U.S. MSP Market Report 2026: 2,698 Providers, Security Stacks, CMMC & Industry Trends

Last updated: May 2026

TL;DR — U.S. MSP Market Report 2026

• 2,698 U.S. managed service providers indexed nationwide; the U.S. managed services market is projected to hit $106.8 billion in 2026.
• Identity abuse is the dominant 2026 attack vector — ConnectWise's 2026 MSP Threat Report shows attackers exploiting trusted identities and remote-access tools instead of novel exploits.
• CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 begins November 10, 2026 — any MSP touching DoD CUI must hold its own Level 2 certification, and only ~80 C3PAOs exist to assess 80,000 contractors.
• SOC 2 + ISO 27001 + CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark (177 controls) are the three credentials buyers now treat as table stakes.

State of the U.S. MSP market in 2026

The U.S. managed services market is on pace for $106.8 billion in 2026, inside a global MSP market that Fortune Business Insights values at $370.5 billion and projects will reach $1.1 trillion by 2034 at a 14.8% CAGR. North America holds roughly 43% of that global pie — about $157 billion in 2026 revenue per Canalys.

Managed security is the engine. It's the largest segment at 31% market share and the fastest-growing at ~18% annual growth, outpacing the overall 14% MSP growth rate. Canalys forecasts MSP security revenue at $595 billion in 2026 globally with MDR and XDR leading the charge.

The reference benchmark for individual MSP economics is the 2025 Channel Partners MSP 501, which reported $29.4M average revenue per ranked MSP and $16M average recurring revenue — up 14% year over year. Aggregate MSP 501 revenue hit nearly $25 billion with 19% average growth in recurring revenue.

Three forces are reshaping the 2026 landscape. First, identity abuse has overtaken exploit-driven attacks as the dominant MSP threat vector — ConnectWise's 2026 report describes attackers running "scan, steal, encrypt" lifecycles via stolen credentials and remote-access artifacts. Second, CMMC 2.0 enforcement is creating a hard split between DoD-capable MSPs and everyone else, with Phase 2 kicking in November 10, 2026. Third, private equity-driven consolidation continues at the vendor layer (Kaseya/Datto, Thoma Bravo's ConnectWise) and increasingly at the MSP layer itself.

Buyer sentiment has shifted. ConnectWise's State of SMB Cybersecurity shows 73% of SMBs aren't fully confident in their MSP's ability to defend them from a cyberattack, and nearly half would switch providers for stronger cybersecurity. That trust gap is the single largest churn risk in the category right now.

Provider tracking: 2,698 indexed nationwide

Our mspfinders.com directory indexes 2,698 U.S. managed service providers as of May 2026 — pulled from Google Maps, MSP 501 lists, and regional channel directories.

State coverage gap (disclosed upfront). 2,640 of 2,698 records (98%) currently have no confirmed state assignment. The MSP industry is the weakest niche in our 30-site portfolio for state-level metadata, for three structural reasons: (1) MSPs are B2B and rarely list physical addresses on Google Maps the way consumer businesses do; (2) many operate from co-working spaces or remote-first; (3) regional and remote-serving MSPs deliberately obscure home offices to avoid signaling small footprint to enterprise buyers.

Of the 58 records (2%) with confirmed state, the top 5 are California (20), Texas (9), Oklahoma (6), New York (3), and Washington (3). This subset is not representative — it skews toward MSPs that operate physical brick-and-mortar offices large enough to register in mapping data. Treat it as a sample, not a census. We're piloting a domain-WHOIS + LinkedIn cross-reference pass for Q3 2026 to backfill state assignment.

What the dataset is reliable for, even with the state gap:

• Total provider count (2,698) as a national-floor estimate — actual U.S. MSP population is likely 30,000–40,000 firms per CompTIA channel surveys, so we cover the larger and more discoverable tier.
• Vertical specialization — captured in our /cities/ and category pages (healthcare, legal, financial services, defense).
• Service mix — RMM, PSA, security stack, co-managed IT, full-service.
• Price signal — 2,614 of 2,698 (97%) sit in the $$ tier, 5 (0.2%) at $$$, and 79 (3%) unknown. MSP pricing is notoriously unpublished on Google because contracts are quote-driven, so this signal is intentionally coarse.

For specific verticals where state matters less than service depth, our directory is more useful than the headline number suggests. See Best MSP Directory by City: Top IT Companies Near You and the Best MSPs in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and Miami city guides.

