Rental carpet has no legal lifespan; the widely quoted HUD figure is 5 years for plush carpet in family units and 7 years in elderly units. It comes from a sample chart HUD wrote for damage claims in HUD-assisted housing, not a rule for private leases. The chart only applies when the carpet was in good condition at move-in and the damage goes beyond normal wear and tear. No state statute sets a replacement interval for carpet. Other published schedules run longer. HUD's own capital-planning table gives carpet 6 years in family properties and 10 in elderly ones. The National Association of Home Builders and InterNACHI both give 8 to 10 years. The IRS uses a 5-year tax recovery period that Treasury pegs to a useful life of more than 4 but less than 10 years. The number that matters in practice is the one you use to prorate a deposit deduction, and the same $900 carpet produces a chargeable amount anywhere from $180 to $540 depending on which schedule you cite.
Search "how long should carpet last in a rental" and every result says the same thing: HUD says 7 years. Property management blogs say it. Tenant forums say it. Deposit calculators bake it in. Almost none of them name the document, and the ones that do usually name the wrong one. We pulled the actual HUD guidance for our rental carpet and flooring replacement statistics page, and the real answer is more useful than the slogan. This page walks through it.
Where the 7 comes from
The figure comes from HUD's special claims guidance HSG-06-01, published in 2006. It is the guide owners of HUD-assisted multifamily housing use to file damage claims with HUD. Appendix 5D of that guide is a sample life expectancy chart. According to HUD's special claims guidance HSG-06-01, Appendix 5D (2006) (hud.gov), the chart gives plush carpeting a life of 5 years in family units and 7 years in elderly units. Tile and linoleum get the same 5 and 7. So the "7 years" everyone repeats is the elderly-unit line. The family-unit line, which is the one closest to a typical rental, is 5.
What the internet says
"HUD says carpet lasts 7 years."
Commonly cited to no document, or to HUD's 2003 public housing occupancy guidebook. We fetched that guidebook. It contains zero occurrences of the word "carpet" and zero occurrences of "life expectancy". The attribution is wrong.
What the HUD document says
HUD's special claims guidance HSG-06-01, Appendix 5D (2006), a sample life expectancy chart for special claims in HUD-assisted multifamily housing. Applies only if the item was in good condition at move-in and damage above normal wear and tear can be shown.
Two more lines in the same document matter more than the number. First, the chart carries a precondition. According to the same Appendix 5D, a damage claim can be submitted only if the items "were in good condition at the time of move in" and it "can be shown that damage, above the normal wear and tear has been sustained." No move-in record, no claim. Second, Chapter 5 of the guide puts the burden on the owner: "The owner/agent must determine the useful life expectancy of replaceable items that have been damaged by the tenant." HUD hands you a sample chart; it does not do the determining for you.
HUD also publishes a second, longer schedule that almost nobody quotes. According to HUD's CNA e-Tool estimated useful life table (hud.gov), which is the schedule used for capital needs assessments rather than damage claims, carpet is given 6 years in family properties and 10 years in elderly properties. The same table gives resilient vinyl or linoleum floors 15 to 20 years, laminated wood floors 20 to 25 years, ceramic tile 40 to 50 years, and hardwood 50 years. Same agency, two purposes, two carpet numbers. Neither binds a private landlord.
Who says what: the useful-life table
Once you leave HUD, the estimates spread out. The reason is that each source is answering a different question. A claims chart wants a conservative life so the tenant is not overcharged. A home-builder study describes carpet in an owner-occupied house. A tax table is about cost recovery, not condition. The table below puts every published number we verified side by side, with what each one was written for. The bars are on a 0 to 25 year scale.
| Who | Carpet life | Bar: 0 to 25 years | Written for | Binds a private landlord? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUD special claims chartSpecial claims guidance HSG-06-01, App. 5D (2006) | 5 family / 7 elderly | Damage claims HUD-assisted multifamily | No | |
| HUD CNA e-Tool tableEstimated useful life for capital needs | 6 family / 10 elderly | Capital planning reserve budgets | No | |
| IRS Publication 527Residential rental property, 2025 tax year | 5 GDS / 9 ADS | Tax depreciation not a condition standard | No (tax only) | |
| NAHB / Bank of AmericaComponent life expectancy study (2007) | 8 to 10 | Home components normal traffic, maintained | No | |
| InterNACHIHome inspector life expectancy chart | 8 to 10 | Home inspection reference chart | No | |
| City of Longmont, ColoradoAdvisory depreciation schedule | 10 | Deposit deductions advisory, one city | Advisory only | |
| HomeGuideCarpet cost guide (2026) | 3 to 5 builder grade; 5 to 20 overall | Market pricing by grade and face weight | No | |
| Carpet and Rug InstituteFacility maintenance article | 22 average | Commercial facilities maintained on a program | No |
Reading the table. The two schedules written for deposit and claims math (HUD's chart and Longmont's) sit at 5 to 10 years. The engineering and inspection sources sit at 8 to 10. The tax table is a recovery period. The 22-year figure is commercial carpet under a maintenance program and does not describe an apartment.
