What RDN does

RDN (Robert D. Niehaus, Inc.) is an economic consulting firm founded in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. The firm specializes in regional and resource economic analysis and market research, delivering professional services to federal, state, and local government agencies, U.S. military services, and public and private utilities. Its portfolio spans nine service areas: water utility rate and fee studies, housing market research and analysis, economic and fiscal impact analysis, natural disaster recovery, military installation planning, socioeconomics and environment, survey research design and analysis, training and educational support, and litigation support and expert review.

RDN's technical foundation rests on proprietary methodologies and platforms rather than off-the-shelf software. Key proprietary assets include Housing Requirements Market Analysis (HRMA) models approved by the U.S. Army and Office of the Secretary of Defense, an online Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) Data Collection Platform used across approximately 300 military housing areas, web-based water budget rate-structure tools (bill impact calculators, state water budget evaluation calculators), and demand forecasting built in R and Python for water utility rate studies. The firm applies GIS/spatial analysis, econometric and input-output modeling (including IMPLAN Pro), and Monte Carlo simulation for capacity-fee and rate-design analyses.

RDN operates a professional services business model, generating revenue through fixed-price and labor-hour contracts awarded via its GSA Multiple Award Schedule (GS-10-F-0060P) and US Navy SeaPort NxG (N00178-19-D-8433) contract vehicles. Its go-to-market is relationship-driven enterprise sales to government procurement channels, with business development led by a dedicated Director. RDN is prime contractor for the $21 billion DoD Basic Allowance for Housing program and holds long-tenured prime or lead roles for the U.S. Army (OACSIM, 20+ years), Navy (CNIC, 25+ years), Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force, alongside federal civilian agency clients including NASA, FAA, FEMA, NIST, and NRC, and California water utilities such as Moulton Niguel, Palmdale, and Santa Clarita Valley.

Name

RDN

Legal name

Robert D. Niehaus, Inc.

Website

https://rdniehaus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RDN (Robert D. Niehaus, Inc.) is a 1983-founded economic consulting firm delivering housing market research, water utility rate studies, economic impact analysis, and military installation planning to U.S. military services, federal civilian agencies, and California water utilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Barbara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Consulting Contracts: RDN generates revenue primarily through government contracts including GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) and US Navy SeaPort NxG. Services are provided to federal, state, and tribal government agencies under fixed-price or labor-hour professional services arrangements.
2. DoD Basic Allowance for Housing Program: Prime contractor for OSD's BAH data collection and analysis services - a $21 billion tax-free military entitlement program administered by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RDN (Robert D. Niehaus, Inc.) is an economic consulting firm that provides regional and resource economic analysis and market research for public agencies, private entities, and utilities. Its services span military housing market research, water utility rate and fee studies, economic and fiscal impact analysis, natural disaster recovery support, military installation planning, survey research, training, and litigation support, delivered under federal government contracts.

Product overview

RDN (Robert D. Niehaus, Inc.) is an economic consulting firm offering specialized professional services rather than a software product. Their portfolio consists of nine core consulting service areas: Water Utility Rate & Fee Studies, Housing Market Research & Analysis, Economic & Fiscal Impact Analysis, Natural Disaster Recovery, Military Installation Planning, Socioeconomics & Environment, Survey Research Design & Analysis, Training & Educational Support, and Litigation Support & Expert Review. These services are delivered through project-based engagements, with notable programs including the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) prime contract for the Department of Defense, US Army and Navy Worldwide Housing Requirements assessments, California rural water utility rate studies, and various federal agency economic impact assessments. RDN's interdisciplinary team provides data collection, analysis, forecasting, and expert consultation tailored to government agencies, utilities, and private organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water Utility Rate & Fee Studies
• Housing Market Research & Analysis
• Economic & Fiscal Impact Analysis
• Natural Disaster Recovery
• Military Installation Planning
• Socioeconomics & Environment
• Survey Research, Design & Analysis
• Training & Educational Support
• Litigation Support & Expert Review

Quantifiable outcome

• Managed $21 billion BAH program impacting approximately one million service members annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• California Rural Water Association (CRWA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022RDN partnered with CRWA to conduct water and wastewater rate studies for California's rural utilities, completing dozens of studies annually. CRWA is the State's leading organization dedicated to providing technical assistance to rural water and wastewater utilities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Raftelis Management Consulting: Raftelis is a national management consulting firm specializing in water, wastewater, and stormwater utility rate studies, financial planning, and cost-of-service analysis — directly comparable to RDN's California water utility rate and fee studies practice.
• Calibres (formerly Calabrese & Associates): Calibres is a specialized water utility financial and rate consulting firm — directly comparable to RDN's water rate, cost-of-service, and Proposition 218 compliance practice for California and U.S. utilities.
• Abt Associates: Abt is a federal contractor providing social science, economic, and survey research for government clients including HUD, DoD, and HHS — comparable to RDN's housing market research, tenant satisfaction surveys, and economic analysis for federal agencies.
• ICF International: ICF is a large federal consulting firm providing economic and environmental impact analysis, energy and infrastructure advisory, and survey research to federal agencies — closely overlapping with RDN's economic/fiscal impact analysis and NEPA/CEQA work for FAA, NASA, and NRC.
• Mathematica: Mathematica is a nonpartisan policy research and data analytics firm providing economic and program evaluation for federal agencies — comparable to RDN's economic impact assessments, program evaluation, and federal consulting work.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a research institution providing objective analysis on defense, military manpower, and homeland security for the U.S. government — comparable to RDN's military housing research, base planning, and policy support for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
• Westat: Westat is a research firm providing statistical survey design, data collection, and analysis for federal agencies — directly comparable to RDN's large-scale survey research work for the U.S. Marine Corps (90,000+ respondents) and U.S. Coast Guard (14,000+ respondents).

Broad incumbents

• Booz Allen Hamilton: Booz Allen is one of the largest federal management and technology consulting firms, with deep DoD and federal civilian agency relationships — a broad incumbent that competes for the same government solicitations RDN pursues but with vastly greater scale.
• Black & Veatch: Black & Veatch is a global engineering, procurement, and consulting firm with a significant water utility rate and financial planning practice — a broad incumbent that overlaps with RDN's water utility rate study work but at much larger scale.

Emerging players

• BBC Research & Consulting: BBC is a Denver-based economic and planning research firm providing economic impact, fiscal impact, and equity analyses for public agencies — an emerging player comparable to RDN's economic/fiscal impact analysis and socioeconomic consulting work, with similar scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/RDNinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rdn-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RDN