Which Home Owners Are Fueling Today’s Remodeling Market?

With elevated mortgage rates and limited for-sale inventory making it harder to move, many home owners are instead choosing to invest in the homes they already own.

In 2024, an estimated $670 billion was spent on remodeling projects, as roughly 20 million households (nearly one-quarter of owner-occupied homes) undertook home improvements ranging from large additions and major renovations to smaller alterations and upgrades.

NAHB analysis of data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) reveals how these remodeling expenditures varied across household characteristics. For example, married-couple households remain the dominant force in remodeling, accounting for the majority of both the number of projects and the amount of spending.

Families with children, particularly those with kids ages 6-17, are investing heavily in larger-scale improvements like finished basements, kitchen upgrades, and home additions to better accommodate growing households. In fact, these households reported some of the highest spending levels across all categories, averaging $43,330 spent in 2024.

When comparing generational groups, Baby Boomers represented the largest share of total remodeling expenditures. Meanwhile, Millennials are emerging as the highest spenders per remodeling household, often focusing on additions and long-term upgrades that support growing families, remote work, and evolving lifestyle needs.

The analysis also highlights life-cycle patterns that correlate with remodeling behavior. Home owners ages 35–44 and 55–64 reported the highest remodeling expenditures, suggesting two major waves of investment: one tied to family formation and another linked to pre-retirement and aging-in-place preparations.

Income remains another major factor shaping remodeling demand. Higher-income households (those with $200,000 or more in annual income) are three times as likely to renovate than those earning less than $50,000. On average, high-income households that remodeled in 2024 spent about $61,000.

NAHB Principal Economist Na Zhao provides a much more in-depth analysis of the data, including interactive dashboards, in her recent Eye On Housing article, Who Drives Remodeling Spending.