The pivot to make as a reader: this report isn't useful as a state-rank, it's useful as a structural map of the U.S. MSP industry shape in 2026 — what credentials buyers should require, what tools providers actually run on, what consolidation pressure is doing to vendor pricing, and where DoD compliance enforcement is heading.

Security stack standards in 2026

The U.S. MSP security stack in 2026 is defined by four overlapping frameworks: NIST CSF 2.0, CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model 2.0, SOC 2, and ISO 27001. None are legally mandatory for private-sector MSPs, but together they're now the de facto baseline that mid-market and enterprise buyers expect on RFP responses.

NIST CSF 2.0

In February 2024, NIST released Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 — the first major update since 2018. The headline change: a new Govern function added alongside the existing Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover pillars. Govern addresses accountability for cybersecurity decisions, risk management integration, and — most relevant for MSPs — supply chain risk governance.

CSF 2.0 also removed the "critical infrastructure" framing and expanded coverage to all businesses. For MSPs, the practical implication is that clients increasingly expect their provider to (a) demonstrate CSF 2.0 alignment in their own operations and (b) help the client implement it across their estate. ConnectWise's NIST CSF 2.0 guide for MSPs frames Govern as the function that adds new client scrutiny of MSPs themselves.

CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model 2.0

CISA's Zero Trust Maturity Model Version 2.0 (April 2023) structures Zero Trust around five pillars — Identity, Devices, Networks, Applications/Workloads, Data — plus three cross-cutting capabilities (Visibility & Analytics, Automation & Orchestration, Governance). It introduces four maturity stages: Traditional, Initial, Advanced, Optimal.

The model is mandatory for federal agencies under EO 14028 but is also being adopted as a yardstick by state governments, defense contractors, and regulated verticals. MSPs serving federal-adjacent clients should be able to map their service catalog to ZTMM pillar progression.

SOC 2 and ISO 27001

SOC 2 is the American Institute of CPAs framework that audits how a service provider manages customer information across five trust principles. Type I attests at a point in time; Type II covers 3–12 months of sustained adherence. Type II is the only version mid-market buyers take seriously.

ISO 27001 is the international information security management system standard — more rigid than SOC 2 and required by many European clients and regulated verticals. Per ISMS.online's 2025 State of Information Security survey, nearly all respondents listed achieving or maintaining ISO 27001 or SOC 2 as a top priority.

The pattern that's emerging in 2026: SOC 2 Type II for North American mid-market sales, ISO 27001 for international and regulated, and both for any MSP selling above the SMB tier. See MSP Cybersecurity: What Protection Should Be Included? for the per-service breakdown.

CMMC 2.0 for DoD-serving MSPs

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 is the single largest regulatory event reshaping the MSP industry in 2026. Phase 2 begins November 10, 2026, and brings mandatory C3PAO (Certified CMMC Third Party Assessor Organization) certification for any contract that touches Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).

What the levels mean

• Level 1 — 17 basic safeguards from FAR 52.204-21, covers Federal Contract Information (FCI). Self-attestation.
• Level 2 — Aligns with NIST SP 800-171's 110 practices across 14 domains. Required for any contract involving CUI. Most CMMC-relevant contracts land here. Third-party assessment by a C3PAO required, with no partial credit.
• Level 3 — Subset of NIST SP 800-172 enhanced security practices. Government-led assessment. Reserved for the highest-sensitivity contracts.

Why MSPs are in scope

The DoD rule defines a category called External Service Providers (ESPs) that includes any third party that processes, stores, or transmits FCI/CUI on behalf of a defense contractor — or has the ability to affect the security of systems containing it. That definition pulls in nearly any MSP administering Microsoft 365, managing endpoints, monitoring logs, handling backups, supporting users, or accessing systems with CUI.

Practical consequence: any MSP working with a Level 2 contractor must itself hold a Level 2 final certification. There's no inheritance from the contractor — the MSP is independently audited.

Capacity and cost reality

The bottleneck is brutal. Roughly 80 authorized C3PAOs serve approximately 80,000 contractors requiring Level 2 certification. Assessment fees are climbing from $31,000–$76,000 toward $75,000–$150,000 by late 2026 as wait times exceed 18 months for new clients. A gap assessment plus 9–12 months of remediation is the typical readiness path.

