DIY project cost statistics show a wide range of homeowner spending. The Census reported $827 billion in U.S. home-improvement spending from 2021 to 2023, while the median homeowner who made improvements spent $6,500. Project costs varied from a median of $400 for security systems to $10,000 for roofing, and do-it-yourself work made up 36% of all home-improvement projects.
Contents
- The scale of DIY and home improvement
- Median costs by project type
- Project volume and total spending
- Older homes, repairs, and maintenance
- Energy-efficiency project costs and credits
- Potential energy savings
The scale of DIY and home improvement
The Census 2023 Home Improvements figures describe activity from 2021 to 2023. During that period, 51.6 million homeowners made improvements, equal to 59% of homeowners. The infographic used a base of 86.9 million homeowners. Across the market, owners completed 140 million home-improvement projects.
DIY work represented 50 million of those 140 million projects. In percentage terms, do-it-yourself projects accounted for 36% of all home-improvement projects, while professional projects represented 64%. These are project counts, not a comparison of dollars spent: one project may be much more expensive than another, and the figures do not establish that DIY work cost 36% less.
The same Census source counted 14.7 million homeowners who made energy-efficiency improvements. That group represented 28% of homeowners who made improvements. Energy-related work therefore formed a substantial part of improvement activity, alongside remodeling, exterior work, repairs, and replacements.
The earlier Census 2021 Home Improvements article reported 49.0 million homeowners making improvements in 2021. It also reported 135.0 million total home projects and 53.0 million DIY home projects, or 39% of all projects. Because these figures cover a different period and use a different total-project count, they should be read as a 2021 snapshot rather than combined directly with the 2021–2023 totals.
Median costs by project type
The Census 2023 Home Improvements source reported median expenditures for selected types of work. A median describes the midpoint of reported spending for that project category; it is not a quote for every home and does not include an assumed DIY discount.
| Project type | Median expenditure |
|---|---|
| Roofing | $10,000 |
| Kitchen remodel | $8,000 |
| HVAC | $5,500 |
| Bathroom remodel | $5,000 |
| Porch, deck, patio, or terrace | $4,800 |
| Attached garage or carport | $4,600 |
| Flooring, paneling, or ceiling tile | $3,000 |
| Driveway or walkway | $2,900 |
| Doors and windows | $2,800 |
| Electrical wiring or fuse box | $1,000 |
| Plumbing fixtures | $800 |
| Water heater, dishwasher, or garbage disposal | $500 |
| Security system | $400 |
Roofing had the highest listed median expenditure at $10,000. Kitchen remodels followed at $8,000, and HVAC projects had a $5,500 median. Bathroom remodels were reported at $5,000, while porch, deck, patio, or terrace work had a $4,800 median. Attached garage or carport projects had a $4,600 median.
Several common interior and access projects had lower listed medians. Flooring, paneling, or ceiling tile work came to $3,000. Driveways and walkways were $2,900, and doors and windows were $2,800. Electrical wiring and fuse-box work had a $1,000 median. Plumbing fixtures were $800, water heater, dishwasher, or garbage-disposal work was $500, and security-system projects were $400.
These medians help frame a DIY budget, but they should not be treated as material-only prices. The source reports project expenditures, and the figures do not separate supplies, equipment, permits, hired labor, or homeowner labor. They also do not state whether every listed project was DIY.
Project volume and total spending
Project frequency and total dollars tell a different story from median cost. The Census 2023 Home Improvements data counted 12.8 million kitchen remodel projects, 10.9 million bathroom remodels, 8.3 million roofing projects, 7.9 million flooring, paneling, or ceiling tile projects, and 7.5 million HVAC projects.
Doors and windows accounted for 7.0 million projects. Landscaping or sprinkler-system work accounted for 4.6 million, while porch, deck, patio, or terrace work accounted for 3.9 million. The figures show that a category can be common without having the highest median expenditure.
The same source reported these total expenditures for major categories:
- Kitchen remodels: $93.5 billion across 12.8 million projects.
- Roofing: $83.1 billion across 8.3 million projects.
- HVAC: $68.9 billion across 7.5 million projects.
- Bathroom remodels: $51.0 billion across 10.9 million projects.
- Flooring, paneling, or ceiling tile work: $45.2 billion across 7.9 million projects.
- Doors and windows: $32.8 billion across 7.0 million projects.
- Porch, deck, patio, or terrace work: $26.6 billion across 3.9 million projects.
- Landscaping or sprinkler-system work: $20.9 billion across 4.6 million projects.
The Census also reported $827 billion in total home-improvement spending from 2021 to 2023. The category totals above are not a complete accounting of that figure; they cover selected categories. They should not be added to recreate the full market total.
