Home renovation spending in the United States has settled into a new, structurally higher plateau. After surging through the pandemic, the market remains roughly 50% above its pre-2020 level, even as elevated borrowing costs and stubborn materials inflation have cooled the appetite for big discretionary projects. The result is a market defined by tension: homeowners are spending more than ever in aggregate, yet trimming individual project budgets, leaning on cash, and prioritizing must-do repairs over dream renovations. This report pulls together the most reliable, up-to-date statistics on what renovations actually cost in 2026, which projects pay off at resale, how people finance the work, and why verifying the contractor you hire has become a financial decision in its own right.

$611BPeak U.S. home improvement & repair spending (2022)

$4,700Average per-owner improvement spend (2023)

90%Renovating homeowners who hired a pro

268%Top project ROI at resale (garage door)

Key takeaways

U.S. home improvement and repair spending climbed from $404 billion in 2019 to $611 billion in 2022 and has held above $600 billion since, roughly 50% above pre-pandemic levels.
The typical full home renovation runs about $19,500 to $88,000, with kitchens averaging near $27,000 and bathrooms near $12,000.
More than half of homeowners renovated in 2024 at a median spend of $20,000, down from a $24,000 peak in 2023 as budgets tightened.
Exterior replacement projects deliver the best ROI — a garage door swap recoups 268% of its cost at resale, far ahead of any interior remodel.
84% of homeowners pay for renovations from savings, while reliance on credit cards has fallen as borrowing costs stay high.
9 in 10 renovating homeowners hire a professional, making contractor selection — and verification — central to a good outcome.
Home improvement scams rank among the five riskiest scam types, with a median reported loss of $1,800.

The U.S. remodeling market at a glance

The remodeling sector is now one of the largest segments of residential construction. According to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), home improvement and repair spending vaulted from $404 billion in 2019 to $611 billion in 2022 and remains above $600 billion — about 50% higher than before the pandemic (JCHS, Improving America's Housing 2025). Improvements to owner-occupied homes alone reached $405 billion in 2023, up 54% from 2019 — or 29% after adjusting for inflation (JCHS).

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) tracks the sector's share of construction directly. Home improvement's share of private residential fixed investment rose from 33% in 2007 to 44% by the first quarter of 2025, and remodeling spending hit a $280.1 billion seasonally adjusted annualized rate in the fourth quarter of 2025, accounting for 37.7% of total private residential fixed investment (NAHB Eye on Housing).

How much homeowners actually spend per project

Project costs vary widely with scope, finishes, and region, but national averages give a useful baseline. The table below summarizes 2025 figures from Angi and HomeAdvisor for the most common renovation projects.

Project	Typical low	Typical high	National average
Full home renovation	$19,481	$88,369	$52,275
Kitchen remodel	$14,585	$41,530	$26,968
Bathroom remodel	$6,639	$17,620	$12,122
Bedroom remodel	$12,000	$28,000	$20,000
Interior painting	$960	$3,010	$2,000

The full-renovation average of $52,275 reflects a 1,250–1,600 square-foot home; larger or higher-end homes routinely exceed that (Angi). Bathroom remodels nationally average about $12,000, ranging from roughly $6,600 to $17,600 depending on fixtures and layout changes (HomeAdvisor).

Kitchens and bathrooms: where the money goes

Kitchens and bathrooms remain the headline projects, and the 2025 Houzz & Home Study shows their median costs still climbing even as overall spending softens. The median spend for a major remodel of a small kitchen (under 200 sq ft) rose 9% to $35,000, while small primary bathroom remodels rose 13% to $17,000 (Houzz). Large kitchens held at $55,000 and large bathrooms at $25,000.

At the high end, the numbers escalate sharply. Houzz reports that large upscale kitchen renovations started at $150,000 in 2024, small luxury kitchens at $90,000, large luxury bathrooms at $70,000 or more, and smaller high-end bathrooms at $45,000-plus (2025 U.S. Houzz & Home Study (PDF)).

Median spend is down from its peak

The aggregate market is large, but individual budgets have pulled back. More than half of homeowners (54%) renovated in 2024, but the median spend fell to $20,000 — down from a peak of $24,000 in 2023 (Houzz, 2025 spending trends). Houzz economists attribute the softening to elevated borrowing costs and higher prices for everyday goods, which limit how much homeowners can redirect toward improvements (Contractor Magazine).

Maintenance is outpacing discretionary remodels

One of the clearest signals in the data is a shift toward keeping homes in working order rather than reinventing them. JCHS reports that maintenance spending on owner-occupied homes swelled 61% between 2019 and 2023, to $105 billion (35% in inflation-adjusted terms), pushing per-owner maintenance spending to a record $1,200 in 2023 (JCHS Key Facts (PDF)). Per-owner improvement spending, meanwhile, averaged $4,700 in the same year.

Replacement projects dominate spending

Homeowners continue to concentrate dollars on durable, replace-when-needed components rather than cosmetic upgrades. Replacement projects — roofing, windows, siding, and HVAC — accounted for 49% of all improvement expenditures in 2023, according to JCHS (JCHS, Improving America's Housing 2025). That tilt toward systems and envelope work reflects both an aging housing stock and a preference for spending that protects the home's basic integrity.