For MSPs that want a piece of the defense channel, the math is harsh but the moat is real. Once certified, a CMMC Level 2 MSP can charge a verticalized premium — the $200–$400+ per user per month tier mentioned in the pricing section is largely about CMMC, HIPAA, and PCI clients. See Kaseya's CMMC compliance guide for MSPs for the implementation runbook.

Channel certifications that actually move deals

Three certification ecosystems matter to MSP buyers in 2026: Microsoft Solutions Partner designations, CompTIA Trustmarks, and the vendor-specific stacks (Cisco, AWS, Fortinet).

Microsoft Solutions Partner designations

Microsoft retired the old Gold/Silver partner program in October 2022 and replaced it with six Solutions Partner designations: Data & AI (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Business Applications, Modern Work, and Security.

Each designation requires at least 70 Partner Capability Score (PCS) points across three dimensions: performance (net customer adds), skilling (certified employees), and customer success (usage and workload growth). Most MSPs target Modern Work and Security first because they map directly to Microsoft 365 and Defender deployments.

Key 2026 changes from Microsoft's May 2026 partner announcements:

• The Teamwork Deployment specialization is being renamed Secure AI Productivity (effective April 29, 2026) to reflect Copilot-era security requirements.
• All four Security specializations now require third-party audits — Microsoft is matching the rigor of Azure specialization audits.
• Multiple Azure specializations are being consolidated into broader categories.

CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark

The CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark (launched March 2023) is the MSP-channel-specific equivalent of SOC 2. It requires demonstrated compliance with 177 cybersecurity safeguards mapped to CIS Critical Security Controls, ISO/IEC 27001, NIST SP 800-171, HIPAA, and the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation.

The program has three milestone paths: readiness assessment with gap analysis, self-attestation review of a subset of controls, and the full audit for accreditation. The Trustmark is the cleanest single signal a SMB buyer can use to filter MSPs — it's narrower than ISO 27001 and faster to verify.

Vendor stacks

Beyond Microsoft and CompTIA, the certifications that actually move enterprise deals are:

• AWS Partner Network tiers (Select → Advanced → Premier) with specialty Competencies in Security, DevOps, Data & Analytics.
• Cisco Powered Services for managed network and managed security (MNS, MSSP).
• Fortinet Engage Partner Program Advanced and Expert tiers.
• CrowdStrike Falcon Partner tiers for endpoint and identity.
• HIPAA / HITRUST for healthcare MSPs.

For city-specific certified-MSP lists, see Best MSPs in Houston, Phoenix, and Las Vegas: 2026 Guide.

Pricing models

MSP pricing in 2026 has crystallized around three dominant models — per-user, per-device, and flat-rate "all-you-can-eat" — with hybrid arrangements increasingly common for mid-market deals.

Per-user pricing (dominant in 2026)

Per-user is the most popular model in 2026, used by roughly 22% of MSPs as their default per ChannelPro's pricing comparison. Typical 2026 ranges:

• $70–$150 per user per month at 1–50 seats (SMB tier).
• $100–$250 per user per month at 75–150 seats (lower mid-market).
• $200–$400+ per user per month in regulated verticals (healthcare, finance, defense) with full security and compliance bundled.

The advantage: simple to quote, scales with the customer's headcount, easy for clients to budget. The disadvantage: punishes BYOD-heavy environments where a single user has 4+ devices.

Per-device pricing

Per-device pricing covers each managed endpoint at a fixed monthly rate. Typical 2026 ranges:

• $65–$150 per workstation per month.
• $250–$600 per server per month.
• $50–$125 per network device per month.

This model is preferred in environments with predictable hardware fleets (financial services, regulated manufacturing) and where per-user undercharges due to multi-device users.

Flat-rate "all-you-can-eat"

The flat-rate model bills one fixed monthly invoice for unlimited in-scope support. It's the easiest to sell and the hardest to price correctly — without detailed upfront scoping, a high-demand client can erase the margin on the contract.

It works best for MSPs that have strong historical ticket data on similar clients and can underwrite the variance. It fails most often on first-year contracts with new clients whose actual support load deviates from the discovery estimate.

Hidden cost reality

The average MSP charges $125–$200 per user per month according to multiple industry surveys, but Heimdal's MSP pricing playbook notes that hidden costs (project work, onboarding, after-hours, hardware procurement margin) can increase the actual annual spend by 30–50% above the contracted base. Buyers should always model total-cost-of-ownership across a 24-month horizon, not the monthly base rate.

For the deeper breakdown, see Managed IT Services Pricing Models: Per-User vs Per-Device vs Flat Fee and How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost in 2026?.