A few of these deserve a sentence. According to the National Association of Home Builders and Bank of America Home Equity's component life expectancy study (2007) (nahb.org), carpet lasts "between 8 and 10 years (with appropriate maintenance and normal traffic)." According to InterNACHI's life expectancy chart (nachi.org), carpet is 8 to 10 years, laminate 15 to 25, vinyl 25, and tile 75 to 100. According to HomeGuide's carpet installation cost guide (2026) (homeguide.com), landlords "often use builder-grade carpet and rebond foam padding in rental properties, lasting 3 to 5 years," and face weight is the tell: carpet under 30 ounces lasts less than 7 years while 40-ounce-plus carpet lasts 12 or more. That single line explains a lot of the gap between the HUD chart and the home-inspector charts. A rental with builder-grade carpet really can be worn out at year 5.
The IRS number is the most misread of all. IRS Publication 527 lists carpets in residential rental property as 5-year property under GDS and 9-year property under ADS. That is a tax schedule. HOME Line is a Minnesota tenant-advocacy nonprofit. According to its legal analysis of the IRS carpet depreciation class (homelinemn.org), "the IRS does not think that all residential rental carpets only lasts five years." The 5-year class covers property with an anticipated useful life of more than 4 but less than 10 years, so "most such carpets last between five and nine years." Citing Publication 527 as proof that carpet is worthless at year 5 gets the source wrong.
The deposit math: one carpet, five schedules
Useful life matters because it drives proration. HUD's own worked example in Chapter 5 of its special claims guidance HSG-06-01 sets the pattern deposit calculators generally follow: a carpet with a 5-year life is destroyed and replaced two years early, so "the family should not be charged more than 2/5 of the cost of the new carpeting." And the floor is zero: "If the carpeting had been in service for five or more years at the time the family moved-out, none of the cost of replacing the carpet would have been charged to the family." Private landlords are not bound by that guide, but the same proration logic is what advisory schedules and deposit calculators apply, and the schedule you cite is the only variable that moves the number.
Worked example
A ruined bedroom carpet, prorated five ways
Inputs are published figures. The outputs are our arithmetic, shown so you can check them. The same example appears on our research page.
life remaining = total useful life - carpet age at move-out (never below zero)
Three things fall out of the table. The spread is 3x between the strictest and the most generous schedule, on the same carpet and the same damage. Under the family-unit HUD line, one more year of age would have taken the charge to zero. And none of the rows exists without the third input: documented good condition at move-in. A landlord who cannot show that has no proration to argue about.
Replacement cost is the other input, and it is well documented. According to HomeAdvisor's carpet replacement cost guide (2025) (homeadvisor.com), carpet replacement runs $780 to $2,812 with an average project at $1,778, or $3 to $11 per square foot installed. According to Fixr's carpet installation cost guide (2026) (fixr.com), the range is $1.36 to $13.58 per square foot with a national average of $7.47. Tear-out is a separate line at $0.70 to $1.60 per square foot for old carpet and pad, per HomeGuide. The full cost tables by material are on the flooring replacement statistics page.
What state law actually says
No state statute we could find sets a replacement interval for carpet. The rules that mention carpet regulate deductions, not timing, and they all turn on the same two ideas: ordinary wear and tear is never chargeable, and the landlord has to document the damage. Four states spell it out.
No portion of a deposit may be withheld for wear from ordinary use, or "for carpet cleaning unless the landlord documents wear to the carpet that is beyond wear resulting from ordinary use." Deductions are also capped at the cost of repairing or replacing the damaged portion when the damage does not cover the whole item.
