Home Repair Costs Jumped 76% In A Decade, And The Median Project Done By A Pro Costs $4,103 Versus $845 When You Do It Yourself, But Some Jobs Can Send You To The ER

Here is a number that should make any homeowner sit up straight. The median home improvement project cost $2,113 in 2025 dollars, compared with $1,200 in 2015, a 76% jump even after adjusting for inflation.

An assortment of colorful hand tools laid out, representing the cost of home repair projects.

That comes from a LendingTree analysis of Census Bureau housing data and Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, covered by Money Talks News in a piece on how to keep home repair costs down.

The twist is that some of the biggest swings in the bill sit squarely in the homeowner’s hands.

Hiring A Pro Costs $4,103, While Doing It Yourself Runs $845

Few owners dodge the bill for long. Nearly 6 in 10 owner-occupied homes, 51.6 million out of 86.9 million, had at least one project during the two-year window the analysis covered. Routine maintenance alone averaged about $1,433 a year.

Professionals handled about 64% of projects, at a median cost of $4,103. Do-it-yourself projects had a median cost of $845, roughly one-fifth as much.

That gap is the whole argument for rolling up your sleeves. But the same report draws a firm line around which jobs belong on your own to-do list.

Some Savings Can Turn Into “An Emergency Room Bill”

Electrical work, gas lines, roofs and anything that requires a tall ladder are where a do-it-yourself saving can end in a trip to the hospital. Those are the jobs to hand to a licensed pro, even when the quote stings.

Smaller fixes are a different story. Caulking, replacing a toilet flapper, swapping a faucet cartridge and changing furnace filters are all manageable, and they keep minor problems from growing into ones that need a contractor.

The Most Common Project Is The One Nobody Plans For

Adding or replacing a water heater, dishwasher or garbage disposal was the most common type of project, making up 11.7% of the total with a median of $845.

Appliances tend to fail on their own schedule, and an emergency replacement leaves little time to compare prices. Knowing the age of your water heater, furnace and major kitchen appliances lets you shop before one quits.

Some upkeep can stretch their lives, including a yearly water heater flush that clears out sediment.

Clogged Gutters Quietly Invite Water Into The House

Gutters are a house’s first line of defense against water. When they clog, rain can spill over the edge and pool near the foundation, or back up under the roofline and soak the wood behind it.

Cleaning them is one of the cheapest bits of upkeep around, and it is a good example of why maintenance beats repair. Skip it, and a free afternoon chore can become a contractor’s invoice.

An Older Home Costs Far More To Keep Up Than A New One

Maintenance costs climb with a home’s age. Homes built before 1940 averaged $1,706 a year in routine maintenance, while homes built in 2022 and 2023 averaged just $173.

The overall average of $1,433 works out to about $120 a month. Setting that aside automatically, and more for a house that is several decades old, can turn a surprise repair into a planned withdrawal.

Cash Covered 75.7% Of Projects, But Home Equity Loans Ran To $7,924

Cash paid for 75.7% of projects in the analysis, while credit cards paid for 6.3%. Projects paid for in cash had a median cost of $1,902, while those financed with home equity loans ran far larger, at a median of $7,924.

A repair put on a card and paid off over months can cost far more than the contractor’s quote once interest is added. For anyone already juggling balances, it is worth checking whether debt payments are already too high before adding a new one.

Your Repairs May Lower Your Tax Bill When You Sell

Some of what you spend on a home can shrink your taxable gain when you sell. The IRS lets owners add the cost of improvements, meaning work that adds value, extends a home’s life or adapts it to new uses, to their basis.

A new roof, central air or a kitchen remodel qualifies. Routine repairs, such as painting or fixing a leak, generally do not, unless they are part of a larger remodeling project.

A higher basis means a smaller taxable gain. That matters for longtime owners whose profit may exceed the $250,000 exclusion for single filers or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, a gap that can produce a five-figure tax bill on a house bought decades ago.

What To Do This Weekend

LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz told USA Today that home improvements “may be bigger and flashier, but ongoing maintenance and repairs are more common.” Those are also the costs a homeowner can see coming.

Write down the age of your water heater, furnace and major kitchen appliances.
Set aside a monthly amount for repairs. The average of about $120 a month is a starting point, and older houses need more.
Take on the small jobs yourself: caulk, flappers, faucet cartridges and furnace filters.
Leave electrical work, gas lines, roofs and tall-ladder jobs to the pros.
Keep receipts for big improvements. They can help lower your taxable gain when you sell.

A list of each major system’s age, a monthly set-aside and a few hours of weekend work can do more for your next repair bill than any single contractor quote.

Willow and Hearth