Every year, American homeowners collectively pour hundreds of billions of dollars into their properties — patching roofs, remodeling kitchens, replacing HVAC systems, and landscaping backyards. Whether you're planning your first renovation or managing an aging home, understanding where those dollars actually go (and how your own budget compares) is one of the most practical things you can do before signing a single contract.
This data-driven guide draws on reports from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), Angi, Houzz, IBISWorld, and other authoritative sources to give you an accurate, up-to-date picture of homeowner spending as we move through 2025 and into 2026. Every statistic is sourced and cited. No guesswork.
The Big Picture: A $500+ Billion Market
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies' Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) projects that remodeling and repair spending will grow to $509 billion through the end of Q4 2025.
Looking further ahead,
total homeowner remodeling spending is expected to reach a record $524 billion in early 2026, as annual expenditures for improvements and maintenance to owner-occupied homes are projected to remain steady through the end of 2025 and into the middle of 2026.
That trajectory didn't come without turbulence.
Home remodeling suffered through a "perfect storm of high prices, elevated interest rates, and weak home sales" in 2024, with spending projected to fall from $481 billion in the prior year to $450 billion in 2024, per Harvard JCHS.
The recovery since then has been gradual but real.
Per-Household Spending: What the Average Homeowner Pays
The difference between the macro market size and what lands in your own budget is stark — and both numbers matter.
Homeowners spent an average of $12,050 on home projects in 2024, down from $13,667 in 2023, according to Angi's 2024 State of Home Spending Report.
While discretionary improvements slowed, essential upkeep took priority — home improvements remained the largest spending category, with homeowners spending an average of $9,322, relatively flat compared to $9,542 in 2023.
The annual Houzz & Home Study puts the overall median spend among renovating homeowners at $20,000 in 2024, down from the $24,000 peak in 2023. High-end projects also saw a drop: homeowners in the top 90th percentile spent $140,000 or more on renovations in 2024, down from $150,000 in 2023.
Why the gap between Angi's $12,050 and Houzz's $20,000? Angi's figure covers all homeowners — including those who only did minor repairs. Houzz surveys renovating homeowners specifically, which skews the median upward. Always check the sample definition.
Spending Over Time
After median renovation spend increased steadily from $13,000 in 2019 to $24,000 in 2023, it dropped in 2024 to $20,000, per the Houzz annual survey.
Despite the pullback,
overall median spend in 2024 remains above 2021 levels of $18,000.
Where the Money Goes: Project-Level Spending
Not all projects are created equal. Kitchens and bathrooms continue to command premium budgets, while other rooms are seeing homeowners pull back.
Kitchen Remodeling Costs
Kitchen projects top the list in terms of renovation costs. In 2024, the median spend on kitchens was $22,000, only slightly down from 2023's $24,000 median, and up from the 2022 median of $20,000 (Houzz).
For major kitchen remodels, the median spend for small kitchens (less than 200 square feet) rose by 9% to $35,000, while major remodels of large kitchens (200 square feet or more) held steady at $55,000 (Houzz 2025 U.S. & Home Study).
Bathroom Remodeling Costs
Bathrooms caught up to kitchens in 2024 in terms of popularity — for the first time, the same share of homeowners (24%) upgraded a bathroom as upgraded a kitchen, marking a notable shift (Houzz).
Median spending on major remodels of small primary bathrooms (less than 100 square feet) increased 13%, from $15,000 in 2023 to $17,000 in 2024 (Houzz).
Room-by-Room Spending Snapshot
| Room | 2024 Median Spend | Year-over-Year Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen (overall) | $22,000 | −8% | Houzz 2025 |
| Kitchen – Major Remodel (small) | $35,000 | +9% | Houzz 2025 |
| Kitchen – Major Remodel (large) | $55,000 | Flat | Houzz 2025 |
| Primary Bathroom (overall) | $13,000 | −13% | Houzz 2025 |
| Primary Bathroom – Major (small) | $17,000 | +13% | Houzz 2025 |
| Primary Bathroom – Major (large) | $25,000 | Flat | Houzz 2025 |
| Living Room | $4,000 | −20% | Houzz 2025 |
| Primary Bedroom | $2,750 | −21% | Houzz 2025 |
| Dining Room | $2,100 | −16% | Houzz 2025 |
| Home Office | $1,000 | −50% | Houzz 2025 |
Beyond kitchens and bathrooms, median spending on several interior spaces declined notably in 2024: living rooms dropped 20% (to $4,000), primary bedrooms saw a 21% drop (to $2,750), dining rooms declined 16% (to $2,100), and home offices experienced the steepest fall — down 50% to $1,000 (Houzz 2025 U.S. & Home Study).
The Generational Spending Divide
Who's spending the most? The answer has shifted in recent years.
In 2024, Boomers led the way in overall spending, investing an average of $14,140 in home projects — the highest among all generations — with $12,093 going toward home improvements alone (Angi 2024).
High-income households earning over $150,000 increased their home spending to $21,958, up from $20,649 in 2023 (Angi 2024).
