A reference of 34 statistics on what it costs to maintain a US rental property, from maintenance spending per unit to the full operating bill, capital improvement costs by building component, and capital reserves. Every figure is our own computation from the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey public use microdata file, released by the Census Bureau and HUD in February 2026, covering 4,425 sampled properties that represent 19.0 million rental properties and 49.9 million units nationally. These are not rules of thumb reprinted from other blogs; they are weighted survey estimates, and the method is documented below.
Key statistics
8 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Rental maintenance advice runs on rules of thumb, the 1% rule, the 50% rule, a dollar per square foot. The federal government has actually measured it, and the answer is different: the median rental property spends $1,600 per unit a year, maintenance is 42% of the operating bill rather than a rounding error, small properties cost more per unit than large ones, and nine in ten owners have nothing set aside for the roof.
The median rental property spent $1,600 per unit on maintenance in 2023
90% of US rental properties hold no capital reserves at all
A single-family rental costs about twice as much per unit to maintain as a large apartment property
Maintenance is 42% of a rental property's operating costs
Maintenance eats 8% of rent, not the 1% of value the rules of thumb claim
Only 36% of rental properties spent anything on capital improvements
Roof work is the rarest major repair and the most expensive
Total operating cost runs $4,328 per unit a year before property tax
What the distribution actually looks like
Averages are close to useless here. According to our analysis of the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey (census.gov), the mean maintenance spend of $2,782 per unit sits 74% above the median of $1,600, because a small number of properties do very expensive work in any given year while most do very little. Anyone budgeting from a single average number will be wrong in both directions.
Maintenance and repair spending per unit, calendar year 2023, across US rental properties. RapidEye Research computation from the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey public use file; property-weighted.
How we built this report
Every figure on this page is a computation we ran in August 2026 against the raw federal microdata, not a number copied from another publication.
- Downloaded the public use microdata
We pulled the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey public use file, released by the Census Bureau and HUD on February 19, 2026, and its 188-page codebook. The file contains 4,425 sampled rental properties and 410 variables covering calendar year 2023.
- Applied the survey weights
Every figure is weighted by the property weight supplied in the file, so the estimates describe the national rental stock rather than the sample. Where a unit-weighted figure tells a different story, we report both.
- Validated the weighting against published totals
Our weighted totals come to 19.0 million rental properties and 49.9 million units. The Census Bureau's own published figures from the prior survey wave were 19.3 million and 49.5 million, which confirms the weights are being applied correctly.
- Reported medians alongside means
These distributions are heavily skewed, so we lead with medians and show means and percentiles next to them rather than publishing a single average that describes almost nobody.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
Two limitations we will not paper over. First, item non-response is substantial: 46.9% of properties supplied a maintenance and repair figure and 56.9% supplied total operating expenses, so these estimates describe the properties whose owners answered the expense questions. Second, we do not publish margins of error. The survey supplies 100 replicate weights for variance estimation, but our computed margins came out roughly four times tighter than the margins the Census Bureau published for the prior wave, which means we could not confirm the replication multiplier. Rather than print confidence intervals we cannot stand behind, we report point estimates with sample sizes and leave the variance work to the agencies. The point estimates themselves are unaffected. All figures are for calendar year 2023, the survey's reference period.
Rental property maintenance costs, by the numbers
All 34 figures. Each is a weighted estimate we computed from the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey public use file, which is why every card carries a Computed badge rather than a Verified one.
What maintenance costs
The 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey (census.gov) asks owners for maintenance and repair spending as its own line, separate from capital improvements, utilities and management. Dividing that answer by the property's unit count gives the number the rule-of-thumb guides are all approximating: $1,600 per unit at the median in 2023. Measured against income rather than against property value, maintenance took 8.0% of annual rent receipts, and it made up 42.1% of everything the median owner spent to operate the property before property tax.
Statistic 1
The median US rental property spent $1,600 per unit on maintenance and repairs in 2023.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 2
The mean was $2,782 per unit, nearly twice the median, because a small share of properties spend heavily.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 3
A quarter of properties spent $500 or less per unit; a tenth spent $7,500 or more.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 4
7.4% of properties reporting the item spent nothing at all on maintenance and repairs in 2023.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 5
Maintenance and repairs were 42.1% of all operating expenses excluding property tax at the median property.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 6
Maintenance consumed 8.0% of annual rent receipts at the median property.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 7
Weighted by units rather than properties, median maintenance spending falls to $1,175 per unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 8
Single-unit rentals owned by individual investors, the most common rental property in America, spent a median of $2,000 per unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
What this means: the popular rules of thumb are the wrong shape, not just the wrong number. The 1% rule anchors maintenance to property value, but the survey shows maintenance tracking rent and unit count instead, and the spread is enormous: the 90th percentile property spends fifteen times what the 10th percentile property spends. A budget built on one average is a budget built on a number that describes almost no one.
