High costs, major regrets: Homeowners spend nearly $6,000 on home maintenance annually, our survey finds

Buying a house is a big investment, and home maintenance costs linger long after closing. The research team at USA TODAY Homefront found that the typical homeowner spends almost $6,000 on maintenance and repairs each year.

Of the 2,000 homeowners surveyed in May 2024, the majority (54%) spent more than planned on home maintenance, and 28% said they’ve gone deeper into debt due to their home upkeep expenses. 

Some of these costs can be offset by a good home warranty, but many don’t sign up for the coverage. Left on their own, homeowners cite their inability to deal with home maintenance issues as an obstacle, with 40% saying they feel helpless when something in their house breaks. 

Once you’ve finished moving into your new place, you’re likely to feel the burden of home maintenance setting in. Painting a room here, replacing windows there — these costs quickly add up. 

See our full findings to learn how your experience with home maintenance compares to that of the typical homeowner.

Key findings

• The average homeowner spends $5,775 on home maintenance each year. That number rises to $12,225 among those who bought a home in the last 12 months.

• Almost three-quarters of homeowners have regrets about home maintenance, with one-third regretting that they don’t know how to make repairs themselves.

• Over half of millennial homeowners feel self-conscious about their inability to make home repairs.

• Nearly one-third of homeowners (including 39% of millennials) feel “house poor” — meaning they spend an excessive portion of their income on housing costs.

The average homeowner spends nearly $6,000 on home maintenance each year

Our survey found the typical homeowner has spent $5,775 on maintenance and repairs over the past 12 months. People who moved into a new home since May 2023 paid more than double in home repairs — $12,225 — as they adjusted to their new living space and tackled lingering repairs.

It’s easy to underestimate other costs of homeownership, particularly upkeep that can span minor repairs, such as cleaning clogged gutters, to more elaborate and expensive maintenance, such as fixing roofing issues. In fact, 54% of homeowners said the cost of home maintenance surpassed their expectations. 

Similarly, those who plan to sell their house in the next 12 months spent an average of $10,069 on home maintenance projects, presumably to make their home more attractive to buyers.

Some struggle to afford the cost of home care: 38% of homeowners said they’re putting off maintenance and repairs because of the cost. A little under one-third of homeowners (30%) said they feel “house poor” — meaning they spend an excessive portion of their income on homeownership costs. That includes 39% of millennial homeowners.

People often underestimate the cost of owning a home, said Kyshawn Lane, creator of the viral social media series Weekly Home Check. 

“I’m always seeing comments from followers talking about all the added costs for home maintenance,” Lane said. “Many times, all these costs are what are referred to as ‘phantom costs’ because they are hidden and aren’t a part of your normal mortgage, [insurance, taxes] — so inevitably they are always a surprise.”

Some homeowners take on financial risks to afford the cost of home maintenance. Almost a quarter (24%) borrowed money from friends or family, and 28% sank deeper into debt to pay for home maintenance or repairs, according to our survey. 

Expensive emergency repairs may have a habit of striking at inconvenient times. Roofing problems, for instance, snuck up on 54% of homeowners. To put it in perspective: Replacing a roof has a national average cost of $21,440 for a 2,000-square-foot roof, according to the RSMeans construction pricing database.

73% of homeowners have home maintenance regrets

Overall, nearly three-quarters of homeowners (73%) have regrets related to home maintenance: Factors include not learning how to handle repairs on their own, not buying a home that requires less maintenance, and not buying a home warranty to protect against expensive repair costs.

Given the high cost of home maintenance, 27% of homeowners regret not budgeting enough for unexpected repairs, and 23% regret not budgeting enough for routine maintenance. These oversights can cause some to go into debt, especially since homeowners do borrow money to pay for maintenance: 49% use credit cards and 6% rely on other loans. Fewer than half of homeowners (43%) pay for maintenance expenditures out of pocket, according to our survey.

A lack of planning for maintenance costs often leads to homeowners procrastinating on repairs — and spending more. More than half (54%) of homeowners said they “usually” put off repairs until absolutely necessary, and 38% said they’ve previously ended up paying more for a repair because they delayed fixing the original problem. 

2 in 5 homeowners feel “helpless” when something breaks in their home

A little know-how goes a long way toward saving money on home maintenance, but many homeowners, especially younger homeowners, feel intimidated when considering making their own repairs. 

