Short answer: there is no single national amount that tells every homeowner what to save. For 2023, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported average per-owner routine maintenance spending of $1,200, based on American Housing Survey tabulations. A later Zillow–Thumbtack analysis put its modeled annual maintenance basket at $10,946. Those are different measures, not the low and high ends of one household budget.
Three numbers that answer three different questions
| Published measure | What it says | Best use | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| AHS / Harvard JCHS, 2023 | $1,200 average per-owner routine maintenance spending | National context for reported routine upkeep | Your home’s next repair, a local contractor’s price, or a personal savings target |
| Zillow–Thumbtack, 2025 | $10,946 estimated annual maintenance cost across a basket of service categories | Seeing what a broad set of recurring and seasonal jobs can add up to when priced through a home-services platform | What every owner actually paid, or what a homeowner who does some work themselves will spend |
| Broader “hidden costs” total, 2025 | $15,979, made up of $10,946 maintenance, $2,003 insurance, and $3,030 property taxes | A partial view of expenses beyond the mortgage | Maintenance alone; mortgage, utilities, and other costs are outside this three-item total |
The first two values should not be added together or treated as a contradiction. The survey and the service basket start with different questions and include different work.
What the $1,200 homeowner-reported figure measures
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Housing Survey asks owners what their household spends “in a typical year” for routine repairs and maintenance. Examples in the questionnaire include painting, plumbing, roofing, and other minor repairs. A separate set of questions covers remodeling and major improvements, so the routine-maintenance item is not a kitchen-renovation budget.
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies used AHS data to estimate that average per-owner routine maintenance spending reached $1,200 in 2023, compared with $800 in 2019. The report says aggregate routine-maintenance spending rose from $65 billion to $105 billion; after inflation, that increase was 35%. About 75% of owners reported maintenance spending in 2023, or 65 million homeowners.
That is useful context about reported national spending. It is not a contractor quote or an amount every owner paid. An annual average blends homes with different ages, conditions, sizes, climates, work histories, and amounts of DIY. It also averages an uneven expense: a homeowner may spend little in one year and then face a roof, plumbing, or HVAC bill later.
What the $10,946 service estimate measures
The November 2025 Zillow–Thumbtack analysis describes $10,946 as an average annual maintenance cost and lists categories such as appliance care, HVAC service, deck sealing, gutter cleaning, lawn care, chimney work, roof maintenance, tree trimming, water-heater maintenance, and window cleaning. Its source statement says the prices come from projects requested on Thumbtack and reported by independent service professionals or customers. It calls the total an unweighted index of yearly maintenance projects calculated quarterly with a moving average.
This is a priced basket of many possible services, not a survey asking each household for its maintenance spending. A homeowner who hires out lawn care, cleaning, and seasonal maintenance may find the basket more relevant than someone who does those jobs themselves, skips optional services, or only counts repairs. The release does not make the figure a quote for a particular home.
The same report gives a broader $15,979 total by adding estimated property tax and insurance. That is a homeownership-cost comparison beyond the mortgage, not a maintenance-only statistic. Utilities and mortgage payments are not part of that three-item sum.
Why a national average can mislead your budget
Maintenance is lumpy. Two homes with the same market value may have different roof, plumbing, drainage, or equipment needs. The Census Bureau has also found that spending differs by home age and length of ownership: in its 2021 analysis of older homes, recent owners of homes built before 1950 reported median annual upkeep of $3,900, compared with about $1,500 for owners who had lived in those older homes for at least ten years. That measure included both improvements and routine upkeep, so it should not be compared directly with the 2023 routine-maintenance figure above.
Home age is another reason the national average will not fit every house. In its 2025 report, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that average per-owner maintenance spending in 2023 was 76% higher for homes built before 1980 than for homes built in 2010 or later. That is a comparison between groups, not a multiplier for your budget or a prediction that a particular older home will need a repair. Recent replacements, deferred work, DIY, and local service prices still matter. The JCHS report gives useful context; your own inspection findings and records are better inputs for a plan.
Use a published average to understand scale, not to diagnose your house. A personal plan should reflect recurring service bills, written estimates for work you have identified, money already assigned to those projects, and when you expect to pay. Keep emergency savings separate when the repair and timing are still unknown.
Turn your home’s work list into a monthly target
- List recurring work. Start with maintenance contracts, invoices, and the services you actually expect to repeat. Keep optional services separate from urgent repairs.
- Add known projects one at a time. Use an inspection finding, diagnosis, or written estimate. Record the scope, source, date, current savings, and planned payment month.
- Do not turn unknown costs into zero. Leave the amount open until you have enough information to get a quote. A blank estimate is an unresolved item, not a free repair.
- Check the timing. Divide the part of each estimate you still need to fund by the months before your planned payment. Change the date to see how it changes the monthly savings target.
The maintenance reserve calculator adds your annual routine-upkeep amount to separate savings targets for known projects. It uses the costs and dates you enter; it does not apply a national average, price a repair, or predict when a system will fail. For the detailed steps and a worked example, see how to build a monthly home maintenance budget. The free budget workbook can keep estimates and actual invoices together.
Questions homeowners ask about annual maintenance costs
Is $1,200 enough to budget for home maintenance?
Not necessarily. It is a national average per-owner routine-maintenance spending figure for 2023, not a recommended savings target and not a quote for your house. Known replacements and repairs may need a separate project-by-project plan.
Does the $10,946 estimate mean a typical homeowner paid that much?
No. Zillow and Thumbtack describe it as the annual cost of a basket of maintenance services built from service-project pricing. It is not the same as asking each homeowner what they actually spent.
Should I save 1% of my home’s value each year?
A percentage can be a rough comparison when little is known about a house, but it does not account for current condition, work already completed, or a specific written estimate. Treat it as a prompt to plan, not a universal quote. The budget guide explains how to avoid counting the same project twice.
Sources and scope
- Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Improving America’s Housing 2025, especially the 2023 routine-maintenance expenditure discussion. It reports AHS-tabulated owner spending and inflation-adjusted national totals.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 AHS questionnaire, including the “Routine Maintenance Costs in Typical Year” item and the separate improvement questions.
- Thumbtack, November 2025 homeownership-cost release, for its $10,946 maintenance index and the $15,979 total’s component breakdown.
- U.S. Census Bureau, “Cost of Improving and Maintaining Older Homes Higher for New Owners”, for the 2021 older-home comparison. Its upkeep measure includes improvement spending as well as routine maintenance.
All dollar amounts are U.S. dollars and are shown for the year and scope reported by each source; they have not been converted to current dollars or localized. The comparison explains why the figures differ; it does not predict an individual home’s expenses. Sources checked October 4, 2026.