The RMM and PSA tool ecosystem

Every MSP's operational backbone is two pieces of software: RMM (Remote Monitoring & Management — the agent installed on every managed endpoint) and PSA (Professional Services Automation — the ticketing, billing, and contract management system).

The RMM category has consolidated around eight platforms in 2026 — NinjaOne, Syncro, Atera, ConnectWise RMM, N-able N-central, Datto RMM, SuperOps, and Kaseya VSA 10. Pricing splits into two camps: per-endpoint (NinjaOne, Datto, ConnectWise, N-able, Kaseya) and per-technician (Syncro, Atera, SuperOps).

Market position (as of mid-2026)

• NinjaOne has been voted the #1 RMM tool for 23 consecutive quarters in the ChannelPro Readers' Choice survey and leads on raw endpoint scale. Strong UI, fast deployment, expanding into patch management and backup.
• ConnectWise (PSA + RMM + Manage) remains the de facto enterprise standard for MSPs over 50 technicians despite the Thoma Bravo private equity ownership and the steady price escalation it's brought.
• Kaseya VSA 10 rebuilt the platform after the Datto acquisition; targets the SMB-MSP tier with aggressive bundling via IT Complete.
• Atera wins on simple per-technician pricing (~$129/tech/month) and is the SMB-MSP entry point.
• SuperOps is the newest unified PSA+RMM, built around agentic AI and modern UX — gaining share fast in the 5–25 technician segment.
• Syncro sits between Atera and ConnectWise — per-tech pricing with deeper PSA than Atera.
• N-able N-central and Datto RMM anchor the legacy mid-market install base.

PSA tools

The PSA market is narrower: ConnectWise PSA (Manage), Autotask (Datto/Kaseya), HaloPSA, Syncro PSA, and increasingly SuperOps PSA. ConnectWise and Autotask own the enterprise install base; HaloPSA is the newer-architecture challenger gaining traction.

Affiliate context

For MSPs evaluating tools, our reviews of Atera RMM, NinjaOne, and SuperOps include detailed pricing, feature, and integration breakdowns.

M&A consolidation: the 2026 landscape

Private equity has reshaped the MSP software stack and is now pulling MSPs themselves into the same playbook.

Vendor consolidation

The defining MSP-software event of the last decade was Kaseya's $6.2 billion acquisition of Datto in June 2022, funded by an equity consortium led by Insight Partners with TPG, Temasek, and Sixth Street participating. The combined entity now employs 3,700+ people and is the largest MSP-focused software vendor in the world.

Channel reception was openly hostile. Datto's 18,500 MSP customers reacted mostly negatively, and Canalys reported widespread concern about price escalation and product roadmap dilution. Three years in, the concerns have partially materialized — Kaseya's IT Complete bundling has raised effective per-MSP spend, but the platforms have remained functionally distinct.

ConnectWise was acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2019 — founder Arnie Bellini explicitly chose private equity over an IPO. Thoma Bravo also holds positions in Barracuda, SolarWinds, and previously Continuum, giving it the deepest MSP-software portfolio in private equity.

The 2026 reality: two PE-backed mega-vendors (Kaseya, ConnectWise) plus a long tail of independent platforms (NinjaOne, SuperOps, Atera, Syncro, HaloPSA). No serious IPO is on the public calendar for ConnectWise or Kaseya despite years of speculation; PE exits are likely via secondary sale to larger PE shops or strategic acquirers.

MSP-level roll-ups

The same private equity playbook is now active at the MSP service-provider layer itself. Multiple platform aggregators (Evergreen Services Group, New Charter Technologies, Thrive, Logically) are acquiring 4–12 regional MSPs per year and rolling them under a unified brand or holding structure. The thesis: combine 10–20 MSPs of $5–15M ARR into a $100M+ aggregated entity with shared back-office, shared security stack, and an exit valuation 2–3x higher than the bolt-on prices paid.

This is the single biggest structural shift in the MSP service-provider layer of the past five years. See MSP Industry Trends 2026: AI, Automation, and Consolidation and Managed Service Providers Trends and Predictions for the in-depth treatments.

How to evaluate an MSP in 2026

The 2026 MSP evaluation checklist comes down to six things: certifications, security stack, incident response SLA, pricing transparency, vertical experience, and reference customers. Each takes 10 minutes to verify before signing.