The inability to conduct their own home repairs makes 41% of homeowners feel self-conscious, and millennials (53%) are more likely to feel intimidated than baby boomers (29%). 

Similarly, 40% of homeowners said they feel “helpless” when something in their home breaks, including 46% of Gen Z homeowners.

Lane said he understands why some find the home maintenance process overwhelming. “Some tasks may sound more complex than they are, leading people to doubt their ability to fix things themselves, fearing they’ll ruin their home and create an even bigger problem,” he said. 

Gen Z is the least likely to feel comfortable handling certain maintenance tasks around the house. Just 34% said they can change the filter on their HVAC system, compared to 73% of baby boomers. When it comes to unclogging a drain, 48% of Gen Zers said they are up to the task, compared to 75% of boomers.

Despite reporting that they’re less able to handle certain maintenance jobs, Gen Z respondents are still more likely than baby boomers to consider themselves “handy” by a margin of 59% to 49%.

Ways to save money on home maintenance

Don’t get discouraged if you’re struggling to afford your home maintenance needs. Follow these tactics to bring down your property’s upkeep costs over time. 

Practice regular preventive maintenance

Ignoring regular home maintenance can lead to expensive emergencies down the line. Evaluate your home’s appliances, structural elements, and HVAC and plumbing systems. If you’re proactive, you can tackle problems before they escalate. Plus, routine home maintenance can help you save money on electricity bills. 

“Cleaning the HVAC, dryer ducts and fridge coils will allow those units to work more efficiently and not use as much energy,” Lane said. “If you take care of these units, they will also last you much longer.”

To stay organized, consider using a maintenance calendar, such as the Healthy Homes Maintenance Checklist provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

Consider do-it-yourself fixes

Homeowners can get intimidated by the thought of conducting their own repairs, but YouTube tutorials and other online resources have made do-it-yourself solutions more accessible than ever. Manageable tasks such as washing windows and fertilizing your lawn are within reach. But if you have safety concerns, say climbing a ladder to clean gutters, contact a professional. 

Compare provider pricing

When contacting professionals, it might seem more convenient to go with a repair company you’re familiar with, but don’t sign off on a contractor without looking into their competitors. This applies to maintenance and repair techs and home warranty providers.

The savings really start to stack up with larger projects. Replacing windows will typically cost homeowners about $9,000 to $13,000, based on our 2023 survey of window brands. Whether the project is big or small, due diligence can go a long way regarding budgeting and understanding financial commitments.  

If you have home appliance insurance to help cover the costs of unexpected home systems or appliance breakdowns, expect to pay between $65 and $150 for a service call fee, depending on your provider and plan. Note that most home warranties do not cover maintenance issues, and most will deny coverage for breakdowns if you haven’t properly maintained the appliance or system. 

Final take: Don’t underestimate the demands of home maintenance

As our survey of 2,000 homeowners showed, the burden and price of home maintenance can easily catch people off guard. Homeowners who don’t allocate enough of their budget for maintenance costs risk becoming financially overextended. 

As more millennials and Gen Zers begin buying their first homes, they’ll need to exercise caution before committing to a home at the top end of their price range. If not, the combination of mortgage payments and unplanned upkeep costs could turn their home into a money pit — rather than an asset for building wealth. 

Our methodology

The research team at USA TODAY Homefront examined homeowners’ maintenance costs, experiences and opinions in a survey of 2,000 Americans who own a home. The survey was run using Pollfish, a third-party market research and survey platform, and ran from May 17–19, 2024.

We weighted responses to align with population demographics across age and gender to be representative of all U.S. adults (aged 18+). The margin of error is +/- 3% with 95% confidence. 

Questions about our study? Please contact Homefront at press@homefront.usatoday.com.

Reference policy

We encourage journalists to share our findings on the cost of home maintenance. If you choose to do so, please link back to our original story and credit USA TODAY Homefront for the research.

Cost information, where noted, was calculated using RSMeans data from Gordian™. RSMeans is a construction cost database used by thousands of contractors to generate their project pricing.

Local costs were determined using RSMeans project estimates combined with local labor costs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and cost data from home improvement stores. We also interviewed homeowners from around the country to validate local costs.