Small properties cost more per unit
This is the clearest structural finding in the data and it runs against the intuition that big buildings are expensive. Per unit, maintenance spending falls steadily as properties get larger, from $1,800 at single-unit rentals to $873 at properties with 50 or more units. Total operating expenses per unit move in the opposite direction, because large properties carry staff, management, grounds and shared utilities that a single-family rental simply does not have.
Median maintenance and repair spending per unit, 2023
By property size. The smallest properties, which are 82.9% of the US rental stock, spend the most per unit.
Statistic 9
Single-unit rental properties spent a median of $1,800 per unit; properties with 50 or more units spent $873.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 10
Median maintenance per unit by property size: $1,800, $1,150, $1,017, $1,020, $873 across the five size bands.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 11
On means the same pattern holds: $2,980 per unit at single-unit properties against $1,241 at properties with 50 or more units.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 12
Total operating expenses per unit run the opposite way, from $4,700 at single-unit properties to $5,079 at properties with 50 or more units.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 13
82.9% of all US rental properties contain exactly one unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 14
58.9% of rental properties are owned by individual investors rather than a company or partnership.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 15
Individual investors spent a median of $1,800 per unit on maintenance; properties held in an LLC, LP or LLP spent $1,000.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 16
Nonprofit-owned rental properties reported the lowest median maintenance spending of any ownership type at $830 per unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
What this means: there is no maintenance economy of scale in the raw spending, or rather the scale advantage shows up in maintenance and is given back in overhead. For the single-family and small-portfolio owner, who is the typical American landlord, maintenance is the dominant controllable cost and there is no on-site staff absorbing it. That is exactly the population for whom catching a problem early, before it becomes a capital item, changes the annual number.
The rest of the operating bill
Maintenance does not sit alone. The survey breaks the operating bill into separate lines, and at the median US rental property the total came to $4,328 per unit excluding property tax, about $361 a unit a month. Maintenance is the largest line by a wide margin; management, insurance, grounds and water follow.
Median annual spending per unit by expense line, 2023
Statistic 17
The median rental property spent $4,328 per unit on operating expenses excluding property tax in 2023; the mean was $5,659.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 18
That is about $361 per unit per month at the median.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 19
Median management expense was $1,300 per unit, the second largest line after maintenance.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 20
Median insurance expense was $1,000 per unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 21
Median grounds and landscaping expense was $600 per unit; water and sewer was $533.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 22
Median electricity and gas expense was just $50 per unit, because most rental utilities are billed directly to residents.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 23
Median security and payroll expense were both $0: most rental properties in America employ no on-site staff.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 24
Median monthly rent receipts were $2,083 per unit property-weighted and $1,250 unit-weighted.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
What this means: most of a rental property's operating bill is fixed or externally set. Insurance, water and property tax arrive as invoices. Maintenance is the one large line an owner's own process actually moves, which is why it is worth measuring properly rather than budgeting by rule of thumb.
Capital work, by building component
The survey asks separately about capital improvements and records the cost by part of the building, which makes it possible to plot how often each component gets touched against what it costs when it does. Only 36.1% of rental properties reported any capital spending in 2023 at all. Among those that did, plumbing was the most common named component and roofs the most expensive.
How often each component is done, against what it costs
Among rental properties that reported capital spending in 2023. Bottom right is frequent and cheap; top left is rare and expensive, which is where deferred maintenance turns into a capital event.
| Component | Share of spenders | Median cost |
|---|---|---|
| Other improvements | 54.8% | $5,000 |
| Plumbing | 28.0% | $700 |
| Heating and cooling | 17.3% | $1,000 |
| Exterior | 17.3% | $1,200 |
| Bathroom | 13.7% | $1,800 |
| Kitchen | 13.1% | $2,500 |
| Flooring | 10.7% | $3,000 |
| Doors | 10.7% | $2,067 |
| Windows | 10.6% | $3,900 |
| Roof | 7.0% | $5,000 |
| Electrical | 4.9% | $550 |
Shares are of the 36.1% of rental properties that reported capital spending in 2023, and sum to more than 100% because properties do multiple components. "Other improvements" is the survey's own residual category. RapidEye Research computation from the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey public use file.