Which projects return the most at resale

Not all renovation dollars come back at sale. Zonda's 2025 Cost vs. Value Report ranks projects by the share of cost recouped at resale, and the leaders are overwhelmingly modest exterior replacements rather than gut remodels.

Project	Cost recouped at resale (national average)
Garage door replacement	268%
Steel entry door replacement	216%
Manufactured stone veneer	208%
Minor kitchen remodel	113%
Basement remodel	71%

A garage door replacement costing under $5,000 added more than $12,500 in resale value in 2025, recouping 268% of its cost — the single best return in the report. A steel entry door averaging $2,435 returned $5,270 in resale value (216%) (Zonda 2025 Cost vs. Value; JLC Cost vs. Value 2025).

Exterior projects beat interior remodels — consistently

The single most durable finding in the Cost vs. Value data is that exterior projects out-return interior remodels, year after year and by a wide margin. Curb-appeal replacements — doors, siding, manufactured stone — recoup well over 100% of their cost, while discretionary interior work like a basement remodel returns about 71% (JLC Cost vs. Value 2025). Returns also vary by region, with the Pacific and West South-Central regions posting the strongest overall recovery rates (Zonda).

How homeowners pay for renovations

With borrowing expensive, cash dominates. The 2025 Houzz & Home Study found that 84% of homeowners funded their 2024 renovations from savings, while credit-card use fell to 29% — down 8 percentage points from the prior year. The bars below show the most common funding sources.

Cash savings84%

Credit cards29%

Secured home loans12%

Cash from a home sale10%

Insurance payout5%

Among those who did borrow against the home, HELOCs were the most common vehicle at 6% of projects, followed by cash-out refinancing and home equity loans at 3% each (Houzz). For homeowners weighing financing options, lenders and analysts increasingly recommend home equity products over credit cards given the rate gap (Bankrate).

Homeowner sentiment in 2025 and 2026

The mood among homeowners is cautious. Angi's 2025 State of Home Spending Pulse Report found that 62% of homeowners are more worried about covering maintenance and repair costs than a few months earlier, and 48% said the stress of mandatory repairs had increased over the year (Angi Pulse Report). That anxiety is translating into delay: 58% postponed projects because of high materials or labor costs, most often bathroom remodels (12%), interior painting (10%), and window replacements (10%).

Most homeowners still hire a professional

Despite tighter budgets, the do-it-yourself wave has not displaced professional contractors. The 2025 Houzz & Home Study found that 90% of renovating homeowners hired a pro, and nearly half (49%) brought in specialty service providers — up from 46% in 2022 (Houzz). With nine in ten projects passing through professional hands, the contractor a homeowner chooses is the biggest single variable in whether the money is well spent.

The 2026 remodeling outlook

The forward indicators point to slow, steady growth. NAHB's Remodeling Market Index registered 64 in the fourth quarter of 2025, its 24th consecutive quarter above the break-even mark of 50 (NAHB RMI, Q4 2025). NAHB projects residential remodeling activity will rise about 3% in 2026 and a further 2% in 2027 in inflation-adjusted terms, supported by an aging housing stock, high homeowner equity, and demand for aging-in-place improvements (NAHB 2026 outlook).

The hidden cost: contractor fraud and unlicensed work

The renovation boom has a darker side. The Better Business Bureau's 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report ranked home improvement scams among the five riskiest scam types, with a median reported loss of $1,800 (BBB 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report). Common schemes include "storm chaser" solicitations after severe weather, demands for large up-front deposits followed by abandonment, and unnecessary roof or chimney "repairs" sold through high-pressure tactics (BBB). The Federal Trade Commission warns that these tactics — pressure to decide immediately, cash-only or wire payments, and no written contract — are the clearest red flags of a fraudulent contractor (FTC Consumer Advice).

Hiring an unlicensed contractor compounds the risk: a homeowner can be held liable for work that fails to meet building codes or causes property damage, and may have little recourse to recover losses. The BBB recommends getting at least three written quotes and verifying that any required license is valid with the issuing agency before signing.

Why contractor verification matters

Put the numbers together and the case for verification is straightforward. Homeowners are spending a national-average $52,000 on a full renovation, paying largely out of savings (84%), and routing 90% of projects through a professional — all while home improvement fraud ranks among the riskiest scams in the country. The dollars at stake per household are large, the funds are often hard-earned cash rather than financed, and the downside of a bad hire is both financial and structural.

That is exactly the gap HomeProBadge is built to close. By giving contractors a verified, background-checked credential homeowners can confirm before they hand over a deposit, verification turns the single riskiest decision in a renovation — who to trust with the work — into a checkable fact. In a market where most homeowners pay cash and most projects rely on a pro, knowing the contractor is who they say they are is not a nicety; it is the cheapest insurance available on a five-figure project.

Methodology and notes

Figures in this report are drawn from public research published by Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, the National Association of Home Builders, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Houzz, Zonda/JLC's Cost vs. Value Report, the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Census Bureau's American Housing Survey. Spending totals reflect the most recent reporting years available (generally 2023–2025) and are stated in nominal dollars unless an inflation-adjusted figure is noted. Project cost ranges are national averages; local costs vary materially by region, labor market, and material selection. Every statistic links to its original source below.

Home Renovation Cost Statistics (2026)