The landlord may not claim against the deposit for ordinary wear and tear, "whether the wear and tear preexisted the tenancy or occurred during the tenancy, or for the cumulative effects of ordinary wear and tear occurring during any one or more tenancies." Since April 1, 2025, landlords must photograph the unit after move-out before any repairs or cleaning. For tenancies starting July 1, 2025 or later, they must photograph it at move-in too.
The agency note gives the example directly: "a landlord may not withhold from tenant's security deposit for routine painting or carpet cleaning, where there is no unusual damage caused by tenant abuse."
A carpet-cleaning deduction is allowed only when a machine designed for cleaning or shampooing carpets was used, the carpet was cleaned or replaced before the tenancy began, and the written rental agreement provides that the landlord may deduct the cost.
The California language is the one to read twice. It bars claims for the cumulative wear of several tenancies. A carpet that is simply old at the end of a lease, because three tenants lived on it, cannot be billed to the last one. That is the statutory version of HUD's zero-at-five-years rule. For the full list of what each state requires you to record before you can deduct, see our page on security deposit documentation requirements by state.
Replace, repair, or clean
The useful-life question usually arrives as a turnover decision, not a legal one. The published costs make the decision fairly mechanical once you know the carpet's age and what state you are in.
Soiling and odor, no fiber loss, no stains that survive a machine clean. Under the four statutes above this is ordinary wear unless you can document otherwise, so treat it as a turnover cost, not a deduction, unless your state and lease allow it (Oregon's three conditions, Washington's documented-wear rule).
Cost benchmarks on our carpet cleaning statistics pageDamage confined to one area: a burn, a pet spot, a tear at a seam. Washington caps the deduction at the damaged portion, and HUD's chart only applies to what was damaged beyond wear. According to HomeAdvisor's flooring cost overview (2026), carpet repair runs $130 to $270.
$130 to $270 per repair (HomeAdvisor)Damage across the room, or a carpet past the schedule you cite. Past the life on the schedule you use, proration puts the tenant's share at zero regardless of who caused the damage. A 10-by-12 room runs $200 to $900 (HomeGuide) and a typical whole-unit job averages $1,778 (HomeAdvisor).
$200 to $900 per room; $1,778 average jobWhen the answer is replace, more operators are not putting carpet back. According to Floor Covering News' annual industry statistics report (2025) (fcnews.net), U.S. carpet sales fell 4.1% to $7.15 billion in 2024 and resilient flooring out-sold carpet for the third year in a row, by $1.3 billion; luxury vinyl tile and plank alone out-sold all carpet for the first time, by $35 million. According to Floor Focus market data presented to the Carpet America Recovery Effort (2024) (carpetrecovery.org), "apartments continue to shift away from carpet." The up-front cost is close: Fixr puts luxury vinyl plank at $3 to $16 per square foot installed with most projects at $5 to $12, against $3 to $11 for carpet. The difference is the clock. HUD's own capital table gives resilient floors 15 to 20 years against 6 for carpet. For what carpet damage looks like from the claims side, see our guide to carpet and flooring damage claims.
How to document carpet condition at move-in and move-out
Every schedule on this page has the same gate in front of it. HUD's chart applies only if the carpet was in good condition at move-in. Washington requires the landlord to document wear beyond ordinary use before deducting for cleaning. California now requires photographs at both ends of the tenancy. The number you can charge is a function of two facts, the carpet's age and its condition when the tenant arrived, and both have to be on record before the tenant leaves. A working process looks like this.
- Record the install date and keep the invoice. Age is the input that moves the proration the most, and an invoice is the only clean proof of it. Put the date in the unit file, not in someone's memory.
- Photograph every carpeted room at move-in, before the tenant's furniture arrives. Wide shots of each room from the doorway, then close-ups of traffic lanes, thresholds, closet floors, and under windows where fading shows. Include a shot with a light on each stain or worn patch you already know about, so nobody argues later that it was new.
- Note condition in words next to the photos. "Good, no stains, light traffic wear at hall" is the sentence HUD's chart and RCW 59.18.280 both want to see. Have the tenant sign or acknowledge it.
- Shoot move-out from the same positions, before any cleaning or repair. California requires the after photos before repairs or cleaning begin, and the comparison only works if the angles match. Photograph the whole room, then the damage, then a ruler or a hand next to the damage for scale.
- Write the deduction as a calculation, not a number. Replacement invoice, carpet age, the schedule you used, and the resulting fraction. A tenant or a judge can check $900 x 1/5 = $180. They cannot check "$450 for carpet."