Statistic 25
36.1% of US rental properties reported any capital spending in 2023.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 26
Among those properties the median total capital outlay was $4,000, or $3,320 per unit.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 27
Plumbing was the most common named component, done by 28.0% of properties that spent, at a median of $700.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 28
Heating and cooling and exterior work tied at 17.3% each, at medians of $1,000 and $1,200.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 29
Roof work was the least common major component at 7.0% but tied for the most expensive at a median of $5,000.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 30
Windows were done by 10.6% of spenders at a median of $3,900, the second most expensive named component.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 31
Electrical work was both the rarest named component, at 4.9%, and among the cheapest, at a median of $550.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
What this means: the components that are cheap to fix are the ones owners touch constantly, and the components that are expensive are the ones they touch once a decade. Roofs, windows and flooring cluster in the rare-and-expensive corner, which is precisely where a problem spotted late gets paid for at capital prices rather than repair prices.
Almost nobody is reserving for it
The survey asks owners for their estimated capital reserves balance. The answer is the most striking number in the file.
Nine in ten US rental properties reported no capital reserves at all in the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey. Weighted by units the figure is 69.7%, because larger properties are far more likely to hold a reserve. Among the properties that do hold one, the median balance is $25,000, against a median roof replacement of $5,000 and a median window job of $3,900.
Statistic 32
90.2% of US rental properties reported a capital reserves balance of zero.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 33
Weighted by units rather than properties, 69.7% of rental units sit in a property with no capital reserves.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
Statistic 34
Among properties that do hold reserves, the median balance was $25,000.
RapidEye Research analysis of the 2024 RHFS public use file
What this means: the American rental stock funds its capital repairs out of cash flow, not out of reserves. That makes the timing of a discovery financially load-bearing: an owner with no reserve who finds a failing roof in year three of ownership has a different outcome than one who finds it the week it starts leaking into a unit. Documentation and early detection are not a nice-to-have for this population; they are the substitute for a reserve account.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
What is the average maintenance cost for a rental property?
The median US rental property spent $1,600 per unit on maintenance and repairs in calendar year 2023, according to RapidEye Research computations from the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey public use file published by the Census Bureau and HUD. The mean was $2,782, pulled up by a long tail: a quarter of properties spent $500 or less per unit and a tenth spent $7,500 or more.
How much do landlords spend on maintenance as a share of rent?
Maintenance and repairs consumed 8.0% of annual rent receipts at the median rental property in 2023, and 42.1% of all operating expenses excluding property tax. The widely repeated 1% and 50% rules of thumb are not supported by the survey data.
Do smaller rental properties cost more to maintain per unit?
Yes. Median maintenance and repair spending was $1,800 per unit at single-unit rental properties, $1,150 at properties with 2 to 4 units, $1,017 at 5 to 24 units, $1,020 at 25 to 49 units and $873 at properties with 50 or more units. A single-family rental costs roughly twice as much per unit to maintain as a large apartment property.
What percentage of landlords have capital reserves?
About 9.8% do. Some 90.2% of US rental properties reported a capital reserves balance of zero in the 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey. Weighted by units rather than properties the figure is 69.7%, which reflects that larger properties are more likely to hold reserves. Among properties that do hold reserves, the median balance was $25,000.
What are the total operating expenses for a rental property per unit?
The median rental property spent $4,328 per unit on operating expenses excluding property tax in 2023, and the mean was $5,659. The largest single line was maintenance and repairs at a median of $1,600 per unit, followed by management at $1,300, insurance at $1,000, grounds and landscaping at $600 and water and sewer at $533.
Which capital improvements do landlords make most often?
Among the 36.1% of rental properties that reported capital spending in 2023, plumbing was the most common named component at 28.0% of those properties, followed by heating and cooling and exterior work at 17.3% each. Roof work was the least common of the major components at 7.0% but tied for the most expensive, at a median of $5,000.
Data sources
Every figure on this page is our own computation from the microdata below, checked against the survey's official codebook and methodology documentation before publishing.
U.S. Census BureauRental Housing Finance Survey public use microdata file, codebook and survey methodology documentationcensus.gov
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentRental Housing Finance Survey sponsor and data documentationhuduser.gov
RapidEye ResearchWeighted computations from the microdata above, August 2026rapideyeinspections.com