Carpet and Rug Mills (U.S.) — NAICS 31411

An investor's primer. Plain language. This is a short "rollup" page: NAICS 31411 is effectively identical to its single child industry, 314110. For the full detail, read the 314110 primer.

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1. Overview

NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code 31411 — Carpet and Rug Mills is a five-digit "NAICS industry" that sits one rung above the six-digit detail level. In this case the two levels describe the same set of companies: 31411 contains exactly one child industry, 314110 — Carpet and Rug Mills. There is nothing in the parent that is not also in the child.

The business itself is the manufacture of soft floor covering — wall-to-wall broadloom carpet, modular carpet tile, and area rugs — from petrochemical-based (and some natural) fibers, for homes, offices, hotels, schools, and hospitals. It is a capital-intensive, cyclical U.S. manufacturing business clustered around Dalton, Georgia, dominated by a handful of very large, mostly private producers, and living through a decades-long shift as buyers trade carpet for hard-surface flooring.[1][2] For everything about how the industry works, see the 314110 primer.

Why an investor reads this page. It exists mainly to confirm that, at this level of the taxonomy, the rollup numbers equal the single child's numbers — so you can safely use the 314110 detail without worrying that the parent hides other sub-industries.

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2. What's inside — and why the level equals its one child

The NAICS hierarchy narrows as codes get longer: sector 31 (Manufacturing) → subsector 314 (Textile Product Mills) → industry group 3141 (Textile Furnishings Mills) → NAICS industry 31411 (Carpet and Rug Mills) → national industry 314110 (Carpet and Rug Mills).

At the 31411 level there is only one six-digit child:

Because the single child accounts for the entire parent, 31411 and 314110 are interchangeable — same firms, same shipments, same employment, same concentration. The five-digit code is simply the level at which the U.S. system stopped subdividing this industry. Every structural detail (scope, tufting-dominated production, what is excluded — upstream fiber, hard-surface flooring, retail, installation, cleaning) is covered once, in the 314110 primer.

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3. Size

These are this level's own federal ground-truth figures. Because 314110 is the only child, they are identical to the child's numbers.

Undercount caveat. These figures measure U.S. mills, and mills here are large and well-measured — this is not an industry where informal or individually owned micro-operators escape the count. The real gap is on the import side: a large share of U.S. area-rug consumption is imported (led by China, India, and Turkey) and never shows up as U.S. mill shipments.[5] So the ~$9.34 billion captures domestic production, not total U.S. carpet-and-rug spending; Mohawk estimates the U.S. carpet-and-rug market at approximately $11.2 billion within a $33.2 billion U.S. floor-covering market.[6] Anchor on the Census shipments figure for the mills themselves.

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4. Investable universe (where value concentrates)

With only one child industry, all the value sits in that single pool of companies — there is no second sub-industry to spread across. Within it, ownership is lopsided toward large private firms, so public-market exposure is the exception:

• Shaw Industries — the largest U.S. carpet maker, a wholly owned Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary; Shaw processes approximately 92% of its carpet-yarn requirements internally.[7] Immaterial to Berkshire, so not a real carpet play.
• Engineered Floors — #3 producer, private and family-owned.[8]
• Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) — the large-cap listed way in (~$10.8B total net sales, 2024), but a diversified global flooring company where carpet is one line among ceramic, laminate, luxury vinyl tile (LVT), and wood.[9]
• Interface (NASDAQ: TILE) — the closest listed near-pure play (~$1.39B revenue, 2025), focused on commercial carpet tile.[10]
• The Dixie Group (DXYN) — a speculative residential micro-cap (~$257M revenue, 2025); its 2025 10-K contains a going-concern warning.[11]

Full company detail, scale figures, and the private-owner roster are in the 314110 primer, Section 4.

