A compiled reference of 20 verified statistics on residential decks and porches in the United States: how many there are and how many are past their useful life, how often decks and porches collapse and what causes it, and what it costs to inspect, repair, and replace one. Every figure is drawn from a named source, the North American Deck and Railing Association, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data, the International Code Council, and established cost guides, and independently checked before publishing.
The core number
Of roughly 60 million decks in the US, how many are past their useful life.
Source: North American Deck and Railing Association (nadra.org). 60M+ total decks, 50M residential and 10M commercial.
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Decks are one of the most common structures Americans build and among the least inspected. The numbers below trace the size of the stock, the small-but-serious collapse risk when connections fail, and what repair and replacement actually cost.
There are more than 60 million decks in the US; an estimated 30 million are past their useful life.
Around 6,500 people went to ERs from collapsing decks and porches since 2003, and 29 died (as of 2015).
The ledger, where the deck meets the house, is the leading structural cause of collapse.
Deck repairs average about $2,245 (roughly $890 to $3,663).
Building or replacing a deck averages roughly $7,900 to $14,000.
Full deck replacement runs about $20 to $70 per square foot.
How we built this report
Every figure was compiled in September 2026 from named sources and verified against the original before publishing.
- Compiled from named authorities and cost guides
Deck inventory and safety figures from the North American Deck and Railing Association; collapse and injury figures from Consumer Product Safety Commission data analyzed by the Associated Press; the ledger-failure finding from the International Code Council and Virginia Tech; cost figures from HomeAdvisor, Fixr, and Bob Vila.
- Verified first-hand, not from aggregators-of-aggregators
Each figure was read from the page that states it, not lifted from a listicle. Where a figure could not be confirmed at its source, it was left out.
- Only explicitly stated figures
We include only numbers a named source states directly, and attribute each inline at the point it appears.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
Scope note: cost figures are national averages and ranges from consumer cost guides and vary widely by region, material, deck size, and access; they are directional, not quotes. Collapse and injury figures are Consumer Product Safety Commission data analyzed by the Associated Press and reported in 2015, covering incidents since 2003.
Decks and porches, by the numbers
All 20 figures, grouped into three themes, each from a named source and independently verified against the original.
The stock: how many decks, and how old
Decks are everywhere, and a huge share of them are aging out. According to the North American Deck and Railing Association (nadra.org), there are more than 60 million decks in the US, and an estimated 30 million of them are past their useful life and need repair or replacement.
Statistic 1
There are more than 60 million decks in the US: 50 million residential and 10 million commercial.
North American Deck and Railing Association
Statistic 2
An estimated 30 million decks are past their useful life and need to be replaced or repaired.
North American Deck and Railing Association
Statistic 3
By NADRA's own figures, roughly half of all US decks are past their intended service life.
North American Deck and Railing Association (30M of 60M)
Statistic 4
NADRA runs a national Deck Safety Month each May, urging homeowners to "Check Your Deck" with an annual inspection.
North American Deck and Railing Association
What this means: The problem is not that decks are rare, it is that they are ubiquitous and quietly aging. A structure that looks fine from the yard can be well past the service life it was built for, which is exactly the kind of slow, visual-condition change that scheduled documentation is meant to catch before it becomes a failure.
Collapse and injury risk
Deck and porch collapses are rare relative to the tens of millions of decks in use, but when they happen they injure many people at once. According to Consumer Product Safety Commission data analyzed by the Associated Press (nbcnews.com), roughly 6,500 people were sent to emergency rooms from collapsing decks and porches since 2003, and 29 were killed, as of 2015.
Statistic 5
About 6,500 people were sent to emergency rooms with injuries from collapsing decks and porches since 2003 (as of 2015).
CPSC data analyzed by the Associated Press
Statistic 6
29 people were killed in deck and porch collapses since 2003 (as of 2015).
CPSC data analyzed by the Associated Press
Statistic 7
Of those emergency-room visits, about 4,600 were associated with deck collapses and 1,900 with porch failures.
CPSC data analyzed by the Associated Press
Statistic 8
The connection where the deck attaches to the house, the ledger, is the leading structural cause of deck collapses.
International Code Council / Virginia Tech research
Statistic 9
Nail-only ledger connections are a primary reason decks pull away from the house; codes now require bolted connections.
