The housing stock requires continuous reinvestment to maintain decent conditions. Yet many homeowners lack the resources to invest in basic maintenance, replace critical systems and equipment, and repair damage from natural disasters, let alone make improvements to meet their changing needs or preferences. According to our recent Improving America’s Housing report, in 2023, homeowners with lower incomes spent significantly less on all types of remodeling and repairs and were by far the most burdened by these expenses. Lower-income owners focused their spending on critical projects, with three-quarters of their aggregate expenditures going toward maintenance, replacements, and disaster repairs.
Homeowners in the bottom fifth of incomes spent an average of just $3,100 on home improvements and repairs in 2023 (Figure 1). This was less than a third of the average spending by homeowners with incomes in the top fifth ($10,900), and around half as much as homeowners overall ($7,100). On average, homeowners in the lowest income quintile spent 16 percent of household income on improvements and maintenance, including homeowners who did not undertake any spending. By comparison, homeowners in the top quintile spent just under 4 percent of their incomes on average.
Figure 1: Lower Income Homeowners Are The Most Burdened By Home Improvement and Repair Costs
Notes: Quintiles are equal fifths of owners ranked by total household income. The lowest quintile includes incomes of less than $37,500 and the highest quintile includes incomes of more than $172,000. Owners with zero or negative income are assumed to spend 0% of income for improvements and maintenance, while those spending over 100% are top-coded at 100%. Average share of income spent on home improvements and maintenance includes households with no spending. The average among all owners was 7.5 percent.
Source: JCHS tabulations of US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 2023 American Housing Survey.
Given limited resources, lower-income owners were more likely to report small amounts of spending on their homes, or to report spending nothing at all (Figure 2). In 2023, 28 percent of homeowners in the lowest income quintile did not spend on home improvements or maintenance, double the 14 percent share for higher-income owners. Lower-income owners were also more likely to report small amounts of spending, with 18 percent spending under $500, compared to 7 percent of higher-income homeowners. Conversely, relatively few lower-income homeowners spent a large amount on improvements and repairs; just 14 percent of lower-income owners spent $10,000 or more, compared to 38 percent of the higher-income group.
Figure 2: 45 Percent of Lower Income Owners Spent Less Than $500 on Home Improvements and Repairs
Notes: The lowest income quintile includes homeowners with incomes of less than $37,500. The highest income quintile includes homeowners with incomes of more than $172,000. Remodeling spending includes improvements and maintenance spending.
Source: JCHS tabulations of HUD, 2023 American Housing Survey.
Limited financial resources further shape the composition of lower-income households’ remodeling and repair budgets, with a far greater share of lower-income homeowners’ expenditures going toward the projects most essential to maintain habitability (Figure 3). In 2023, 27 percent of aggregate home improvement and maintenance expenditures by lower-income owners went toward routine maintenance, compared to just 16 percent of outlays by higher-income owners. Homeowners with lower incomes spent larger shares of their improvement and repair dollars as a group on replacement projects such as roofing, windows, exterior siding, insulation, and HVAC (43 percent versus 35 percent). Lower-income owners also spent a somewhat larger share on disaster repairs than higher-income owners (5 percent versus 3 percent). Taken together, maintenance, replacements, and disaster repairs accounted for 74 percent of lower-income owners’ remodeling and repair expenditures, but just 55 percent of spending by higher-income owners. These projects are typically difficult to postpone and essential to maintain safe and livable conditions.
Figure 3: Necessary Projects Dominate Lower-Income Homeowners’ Remodeling and Repair Budgets
Notes: Quintiles are equal fifths of owners ranked by total household income. The lowest quintile includes incomes of less than $37,500 and the highest quintile includes incomes of more than $172,000.
Source: JCHS tabulations of HUD, 2023 American Housing Survey.
Correspondingly, lower-income owners spent proportionally less on discretionary upgrades and outside property improvements—projects that often reflect owners’ desires for updated amenities or aesthetics and that are typically easier to defer. Discretionary projects such as kitchen and bath remodels, room additions, and outside attachments accounted for just 18 percent of aggregate expenditures among lower-income owners but 30 percent of total spending for those with higher incomes. Similarly, outside property improvements such as fencing and recreational structures accounted for only 8 percent of lower-income owners’ expenditures, compared to 15 percent among higher-income owners.
The financial burden of home repairs can compromise a household’s immediate financial stability and long-term wealth prospects. A study of low-income homeowners found that few had money saved for home maintenance, while other research found that many low-income first-time homebuyers encountered unexpected home repair costs they could not afford. While covering these expenses can cause financial hardship and housing instability, deferring or foregoing necessary projects can have the same effect. Unaddressed deterioration can increase a household’s long-term repair expenses, while also threatening residents’ health and wellbeing and causing a home’s value to stagnate or depreciate.
Even as lower-income owners prioritize essential projects and experience significant financial hardship due to their investment, the housing stock has large repair needs that are simply beyond the means of many lower-income households. In 2023, 2.9 million homeowner households (3.3 percent) lived in units classified by HUD as moderately or severely inadequate, with multiple structural deficiencies like water leaks, large open cracks, and holes in the floor, or serious problems with basic features such as plumbing, electrical, or heating. Although most homes meet the criteria for basic physical adequacy, an estimated 33 percent of the owner-occupied stock (27 million homes) needed at least one repair in 2022, with a total estimated repair cost of $98 billion.
Closing these gaps in investment will require far greater resources. A wide range of national and local home repair assistance programs facilitate repairs and help households cover costs, yet these critical programs meet only a fraction of need. Recent initiatives such as Pennsylvania’s Whole-Home Repairs Program have expanded the pool of assistance available, but policy changes threaten to remove vital funding. Amid several proposed reductions in federal housing supports, the draft FY26 House appropriations bill would reduce or eliminate funding for some federal programs that support housing rehabilitation, including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, even as the Senate appropriations bill proposes level or greater funding for many federal housing programs. Without action to protect and expand existing funding sources, more lower-income households will be left without the means to fund critical repairs, accelerating deterioration for those least able to absorb its impacts.
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