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5. How the money works

Carpet mills are spread-and-utilization manufacturers, so the right lens is manufacturing economics — not retail, utility rate base, or real-estate metrics. Owners earn on the gap between the selling price of finished carpet and the cost of inputs, chiefly synthetic fiber/yarn (nylon, polyester, polypropylene) plus backing, dye, and energy. Because those synthetics are petrochemical derivatives, input cost tracks oil and natural-gas prices, and thin, volume-driven margins compress when feedstock spikes can't be passed through.[12] High fixed-cost tufting and dyeing lines mean capacity utilization drives profitability — Mohawk's Flooring North America segment reported an operating margin of approximately 3.1% in 2025 versus 6.3% in 2024, with the decline attributed to lower volume and weaker fixed-cost leverage.[6] The leaders defend margin through vertical integration (extruding their own fiber) and premiumization; Interface reported a 38.7% gross margin and 11.8% operating margin in 2025, attributing improvement to price, mix, production efficiencies, and fixed-cost absorption.[10] This is expanded in the child primer, Section 5.

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6. Demand drivers

The demand story is identical to the child's: housing turnover and remodeling (carpet is largely a replacement product), new residential construction, and commercial construction/renovation (offices, hospitality, healthcare, education — where carpet tile has outperformed). The defining secular headwind is substitution to hard-surface flooring (LVT, laminate, wood, tile): carpet's share of the U.S. flooring market by area has fallen substantially over the past decade to an estimated 39–44% in 2024 depending on source and methodology; Berkshire's 2025 shareholder report states directly that consumers have moved away from soft-surface flooring and that Shaw has had to expand in hard surfaces.[2][13][14] Industry executives argue the decline is slowing toward an equilibrium. See the 314110 primer, Section 6.

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7. Regulation

Carpet manufacturing is not licensed or rate-regulated, but carries a growing stack of environmental and product-stewardship costs, concentrated in California: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) carpet-recycling assessments (funding the industry nonprofit CARE, the Carpet America Recovery Effort, under AB 2398 and subsequent amendments), restrictions on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) stain treatments, and voluntary indoor-air/VOC (volatile organic compound) certification.[15][16] Assessments have risen steeply — up to ~36% higher effective January 1, 2024, with further differential increases in 2025.[15] EPA's Textile Mills Effluent Guidelines (40 CFR Part 410) regulate carpet-finishing wastewater and an ongoing study may support revised PFAS-related requirements; Shaw and Mohawk reportedly stopped using PFAS in U.S. carpet production in 2019 but continue to face disputes concerning historical releases.[17][18] Detail is in the child primer, Section 7.

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8. Consolidation

The industry is moderately concentrated (CR4 56.7%, HHI ~1,111 [3]) — effectively a Big Three-to-Four (Shaw, Mohawk, Engineered Floors, plus Interface in commercial) atop a fragmented tail, with production geographically concentrated within ~65 miles of Dalton, Georgia.[19] Consolidation has been brutal as volume shrank (e.g., Beaulieu of America's 2017 bankruptcy, its assets absorbed by Engineered Floors), and private equity is separately rolling up flooring distribution and installation.[20] See the 314110 primer, Section 8.

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9. Risks

The risk set is the child's, unchanged: (1) structural substitution to hard surface; (2) housing/rate cyclicality; (3) input-cost and energy volatility; (4) import competition in rugs; (5) regulatory/ESG cost creep led by California; (6) PFAS legacy exposure creating litigation, remediation, and reputational risk even for producers that have stopped active use; and (7) public-market thinness — the best assets are private, and the listed pure-plays are one micro-cap (with a going-concern warning) and one mid-cap. Full discussion in the child primer, Section 9.

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10. How to invest and outlook

Because this level equals its one child, the investing playbook is the same. Public routes: Mohawk (MHK) for diversified large-cap flooring exposure, Interface (TILE) as the closest commercial carpet-tile pure play, Dixie (DXYN) as a speculative micro-cap; Berkshire (BRK.A/BRK.B) owns Shaw but immaterially. Private routes — direct mill ownership, area-rug importing/distribution, flooring distribution/installation roll-ups, and supplier/machinery plays — are where most real money is made, given how much of the industry is private. The reasonable base case is a mature, consolidating, cyclical industry stabilizing near a lower volume plateau rather than returning to growth; returns come from cost position, mix, and cycle timing.[1][2] For the full outlook and the near-term swing factors to watch, read the 314110 primer, Section 10.