SOC 2 Type II verification. Ask for the latest Type II report (not Type I, not the cover letter, the actual report). It should cover the last 12 months and include any noted exceptions. Type I-only is a yellow flag for any MSP above the smallest SMB tier.

Cybersecurity certifications. Match the framework to the vertical. Healthcare MSPs should hold HIPAA + HITRUST. DoD-serving MSPs should be CMMC Level 2 certified or on a documented path. SMB-focused MSPs should at minimum hold the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark or be on the readiness path.

Incident response SLA. Read the actual SLA document, not the marketing page. Key fields: time-to-acknowledge (target: ≤15 minutes for P1), time-to-respond (≤1 hour for P1), and incident response retainer (whether forensic IR is bundled or a $500/hour add-on). See MSP Response Time SLAs: What's Reasonable to Expect? for benchmarks.

Tool stack disclosure. Ask which RMM, PSA, EDR, backup, and email security tools the MSP uses. A reluctant or vague answer means either lack of standardization or vendor-lock-in risk. The 2024 Kaseya VSA breach and the 2021 Kaseya supply-chain ransomware event both flowed through MSP tooling — knowing your MSP's stack is a real risk-management requirement.

Reference customers in your vertical. Three references at similar size and vertical, ideally with at least one that's been a customer for 3+ years. Ask about the worst incident they've worked through with this MSP and how it was handled.

Pricing transparency. Get the per-user, per-device, or flat-fee model in writing with explicit scope of "in-scope" vs project work. The 30–50% hidden-cost gap is mostly created by ambiguity here.

For the comprehensive evaluation script, see How to Evaluate an MSP: 15 Questions to Ask Before Signing and MSP SLA Guide: What to Expect in Your Service Agreement.

Comparison table: SOC 2 vs ISO 27001 vs CMMC Level 2

The three certifications buyers most commonly look for on MSP RFPs are SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and (for DoD-adjacent work) CMMC Level 2. They overlap heavily but answer different buyer questions.

Note on the rightmost column: Because 98% of our 2,698 directory entries lack confirmed state-level metadata, we can't reliably surface per-credential counts at this time. The estimated holding rates are from CompTIA and ChannelE2E channel-survey aggregates, not from our directory. We're building a credentials-enrichment pass for Q3 2026.

FAQ

How big is the U.S. MSP market in 2026?

The U.S. managed services market is projected to reach $106.8 billion in 2026 inside a global market of $370.5 billion, per Fortune Business Insights. North America accounts for roughly 43% of global revenue — about $157 billion in 2026 — and Canalys forecasts MSP security revenue alone at $595 billion globally by year-end. The growth rate is 13–14% annually, almost double the overall IT industry growth rate. Among ranked U.S. MSPs in the Channel Partners MSP 501, average annual revenue is $29.4M with $16M recurring.

What is CMMC 2.0 and which MSPs need it?

CMMC 2.0 is the Department of Defense's cybersecurity certification program for contractors. Level 2 — required for any contract touching Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) — aligns with NIST SP 800-171's 110 practices and requires C3PAO third-party assessment. Any MSP that processes, stores, transmits, or has the ability to affect the security of a DoD contractor's CUI systems must independently hold Level 2 certification as an External Service Provider (ESP). Phase 2 enforcement begins November 10, 2026. With only ~80 authorized C3PAOs serving 80,000+ contractors, wait times now exceed 18 months. See Kaseya's CMMC compliance guide for the MSP-specific implementation runbook.

What's the difference between SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for MSPs?

SOC 2 is the AICPA's North American framework auditing a service provider's handling of customer data across five trust principles; Type II covers 3–12 months of sustained adherence and is what mid-market buyers actually request. ISO 27001 is the international standard for Information Security Management Systems — more rigid, broader scope, required by many European clients and regulated verticals. The 2026 pattern: SOC 2 Type II for North American mid-market sales, ISO 27001 for international and regulated, and both for any MSP selling above the SMB tier. Per ISMS.online's 2025 survey, nearly all MSPs list one or both as a top-priority initiative.

What's the average price for managed IT services in 2026?

The average MSP charges $125–$200 per user per month for general SMB managed IT services in 2026, with the per-user model used by ~22% of MSPs as their default. The full range: $70–$150 per user/month at 1–50 seats, $100–$250 at 75–150 seats, and $200–$400+ in regulated verticals (healthcare, finance, defense) with full security and compliance bundled. Hidden costs (project work, onboarding, after-hours, procurement margin) typically add 30–50% to the contracted base over a 24-month horizon. See How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost in 2026? for the full breakdown.