Disaster-related work was separately quantified. Tornado and hurricane damage repairs totaled 663,000 projects in the 2021–2023 Census measure, and fire-damage repairs totaled 129,000 projects. In the 2021 Census article, tornado and hurricane repairs numbered 504,000 and fire repairs numbered 156,000. The periods differ, so the numbers are not a time-series comparison of the same measurement window.
Older homes, repairs, and maintenance
The Census Older Home Costs source found that about 61% of owners of older homes started a home-improvement project between 2019 and 2021. Those owners spent a median of $4,100 on all their home-improvement projects during that period. Older homes built before 1950 made up about 17% of homes, and the median age of all owned homes was 41 years.
For ongoing upkeep, owners of older homes spent a median of $1,800 per year. Among homeowners who undertook at least one improvement project, the median spending was about $700 for each 500 square feet of living space. The source also reported a difference by ownership tenure: new owners spent a median of 1.5% of the home’s value on upkeep or improvements, compared with 0.6% for longtime owners.
The Census 2021 Home Improvements article quantified several conditions that can create repair work. In 2021, 11.4 million occupied housing units reported water leakage from outside the home, 7.2 million had open cracks or holes inside, and 5.0 million had a crumbling or open crack or hole in the foundation. Mold in the previous 12 months was reported by 3.8 million occupied housing units.
Other reported conditions included 2.5 million occupied housing units with no working toilet at some point during the previous three months, 15.3 million with signs of mice or rats inside during the previous 12 months, and 14.5 million with signs of cockroaches inside during the previous 12 months. These are counts of housing units reporting conditions, not estimates of DIY project costs.
Energy-efficiency project costs and credits
The IRS FAQ describes a 30% credit for qualifying exterior doors, windows, skylights, insulation, air-sealing materials, and air-sealing systems, subject to category limits. Exterior doors qualify for up to $250 per door and $500 total when multiple doors are installed. Exterior windows and skylights qualify for up to $600. Insulation materials and systems, air-sealing materials and systems, qualify for up to $1,200.
The IRS rules also identify a $600 cap per item for central air conditioners, qualifying natural-gas, propane, or oil water heaters, qualifying natural-gas, propane, or oil furnaces or hot-water boilers, and certain panelboard, sub-panelboard, branch-circuit, or feeder upgrades installed with eligible improvements. Home energy audits qualify for a 30% credit with a $150 cap.
The IRS FAQ states that the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit is generally limited to $1,200 per taxpayer per tax year. The limit rises to $2,000 per taxpayer per tax year for heat-pump water heaters, heat pumps, biomass stoves, and biomass boilers. A taxpayer could claim a total credit of $3,200 when spending qualifies across both credit buckets. Qualified property can be installed by the taxpayer themselves under the IRS guidance.
These are credit limits, not guaranteed reimbursements and not reductions in the project’s invoice. Eligibility, property requirements, and tax circumstances determine whether a homeowner can claim a credit. The source labels and caps should be checked against the applicable IRS rules before budgeting around them.
Potential energy savings
ENERGY STAR says saving energy can mean saving as much as 20% of a utility bill. EPA estimates that air sealing and insulating a typical home can produce average savings of 15% on heating and cooling costs and 11% on total energy costs. The ENERGY STAR Methodology gives modeled total-house savings by climate zone: 16% in North climate zone 8, 15% in climate zone 7, 14% in climate zone 6, 12% in climate zone 5, 13% in climate zone 4C, 12% in climate zone 4, 8% in South climate zone 3, 6% in climate zone 2, and 5% in climate zone 1. The national modeled averages are 11% for total-house savings and 15% for heating-and-cooling-only savings.
The Department of Energy reports that U.S. homes and commercial buildings consume 40% of energy used in the United States. It estimates that, out of an average American’s $2,000 in annual energy spending, $200 to $400 could be wasted through drafts, leaks, and outdated systems. Reducing drafts may save 5% to 30% per year, and about 20% of air infiltration comes through windows, doors, and skylights.
Other DOE figures help identify where an efficiency project may matter. Storm windows alone can reduce heat loss through windows by 25% to 50%. Turning a thermostat back 10% to 15% for eight hours can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling bills. Uninsulated duct systems running through unheated spaces can lose up to 60% of heated air before it reaches a register.
Heating and cooling typically account for 43% of a home utility bill, water heating about 12%, appliances about 15% of household energy consumption, and lighting an average of 11% of the household energy budget. New lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use by 50% to 75%. ENERGY STAR clothes dryers use 20% less energy than conventional models, while ENERGY STAR heat-pump dryers can save 20% to 60% more energy than conventional clothes dryers. Induction appliances are up to three times more efficient than gas stoves and up to 10% more efficient than conventional smooth-top electric ranges.
The DOE also reports that its Weatherization Assistance Program has helped more than 7 million families since 1976, with participating households saving an average of $372 or more per year. That savings figure is a program average, not a guaranteed result for an individual DIY project.