A new garage door costs $4,672 on average and hands back $12,507 at resale, a 267.7% return, the single highest payback of any home improvement project measured this year. That number comes from Zonda’s 38th Annual Cost vs. Value Report, built on Verisk XactRemodel pricing data across 119 U.S. markets, and it isn’t a fluke sitting alone at the top. Eight of the ten highest-ROI projects nationally are exterior work, and the priciest job on this list, a $28,458 kitchen remodel, barely squeezes into fifth place. Here’s how the ten actually rank, cost against resale value, from best to worst.
1. Garage door replacement: 267.7% ROI
Homeowners spend $4,672 replacing a garage door and recoup $12,507 of that at sale, a 267.7% return. It’s the cheapest project on this list and the one buyers see first, since the garage door typically covers more visible square footage on the front of a house than the front door itself.
2. Steel entry door replacement: 216.4% ROI
Swapping in a steel entry door costs $2,435 and adds $5,270 in resale value, translating to a 216.4% ROI. Under $2,500 out of pocket for a project that more than doubles its cost back is a rare combination, and it explains why door projects occupy two of the top three spots.
3. Manufactured stone veneer: 207.9% ROI
Wrapping a home’s lower façade or entry columns in manufactured stone veneer runs $11,702 and returns $24,328 at sale, good for a 207.9% ROI. This is the third consecutive project on the list to more than double its own cost, and the last one that manages it.
4. Fiber-cement siding replacement: 113.7% ROI
Full fiber-cement siding costs $21,485 to install and adds $24,420 back at resale, a 113.7% ROI. Once a home needs a full siding job rather than a smaller accent like stone veneer, the price climbs into five figures, and the return drops accordingly, though it still clears break-even by a wide margin.
5. Minor kitchen remodel: 112.9% ROI
At $28,458 in cost against $32,141 in added resale value, the minor kitchen remodel posts a 112.9% ROI, the only interior project to crack the national top five. Zonda defines “minor” here as cabinet fronts, countertops, and appliances rather than a gut renovation, which keeps costs down and the return relatively high for indoor work.
6. Vinyl siding replacement: 96.5% ROI
Vinyl siding costs $17,950 and returns $17,313, a 96.5% ROI. It’s the budget alternative to fiber-cement, cheaper to install by roughly $3,500, and it lands just below break-even rather than comfortably above it.
7. Backup power generator: 95.3% ROI
Installing a whole-home backup generator runs $13,534 and adds $12,902 in resale value nationally, a 95.3% ROI. It’s one of the newer categories Zonda tracks, reflecting how often buyers now ask about power resilience during storms and grid outages before they’ll make an offer.
8. Wood deck addition: 94.9% ROI
A new wood deck costs $18,263 and brings back $17,323 at resale, a 94.9% ROI. Wood remains cheaper to build than composite decking by close to $7,000, which is most of why it outranks its low-maintenance rival despite needing more upkeep over time.
9. Composite deck addition: 88.5% ROI
Composite decking costs $25,096 to install and adds $22,199 back at sale, an 88.5% ROI. Buyers appreciate the reduced maintenance, but the higher material cost outpaces what appraisers and comparable sales are currently willing to credit back.
10. Fiberglass entry door (Grand Entrance): 84.7% ROI
A larger fiberglass entry system, what Zonda categorizes as a “Grand Entrance,” costs $11,754 and returns $9,995, an 84.7% ROI. It closes out the list as the only project here priced above $10,000 that doesn’t clear break-even, a reminder that bigger and more ornate doesn’t automatically mean better returns.
The pattern across all ten projects is hard to miss: the four highest-ROI jobs are all cheap, exterior, and finished in a matter of days, while the only true interior remodel on the list, the kitchen, needs to cost $28,458 just to reach fifth place. Exterior upgrades tend to win on ROI for a simple reason that has nothing to do with taste. A garage door or a front door reads the same way to nearly every buyer who pulls up to a house, while kitchen and bathroom finishes get judged against personal preference and discounted by anyone who plans to redo them anyway. Cheaper, more universally legible projects consistently outperform expensive, subjective ones, and that gap is exactly what this year’s numbers confirm again.
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