Millennials prioritized maintenance over upgrades, spending $2,316 on upkeep — $1,000 more than any other generation (Angi 2024).
For emergency spending, younger generations outpaced older ones: Gen Z spent $1,387 on average while Millennials spent $1,329 — over double what older generations spent on emergency projects (Angi 2024).
Baby Boomers continued to drive home renovations in 2024, accounting for 59% of renovating homeowners, a share that increased by 3 percentage points from 2023 (Houzz 2025).
The "Renovate, Don't Relocate" Effect
One of the most powerful forces reshaping homeowner spending is the frozen housing market.
Angi's 2024 State of Home Spending Report found that 93% of homeowners plan to take on home projects in 2025, even as total spending dropped 12% in 2024. With interest rates remaining high and housing inventory scarce, 67% of homeowners express a preference for renovating their current homes rather than moving.
Higher interest rates, high home values, and high material prices have created a "lock-in effect" within the housing market. As of the end of the second quarter of 2024, 56% of homeowners with mortgages had interest rates below 4% — with rates and home values holding strong, many homeowners have strong financial incentive to stay put (The Farnsworth Group / IBISWorld).
The flip side of rising property values is soaring home equity. Over the last five years, homeowners have gained about $150,000 in home equity, roughly $30,000 annually. Almost half of all mortgaged homes are considered "equity-rich," with owners holding 50% or more equity in their properties (Empower).
The Stress Factor: Home Ownership Is Getting Harder
Spending doesn't tell the whole story. The emotional and financial pressure behind those dollars is real.
The financial and logistical demands of homeownership have taken a toll: 43% of homeowners reported increased stress related to home repairs and maintenance in 2024. Home projects emerged as the single most stressful budget category, ranking ahead of healthcare, debt, savings, childcare, education, and entertainment (Angi 2024).
Looking ahead, 61% of homeowners are concerned about affording maintenance or repairs, with younger homeowners feeling this pressure more acutely (Angi 2024).
Angi's 2025 Pulse Survey found that 48% of homeowners say the stress of mandatory repairs has increased since the start of 2025, and 62% are more worried now about covering maintenance and repair costs than they were just a few months ago.
Of the 93% planning projects in 2025, 54% say they struggle to find qualified professionals, citing delays, higher costs, and limited availability (Angi 2024).
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How Homeowners Pay for Projects
The overwhelming majority of renovating homeowners (84%) tapped into their savings in 2024. Credit cards followed at 29%, a drop of 8 percentage points from 2023 — suggesting a meaningful shift away from credit card financing (Houzz 2025).
12% of homeowners secured a home loan to fund renovations, with homeowners making higher-end renovations more likely to use secured home loans ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 (Houzz 2025).
For context, earlier Angi data from 2023 showed that
46% of homeowners used cash from savings, while 20% used credit cards, and only 7% refinanced an existing loan while 5% used a HELOC (Angi 2023 State of Home Spending Report).
The multi-year trend is clear: homeowners are leaning more heavily on savings and away from revolving credit.
What's Planned: The Road Ahead for 2025–2026
Despite declining spending in 2024, 93% of homeowners plan to take on home projects. The most anticipated projects include routine maintenance (36%), interior painting (22%), bathroom remodels (13%), flooring installations (13%), and new landscaping (12%) (Angi 2024).
Nearly half of homeowners (46%) are looking beyond 2025, intending to tackle larger-scale projects over the next five years — with kitchen remodels leading at 31% and bathroom upgrades at 28% (Angi 2024).
Harvard JCHS projects that year-over-year spending on home renovation and repair will rise by 2.4% in early 2026 before easing to 1.9% in the third quarter of 2026. Upward trends in both remodeling permit activity and single-family home sales suggest demand for home improvement will remain stable.
The total home improvement market is projected to grow by an additional 3.4% in 2025, bringing the market size to an estimated $593.8 billion, and in 2026 it is expected to reach $614.6 billion (Fixr/IBISWorld).
For a deeper dive into renovation project costs specifically, see our companion piece: Home Renovation Cost Statistics 2026. And for a full library of industry benchmarks, visit our Statistics Hub.
Quick-Reference Summary
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. homeowner remodeling market (2025 projected) | $509 billion | Harvard JCHS LIRA |
| U.S. homeowner remodeling market (early 2026 projected) | $524 billion | Harvard JCHS LIRA |
| Avg. homeowner spend on all projects (2024) | $12,050 | Angi 2024 |
| Median renovating homeowner spend (2024) | $20,000 | Houzz 2025 |
| Homeowners planning projects in 2025 | 93% | Angi 2024 |
| Prefer renovating over moving | 67% | Angi 2024 |
| Boomers' average home spend (2024) | $14,140 | Angi 2024 |
| Homeowners stressed about repair costs | 61% | Angi 2024 |
| Renovating homeowners who hired a pro (2024) | 90% | Houzz 2025 |
| Primary funding source for renovations | Savings (84%) | Houzz 2025 |
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