What is NIST CSF 2.0 and why does it matter for MSPs?

NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 (released February 2024) is the first major update to the federal cybersecurity framework since 2018. The headline change is a new Govern function added alongside Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover — addressing accountability, supply chain risk, and risk management integration. For MSPs, Govern adds new client scrutiny: clients increasingly expect their MSP to demonstrate CSF 2.0 alignment in their own operations and help implement it across the client estate. CSF 2.0 also removed the "critical infrastructure" framing and now applies to all businesses. It's not legally mandatory for private MSPs, but it's the de facto baseline mid-market buyers expect on RFPs.

What's the difference between an MSP and an MSSP?

An MSP (Managed Service Provider) handles general IT operations: endpoint management, help desk, network, backup, email, light security. An MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) is security-specialized: 24/7 SOC monitoring, MDR/XDR, threat hunting, incident response, compliance program management. The 2026 reality is convergence — most successful MSPs over $5M ARR now operate an MSSP arm or partner with a pure-play MSSP for security depth. Per Canalys, managed security is the largest MSP segment at 31% market share and growing 18% annually, well above the 14% overall MSP growth rate.

Which RMM and PSA tools do most U.S. MSPs use in 2026?

The U.S. RMM category has consolidated around eight platforms: NinjaOne, Syncro, Atera, ConnectWise RMM, N-able N-central, Datto RMM, SuperOps, and Kaseya VSA 10. NinjaOne has been voted #1 in ChannelPro Readers' Choice for 23 consecutive quarters. ConnectWise remains the enterprise standard for MSPs over 50 technicians. For PSA, ConnectWise PSA (Manage), Autotask (Datto/Kaseya), and HaloPSA dominate, with SuperOps gaining share in the unified PSA+RMM segment. Pricing splits between per-endpoint (NinjaOne, Datto, ConnectWise, N-able, Kaseya) and per-technician (Syncro, Atera, SuperOps). See Atera RMM Review for a representative deep dive.

What's the biggest cybersecurity threat to MSPs in 2026?

Identity abuse has overtaken vulnerability exploitation as the dominant 2026 attack vector against MSP-managed environments. ConnectWise's 2026 MSP Threat Report shows attackers no longer relying primarily on novel exploits — instead they exploit trusted identities, legitimate system tools, remote access infrastructure, and software supply chains for faster, more scalable access. Ransomware groups like Akira are running rapid "scan, steal, encrypt" lifecycles, targeting backup infrastructure first to prevent recovery, and bypassing OTP-based MFA by exploiting inherited VPN configurations or retained appliance secrets. The Verizon 2024 DBIR reinforces this: third-party-software-development supply chain breaches jumped 68% year over year to 15% of all breaches.

How do I find a credentialed MSP near me?

Three steps. First, search our mspfinders.com directory by city — we index 2,698 U.S. MSPs with city pages for major metros (LA, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas) and category guides by vertical (healthcare, legal). Second, filter for the credentials that match your vertical: SOC 2 Type II for general mid-market, HIPAA + HITRUST for healthcare, CMMC Level 2 for DoD contractors, CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark for SMB. Third, verify the credential directly — request the SOC 2 report, check the CompTIA Trustmark Directory, or confirm CMMC Level 2 status against the Cyber AB Marketplace (the official C3PAO and certified-OSC registry). See How to Choose the Right MSP for Your Business for the full evaluation playbook.

Methodology

This report draws on mspfinders.com's proprietary directory of 2,698 U.S. managed service providers as of May 2026, supplemented by industry research from CompTIA, Channel Partners, ConnectWise, Canalys, Fortune Business Insights, NIST, CISA, and the Department of Defense.

Data collection. Provider records are sourced from a combination of Google Maps business listings, the Channel Partners MSP 501, regional channel directories, and manual editorial verification. Each record includes name, city/state (where available), business profile metadata, and a coarse pricing tier.

State coverage gap — disclosed upfront. 2,640 of 2,698 records (98%) lack a confirmed state assignment, making this the weakest niche in our 30-site portfolio for state-level metadata. The structural reasons: MSPs are B2B and rarely list physical addresses, many operate remote-first or from co-working spaces, and regional MSPs deliberately obscure home offices to avoid signaling small footprint. We're piloting a domain-WHOIS + LinkedIn cross-reference pass for Q3 2026 to backfill this. Treat the state-rank top 5 (CA 20, TX 9, OK 6, NY 3, WA 3) as a small unrepresentative sample, not a census.