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Sources

1. Floor Covering News, "Carpet stats: High rates put damper on soft surfaces' comeback," 2025. https://www.fcnews.net/2025/07/carpet-high-rates-put-damper-on-soft-surfaces-comeback/
2. Floor Covering News, "Carpet: State of the Industry 2025," 2025. https://www.fcnews.net/2025/10/carpet-state-of-the-industry-2025/
3. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census — Concentration Ratios / Selected Statistics, NAICS 314110 (firms 184; value of shipments ~$9.34B; CR4 56.7%, CR8 70.4%, CR20 87.8%, CR50 96.9%; HHI 1,110.9). https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census.html
4. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 314110 (establishments 237; employment 25,931; annual payroll ~$1.366B). https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp.html
5. Tendata, "Which Countries Are Major Importers and Exporters of Rugs?" (China lead exporter, U.S. largest importer), 2024. https://www.tendata.com/blogs/export/5491.html
6. Mohawk Industries, Form 10-K for FY2025 (U.S. carpet-and-rug market ~$11.2B within $33.2B flooring market; Flooring NA segment margins), SEC, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/851968/000085196826000011/mhk-20251231.htm
7. Berkshire Hathaway, Form 10-K for FY2025 (Shaw processes ~92% of carpet-yarn internally), SEC, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=%2FArchives%2Fedgar%2Fdata%2F1067983%2F000119312526083899%2Fbrka-20251231.htm
8. CT Acquisitions, "Flooring PE Roll-Up Tracker 2026" (Engineered Floors #3, ~$1.5B), 2026. https://ctacquisitions.com/guides/flooring-pe-rollup-tracker-2026/
9. Mohawk Industries, Form 10-K for FY2024 (net sales ~$10.8B; three segments; Flooring NA ~35%), SEC, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/851968/000085196825000023/mhk-20241231.htm
10. Interface, Inc., Form 10-K for FY2025 (revenue $1.39B; 38.7% gross margin; 11.8% operating margin), SEC, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/715787/000071578726000006/tile-20251228.htm
11. The Dixie Group, Form 10-K for FY2025 (revenue ~$257M; going-concern warning), SEC, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/29332/000002933226000018/dxyn-20251227.htm
12. Floor Daily, "Fiber Industry Update: PET product branding and raw material costs" (synthetic fiber cost tied to oil/feedstock). https://www.floordaily.net/floorfocus/fiber-industry-update-pet-product-branding-and-ra
13. Floor Daily, "Residential Carpet's Resurgence: carpet's market share has stabilized," February 2025. https://www.floordaily.net/floorfocus/residential-carpets-resurgence-carpets-marketshare-has-stabilized-and-soft-surface-could-f
14. Berkshire Hathaway, 2025 Annual Report (shareholder letter; consumer shift from soft-surface flooring; Shaw expansion into hard surfaces). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312526106284/d948018dars.pdf
15. Floor Covering News, "California carpet recycling hike takes effect via CARE" (up to 36% increase Jan. 1, 2024), 2024. https://www.fcnews.net/2024/01/california-carpet-recycling-hike-takes-effect-via-care/
16. CalRecycle, "Carpet Stewardship Plans" (AB 2398 / AB 1158 / AB 729; CARE program). https://calrecycle.ca.gov/carpet/plans/
17. U.S. EPA, "Textile Mills Effluent Guidelines" (40 CFR Part 410; carpet-finishing wastewater; PFAS study underway). https://www.epa.gov/eg/textile-mills-effluent-guidelines
18. Associated Press, "Forever chemicals taint water near carpet mills in Georgia" (Shaw/Mohawk stopped PFAS 2019; ongoing disputes), 2024. https://apnews.com/article/944a8878af446ec3171e1b3b836d506d
19. New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Carpet Industry" (Dalton, GA; ~85% within 65 miles). https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/carpet-industry/
20. Chattanooga Times Free Press, "One of America's biggest carpet makers files for bankruptcy" (Beaulieu, 2017; assets to Engineered Floors), 2017. https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2017/jul/17/carpet-manufacturer-beaulieu-files-bankruptcy/