Just How Much Does the Average American Spend on Home Maintenance Each Year?

Are you spending more or less than average?

When you buy a house, you take on a lot of big expenses. You obviously acquire a mortgage payment if you borrowed for the home. You'll also have property taxes to pay for. These costs are pretty predictable, and you'll be responsible for paying them every year.

There are also some other new costs to think about as a homeowner, though. Specifically, you will likely need to spend money to maintain your house. This will mean covering both small expenditures throughout the year as well as big and unpredictable expenses if things go wrong.

But how much can you expect to spend on home maintenance? While the answer can vary depending on many factors, including the age and condition of your house and how handy you are, it can be helpful to look at what your fellow Americans are spending on this expense.

Here's what the average American spends on maintaining their home

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual spending on home maintenance, repairs, and insurance comes in at $2,335 for all consumers. However, some groups spent much more than others. Specifically, those with higher incomes:

• Under $15,000 had mean maintenance, repair, and insurance spending of $738 per year
• Between $15,000 and $29,999 had mean spending of $1,405
• Between $30,000 and $39,999 had mean spending of $1,463
• Between $40,000 and $49,999 had mean spending of $1,689
• Between $50,000 and $69,999 had mean spending of $1,851
• Between $70,000 and $99,999 had mean spending of $2,388
• Between $100,000 and $149,999 had mean spending of $3,156
• Between $150,000 and $199,999 had mean spending of $3,752
• Equaling or exceeding $200,000 had mean spending of $5,507

It's not surprising that people with higher incomes tend to spend more on home maintenance. First of all, they have more money. That means they can take action immediately when things need to be done and they can afford to pay a premium for fast, efficient, top-quality work. Deferred maintenance is less likely when they have more income to go around.

People who have higher incomes may also have larger houses with costlier items that may need to be repaired or replaced. They're also more likely to own their home and have maintenance costs to pay as compared with renters who usually leave these costs to a landlord.

Still, anyone who owns a house needs to be prepared to pay for things that go wrong -- regardless of whether they're making a lot of money or not.

How to prepare for home maintenance costs

If you want to make sure you're ready to cover home maintenance costs, the best thing you can do is have a dedicated fund for them. You can open a high-yield savings account and set aside money in it to use whenever repairs are needed. Ideally, you'd put around 1% to 2% of your home's value in the account each year so it can build up a reasonable balance in case you face a big expense.

You can always turn to your emergency fund, too, if you have one. While you don't want to keep raiding this fund to cover routine maintenance or inevitable problems, the money is there to help you pay the bills if you need it until you have a dedicated home-repairs account you can rely on.

The important thing, though, is to realize maintenance costs are going to be a part of your life once you're a homeowner, so you need to plan accordingly to prevent financial disaster. The sooner you come to terms with this reality, the better off you'll be.