Pricing tier classification. 2,614 of 2,698 (97%) are classified $$, 5 (0.2%) at $$$, and 79 (3%) unknown. MSP pricing is intentionally unpublished on Google Maps because contracts are quote-driven and customized per client, so this signal is coarse by design and isn't useful for fine-grained price analysis.

Industry sourcing. All headline market-size, growth-rate, and threat figures cite primary sources: NIST and CISA for security frameworks, DoD for CMMC, AICPA for SOC 2, ISO for 27001, Fortune Business Insights and Canalys for market size, ConnectWise for 2026 threat data, Verizon DBIR for breach statistics, and Channel Partners for MSP 501 financial benchmarks.

Refresh cadence. Full directory refresh runs monthly via Outscraper. Major regulatory updates (CMMC phase transitions, NIST CSF revisions, CISA guidance) trigger an out-of-cycle report update. Next planned refresh: August 2026, targeting state-coverage closure on 30%+ of the currently-unmapped 2,640 records and a first credentials-enrichment pass (SOC 2, CompTIA Trustmark, Microsoft Solutions Partner designation).

Report corrections. If you spot a provider listing error, an outdated certification, or a regulatory fact that needs correction, email corrections@mspfinders.com. We typically resolve flagged inaccuracies within five business days.

Limitations. State-level coverage is intentionally not the analytical hook of this report — see above. Per-credential counts (SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC) in our directory are too sparse to publish; the holding-rate estimates in the comparison table are sourced from CompTIA and ChannelE2E channel-survey aggregates, not from our directory. The avg_rating field is statistically thin and shouldn't be used for provider-level comparison.

Key findings at a glance

For citation and reference, the headline numbers from this report:

• 2,698 U.S. MSPs indexed nationwide (May 2026, mspfinders.com).
• $106.8B projected U.S. managed services market in 2026.
• $370.5B global managed services market in 2026, projected to reach $1.1T by 2034 (Fortune Business Insights).
• 31% market share for managed security (largest MSP segment); 18% annual growth (fastest).
• $29.4M average revenue per ranked MSP in the 2025 Channel Partners MSP 501, $16M average recurring revenue.
• 73% of SMBs not fully confident in their MSP's cybersecurity — ConnectWise State of SMB Cybersecurity.
• November 10, 2026 — CMMC Phase 2 enforcement begins.
• ~80 C3PAOs serving 80,000+ contractors requiring CMMC Level 2 — wait times exceed 18 months.
• 110 NIST SP 800-171 practices required for CMMC Level 2 (no partial credit).
• 177 cybersecurity safeguards required for the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark.
• 6 Microsoft Solutions Partner designations (Data & AI, Infrastructure, Digital & App Innovation, Business Applications, Modern Work, Security); 70 PCS points required for each.
• $125–$200/user/month average per-user MSP pricing; 30–50% hidden-cost gap over 24 months.
• 8 RMM platforms dominate the U.S. market: NinjaOne, Syncro, Atera, ConnectWise RMM, N-able N-central, Datto RMM, SuperOps, Kaseya VSA 10.
• $6.2B Kaseya-Datto acquisition (2022); ConnectWise sold to Thoma Bravo (2019).
• $4.88M global average cost of a data breach in 2024 (IBM) — +10% year over year.
• 23% of breaches involved ransomware in 2024 (Verizon DBIR); third-party software supply chain breaches +68% YoY.

About this report: The U.S. MSP Market Report is produced annually by the mspfinders.com editorial team using our proprietary directory of 2,698 U.S. managed service providers plus primary research from NIST, CISA, DoD, AICPA, ISO, Channel Partners, ConnectWise, Canalys, CompTIA, and Verizon. The dataset is refreshed monthly via Outscraper Google Maps extraction plus manual editorial verification. Cite as: "mspfinders.com U.S. MSP Market Report 2026." For data partnerships, custom segmentation, or to flag a provider listing correction, contact corrections@mspfinders.com.

The next annual update (May 2027) will include: state-coverage backfill targeting ≥30% of currently unmapped records, the first per-credential enrichment pass (SOC 2, CompTIA Trustmark, Microsoft Solutions Partner designation), CMMC Level 2 certification status across our top-tier providers, and the first systematic CMMC Phase 2 enforcement impact analysis.