At portfolio scale this is where the process breaks: hundreds of units, two photo sets per tenancy, and nobody with time to compare them. RapidEye reads the move-out photos against the same unit's move-in record and flags what changed, so the comparison happens on every unit instead of the ones that generate a dispute. For a full build-out of the process, including the evidence rules that hold up in a deposit hearing, see how to build a move-out inspection and deposit system and our guide to tenant photos and videos as deposit dispute evidence.
Quick FAQ
How long should carpet last in a rental?
Rental carpet has no legal lifespan; the widely quoted HUD figure is 5 years for plush carpet in family units and 7 years in elderly units. It comes from a sample chart HUD wrote for damage claims in HUD-assisted housing, not a rule for private leases.
Do landlords have to replace carpet every 7 years by law?
No. None of the state rules we reviewed that address carpet (Washington RCW 59.18.280, Wisconsin ATCP 134.06, California Civil Code 1950.5, Oregon ORS 90.300) sets a replacement interval. They regulate what a landlord may deduct for carpet and forbid charging for ordinary wear and tear. The 7-year figure comes from HUD's special claims guidance for HUD-assisted multifamily housing, where it is the elderly-unit line of a sample chart; the family-unit line is 5 years.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for carpet that is more than 5 years old?
Under HUD's special claims guidance, no: if the carpet had been in service for five or more years at move-out, none of the replacement cost is charged to the family. Private landlords are not bound by that guide, but advisory deposit schedules such as the City of Longmont's apply the same proration idea. California Civil Code 1950.5 bars any claim for ordinary wear and tear, including the cumulative wear of several tenancies. A landlord who cites a longer schedule, such as the 8 to 10 years published by NAHB and InterNACHI, can prorate over that life instead. That landlord must still show the carpet was in good condition at move-in and was damaged beyond ordinary wear.
Does the IRS say carpet only lasts 5 years?
Not exactly. IRS Publication 527 lists carpets in residential rental property as 5-year property under GDS and 9-year property under ADS. That is a tax recovery period, not a condition standard. According to HOME Line's legal analysis of the depreciation class, the 5-year class covers property with an anticipated useful life of more than 4 but less than 10 years. So the IRS position is that most rental carpets last between five and nine years.
Can a landlord deduct carpet cleaning from a security deposit?
It depends on the state. Washington RCW 59.18.280 bars any deduction for carpet cleaning unless the landlord documents wear beyond ordinary use. Wisconsin ATCP 134.06 bars deductions for routine carpet cleaning where there is no unusual damage from tenant abuse. Oregon ORS 90.300 allows the deduction only if a carpet-cleaning machine was used, the carpet was cleaned or replaced before the tenancy, and the written rental agreement says the landlord may deduct it. California Civil Code 1950.5 bars any charge for ordinary wear and tear.
Sources
Sources are named at the publisher level with their root domain, rather than linked or titled; every figure is verifiable at the named source.
- Special claims processing guidance HSG-06-01, Chapter 5 and Appendix 5D (2006); CNA e-Tool estimated useful life table; 2003 public housing occupancy guidebook, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmenthud.gov
- Publication 527, Residential Rental Property, recovery period table, Internal Revenue Service, 2025 tax yearirs.gov
- Component life expectancy study with Bank of America Home Equity, National Association of Home Builders, 2007nahb.org
- Component life expectancy chart, InterNACHInachi.org
- Legal analysis of the IRS carpet depreciation class, HOME Linehomelinemn.org
- Advisory depreciation schedule for rental property, City of Longmont, Coloradolongmontcolorado.gov
- Carpet installation cost guide, HomeGuide, 2026homeguide.com
- Carpet replacement cost guide and flooring cost overview, HomeAdvisor, 2025 to 2026homeadvisor.com
- Carpet installation and luxury vinyl plank cost guides, Fixr, 2026fixr.com
- Commercial facility carpet maintenance guidance, The Carpet and Rug Institutecarpet-rug.org
- RCW 59.18.280, deposit retention and statement, Washington State Legislatureapp.leg.wa.gov
- Cal. Civ. Code 1950.5, security deposits, California Legislative Informationleginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06, security deposits, Wisconsin Legislaturedocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
- ORS 90.300, security deposits and prepaid rent, Oregon Revised Statutesoregon.public.law
- Annual U.S. flooring industry statistics report, Floor Covering News, 2025fcnews.net
- Floor Focus U.S. flooring market presentation, Carpet America Recovery Effort, 2024carpetrecovery.org