International Code Council / Virginia Tech research
What this means: The danger is concentrated, not random. Collapses cluster on older decks and on the same failure point, the ledger connection, and they injure whoever is standing on the deck at the moment it lets go. A collapse is not a maintenance annoyance; it is a mass-casualty event on a family scale, which is why the connection detail and the deck's age are the two things worth documenting.
Repair and replacement cost
Fixing a deck is usually a few thousand dollars; replacing one is a five-figure project. According to HomeAdvisor (homeadvisor.com), deck repairs average about $2,245, while cost guides put a new deck between roughly $7,900 and $14,000, and full replacement at $20 to $70 per square foot.
Deck material cost per square foot
Installed cost per square foot by decking material (midpoints of published ranges).
Source: Fixr (fixr.com). Track spans $0 to $70 per square foot; bars mark each material's installed range.
Statistic 10
Deck repairs average about $2,245, with a normal range of roughly $890 to $3,663.
HomeAdvisor
Statistic 11
Deck repair typically runs $3 to $20 per square foot.
HomeAdvisor
Statistic 12
Repairing or replacing deck railings runs about $500 to $4,000.
HomeAdvisor
Statistic 13
Repairing mold and rot damage runs about $200 to $500.
HomeAdvisor
Statistic 14
Tearing out an old deck (demolition and debris removal) adds about $5 to $15 per square foot.
HomeAdvisor / Fixr
Statistic 15
Building a new deck averages about $14,000, with a range of roughly $9,000 to $20,000.
Fixr
Statistic 16
A separate cost guide puts the average deck build at $7,913, with a range of roughly $4,141 to $11,713.
Bob Vila
Statistic 17
Replacing a deck runs about $20 to $70 per square foot for a same-size deck.
Fixr
Statistic 18
Installed cost by material runs about $15 to $25 per square foot for pressure-treated wood and $28 to $40 for composite.
Fixr
Statistic 19
A deck building permit averages about $225 to $500.
Bob Vila
Statistic 20
Building a deck typically costs about $30 to $60 per square foot, all in.
Bob Vila
What this means: The cost gap between catching a problem early and replacing a failed deck is an order of magnitude. A few hundred dollars of railing or rot repair, found on a routine inspection, is the difference from a $9,000-to-$20,000 rebuild, or a collapse. Note how far the cost-guide averages themselves diverge (from about $7,900 to $14,000 for the same "new deck"), which is why any single number should be treated as directional and confirmed with local quotes.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
How many decks are there in the US?
There are more than 60 million decks in the United States, 50 million residential and 10 million commercial, and an estimated 30 million of them are past their useful life and need to be repaired or replaced, according to the North American Deck and Railing Association (nadra.org).
How common are deck and porch collapses?
Consumer Product Safety Commission data analyzed by the Associated Press (nbcnews.com) found roughly 6,500 people were sent to emergency rooms with injuries from collapsing decks and porches since 2003, and 29 were killed, as of 2015. About 4,600 of those visits were tied to deck collapses and 1,900 to porch failures.
What causes most deck collapses?
The connection where the deck attaches to the house, the ledger, is the leading structural cause of deck collapses, and nail-only ledger connections are the most common failure, according to research by the International Code Council and Virginia Tech (iccsafe.org). This is why modern codes require bolts, not nails, at the ledger.
How much does it cost to repair or replace a deck?
Deck repairs average about $2,245, with a normal range of roughly $890 to $3,663, according to HomeAdvisor (homeadvisor.com). Building or replacing a deck runs far higher: cost-guide averages range from about $7,900 to $14,000, and full replacement runs roughly $20 to $70 per square foot, according to Fixr (fixr.com) and Bob Vila (bobvila.com).
Data sources
Every figure traces to one of these named sources, each checked against the original before publishing. We name each source and show its root domain, but do not hyperlink external sources; internal links stay live.
North American Deck and Railing AssociationDeck inventory and deck-safety figuresnadra.org
Associated Press analysis of CPSC dataDeck and porch collapse injury and death figuresnbcnews.com
International Code CouncilDeck ledger-connection failure research (with Virginia Tech)iccsafe.org
HomeAdvisorDeck repair cost datahomeadvisor.com
FixrDeck construction and replacement cost datafixr.com
Bob VilaDeck build cost and permit databobvila.com