Home improvement is one of the largest discretionary categories in the American economy, and in 2026 it is still measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Even as higher interest rates and stubborn affordability pressures push homeowners toward maintenance and away from blockbuster remodels, the underlying numbers remain enormous: an aging housing stock, record homeowner equity, and a "stay and improve" mindset keep tens of millions of households writing checks to contractors every year.

Below is a fully sourced snapshot of how much America spends on home improvement heading into 2026 — the national totals, the average household's outlay, where the money goes, and the fraud risk that comes attached to all that spending. Every figure links to its original source.

0Projected 2026 homeowner improvement & repair spending (Harvard JCHS)

0Spent over the two years ending 2023 (Census AHS)

0Average household home-project spend, 2025 (Angi)

0Remodeling firms operating at the start of 2025 (NAHB)

Key takeaways

The market is huge but cooling. Harvard's Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity projects annual homeowner improvement and repair spending will reach roughly $518 billion by the end of 2026, with year-over-year growth slowing from about 2.1% mid-year to 1.6% by year-end.
The typical household spent $12,472 on home projects in 2025 — up 3.5% from 2024 — but most of that increase went to maintenance and emergency repairs, not big remodels.
71% of homeowners postponed a planned project, with inflation (92%) and high interest rates (65%) the leading reasons.
An aging housing stock is the structural driver: the typical U.S. home is now about 41 years old, up from 31 in 2006.
Fraud follows the money. The FTC logged $12.5 billion in reported consumer fraud losses in 2024, and home-improvement scams remain a perennial Consumer Sentinel category — which is exactly why contractor verification matters.

The big picture: how much America spends

There is no single "home improvement number," because different agencies measure different things. Taken together, they tell a consistent story of a multi-hundred-billion-dollar market.

The U.S. Census Bureau's American Housing Survey found that homeowners spent roughly $827 billion on home improvements over the two-year period ending in 2023 — an increase of more than $200 billion, or about 33%, over the prior survey. Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, which tracks the market in real time, projects that annual owner spending on improvements and repairs will reach about $518 billion by the end of 2026. And the National Association of Home Builders reports that home improvement's share of total private residential fixed investment climbed from 33% in 2007 to 44% by early 2025.

What the average household spends

Angi's 2025 State of Home Spending data shows the typical U.S. household spent $12,472 across an average of ten projects in 2025 — up from $12,050 and nine projects in 2024. But the composition shifted toward keeping the home running rather than transforming it:

Home improvements: $9,288 (essentially flat vs. $9,322 in 2024)
Home maintenance: $2,041 (up from $1,750)
Emergency repairs: $1,143 (up from $978)

That tilt toward maintenance is deliberate. According to Angi, 71% of homeowners postponed a planned project in 2025, and the reasons cluster around cost and credit:

Inflation / rising costs92%

Economic uncertainty89%

Postponed a project71%

High interest rates65%

Income / job concerns64%

Spending by generation

Millennials have overtaken older cohorts as the engine of home spending — partly because they are in their prime home-improving years and partly because high mortgage rates discourage moving. Angi reports that 74% of millennials say mortgage rates are pushing them to improve their current home instead of moving, and 77% plan a major project in the next five years.

Generation	Average total home spend, 2025
Millennials	$14,199
Generation X	$12,956
Baby Boomers	$12,454
Silent Generation	$12,007
Generation Z	$10,283

Source: Angi 2025 State of Home Spending. Notably, 70% of millennials report difficulty finding skilled labor — a reminder that demand is outpacing the supply of trustworthy, available contractors.

Where the money goes: project costs

Individual projects have grown markedly more expensive. The Census AHS pegged the average project at about $6,200 in 2023, up from $4,800 in 2021 — with professionally completed jobs averaging roughly $8,100 versus about $2,700 for DIY work. For the marquee renovations, HomeAdvisor's 2026 cost data shows just how high the ceiling runs:

Project	Average cost	Typical range
Kitchen remodel	$26,946	$14,588 – $41,550
Bathroom remodel	$12,136	$6,642 – $17,631
Average home project (all types)	$6,200	—

Sources: HomeAdvisor kitchen remodel cost, HomeAdvisor bathroom remodel cost, and the Census AHS. With kitchen jobs routinely topping $40,000, the cost of hiring the wrong contractor is no longer trivial — it can equal a year of mortgage payments.

Why spending keeps rising

The structural drivers behind home-improvement spending are durable. The NAHB notes that the typical U.S. home has aged from 31 years old in 2006 to about 41 in 2023, meaning more roofs, HVAC systems, and kitchens are hitting the end of their useful lives at once. Homeowners are also sitting on near-record equity, and an aging population is fueling demand for accessibility upgrades — the NAHB reports that 56% of remodelers now do aging-in-place modification work.

The industry has grown to match: the number of remodeling firms nearly doubled from 69,000 in 2000 to 128,000 at the start of 2025. More firms means more competition — and a larger pool in which unvetted or unlicensed operators can hide.

The 2026 outlook: slow but steady

Forecasters expect growth to continue but decelerate. Harvard's LIRA projects year-over-year spending growth easing toward about 1.6% by the end of 2026, while the NAHB expects inflation-adjusted remodeling activity to rise 3% in 2026 and another 2% in 2027. Contractor sentiment remains positive: the NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index has stayed above the break-even reading of 50 for 24 consecutive quarters.

DIY vs. professional work

Despite the cost squeeze, Americans continue to hire out the bulk of their projects. The Census AHS found the DIY share of projects slipped from 39% to 36% in 2023, with professional jobs costing roughly three times as much as do-it-yourself work on average. As more dollars flow to hired contractors — rather than to weekend projects — the question of who you let into your home becomes a financial decision, not just a safety one.

The fraud risk hiding in the numbers

All that money attracts bad actors. The Federal Trade Commission reported that consumers lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024 — a 25% jump over the prior year, and the agency estimates the true figure, accounting for underreporting, could be as high as $195.9 billion. Home-improvement scams are a recurring Consumer Sentinel category, and the FTC maintains standing consumer guidance on how to avoid them — from fake door-to-door contractors to demands for large up-front cash payments.

The FTC has also taken action against schemes built on deception, including a 2026 case targeting a company that created thousands of fake local home-repair business listings. When a homeowner can't tell a legitimate, licensed pro from a fabricated listing, verification stops being optional.

Why contractor verification matters

Put the numbers together and the case for verification writes itself. The average household is now spending more than $12,000 a year on home projects, a single kitchen remodel can exceed $40,000, more than seven in ten homeowners are stressed about affording the work, and billions of dollars are lost to fraud each year — often through fake listings and unlicensed operators. The financial stakes of letting the wrong person into your home have never been higher.

That is the gap HomeProBadge exists to close. By verifying a contractor's identity, license status, and credentials — and giving legitimate pros a badge they can show to homeowners — verification turns the trust question from a gamble into a check. In a $500-billion-plus market full of new firms and AI-generated fake listings, a verified badge is the simplest signal a homeowner can rely on before signing a five-figure contract.

Home Improvement Spending Statistics (2026)