness of their compensation and benefits programs, identify potential gaps, and make informed decisions that support workforce and business objectives.
Complete the survey by March 16, 2026.
Participate now for survey access, instructions and supporting resources.
Results will be delivered by the end of May 2026.
Contact Lauren Herbert with any questions.
Benefits of Participation
The Cross-Industry Compensation & Benefits Report provides participants with the ability to compare their results against all responding companies as well as several additional data aggregations including industry focus, annual sales volume, number of employees, business seasonality, geographic region, state, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and other aggregates considered important. Additionally, data will be reported at the overall company level as well as the distribution center level.
Participants receive a comprehensive suite of professional benchmarking tools designed to support compensation decisions & workforce planning:
- Industry Comparison Report
Benchmark your organization against industry peers with comparisons to thousands of distributor locations across multiple industries.
- Personalized Company Compensation Report
Receive a confidential, company-specific report showing how your compensation levels compare to relevant market benchmarks.
- Downloadable Excel Benchmark File
Access an Excel workbook of key aggregate data, including state-level and MSA-level benchmarks where sample sizes allow.
- Searchable Online Results Application
Interact with the data using an intuitive, searchable platform that allows filtering and customized comparisons.
- Infographic Summary Report
A visually engaging, executive-ready summary highlighting key findings and trends.
- On-Demand Results Presentation
A prerecorded presentation explaining the results and offering guidance on how to interpret and apply the findings effectively.
NEW IN 2026: The survey will use an incumbent-based approach, collecting compensation data for individual employees matched to standardized job titles, rather than position-level averages. Incumbent-based results provide more accurate and comparable results across experience levels, locations, and company sizes, improving the overall quality and usefulness of the benchmarking data. The survey may be completed as a PDF, Excel file or online form.
Importance of Participating
Broad participation is essential to producing meaningful, reliable survey results. The more companies that contribute data, the stronger the benchmarking will be for the entire industry. In each year’s study, hundreds of distributors representing nearly 10,000 locations participate, creating a robust dataset for analysis.
By submitting your company’s data, you’ll also save time when reviewing the results. Your confidential Company-specific Compensation Report (CCR) places your figures directly beside relevant industry comparisons (all respondents, sector, sales volume, etc.), eliminating the need to sift through files or make manual calculations. Everything you need for quick, accurate analysis is presented side by side.
Business owners and HR managers can use this information to better their organization’s compensation practices and policies. The results of this study can be used to answer key questions such as:
- Are you leading, matching, or falling below the market in terms of your compensation offerings?
- How are peer organizations attracting and retaining employees?
- What workforce concerns or threats are most prevalent within your industry?
- Is your turnover rate aligned with market and industry benchmarks?
- How long does it typically take to fill open positions compared with others?
Questions?
Questions regarding this study can be directed to:
CDA: Lauren Herbert; (703) 208-1640
Industry Insights: comp@industryinsights.com; (614) 389-2100
Independent & Confidential Research
This study is conducted by Industry Insights, Inc., an independent third-party research firm serving trade and professional associations since 1980. All survey responses are submitted directly to Industry Insights and are kept strictly confidential. Individual company data are not shared with sponsoring associations or any other third party. Only aggregated results are reported.