We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. Learn more.

Published: Jun 25, 2014 7 min read

We talk a lot at Porch about how much money is spent on home improvements, but the National Association of Home Builders' estimates of 2014 spending on improvements by zip code is a good breakdown of just how much money is being spent, even all the way down to your local neighborhood.

According to the NAHB, the average zip code in America will see over $5 million spent on home improvement this year. That’s a lot of new roofs, landscaping, and remodels.

See NAHB’s heat map of average remodeling spend per home by zip code. Lots of heavy activity in the northeast, Colorado, SoCal, and San Francisco Bay Area.

Here’s the NAHB’s list for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Read on to see how I adjusted these figures for cost-of-living.

NAHB 2014 Spending Projections by State

RANK STATE HOMES SPENDING (M) PER HOME
1 District of Columbia 110,668 $299.6 $2,707
2 Connecticut 913,482 $1,961.7 $2,147
3 New Jersey 2,099,380 $4,471.1 $2,130
4 Maryland 1,459,393 $3,106.4 $2,129
5 Massachusetts 1,583,170 $3,351.2 $2,117
6 California 6,863,765 $14,053.1 $2,047
7 Hawaii 260,435 $529.5 $2,033
8 Colorado 1,320,302 $2,659.0 $2,014
9 Virginia 2,059,305 $4,136.8 $2,009
10 Alaska 161,691 $315.9 $1,954
11 New Hampshire 372,053 $723.4 $1,944
12 New York 3,894,151 $7,569.7 $1,944
13 Washington 1,690,642 $3,203.4 $1,895
14 Rhode Island 248,947 $470.3 $1,889
15 Minnesota 1,536,021 $2,840.5 $1,849
16 Vermont 185,244 $340.5 $1,838
17 Illinois 3,195,820 $5,866.9 $1,836
18 Utah 653,230 $1,189.1 $1,820
19 Oregon 953,810 $1,735.2 $1,819
20 North Dakota 199,492 $362.5 $1,817
21 Texas 5,825,370 $10,288.5 $1,766
22 Delaware 249,624 $436.2 $1,747
23 Nebraska 498,327 $861.8 $1,729
24 Kansas 750,703 $1,295.5 $1,726
25 Montana 278,602 $478.7 $1,718
26 Arizona 1,555,284 $2,669.8 $1,717
27 Georgia 2,310,104 $3,953.1 $1,711
28 Wisconsin 1,558,251 $2,628.8 $1,687
29 Pennsylvania 3,444,645 $5,805.0 $1,685
30 Florida 4,867,931 $8,165.4 $1,677
31 Wyoming 158,372 $265.6 $1,677
32 New Mexico 526,208 $864.4 $1,643
33 Oklahoma 986,719 $1,619.6 $1,641
34 Missouri 1,614,450 $2,636.4 $1,633
35 Ohio 3,045,022 $4,969.2 $1,632
36 North Carolina 2,534,475 $4,132.5 $1,631
37 Nevada 580,080 $942.8 $1,625
38 South Dakota 224,676 $363.2 $1,617
39 Idaho 415,126 $670.6 $1,615
40 Iowa 898,866 $1,451.5 $1,615
41 Michigan 2,739,690 $4,420.4 $1,613
42 Louisiana 1,161,174 $1,873.1 $1,613
43 Maine 402,697 $646.4 $1,605
44 Tennessee 1,694,955 $2,684.2 $1,584
45 South Carolina 1,264,229 $1,997.5 $1,580
46 Alabama 1,292,936 $2,017.3 $1,560
47 Indiana 1,747,919 $2,697.0 $1,543
48 Kentucky 1,159,697 $1,787.3 $1,541
49 Arkansas 771,194 $1,178.6 $1,528
50 Mississippi 755,676 $1,131.7 $1,498
51 West Virginia 538,188 $782.4 $1,454

In general, the states at the top of the list are mostly high-cost areas, and those at the bottom are lower-cost areas. So I adjusted the list based on first quarter 2014 cost of living data to get a better sense of which states are going to be doing more home improvement in 2014.

NAHB 2014 Spending Projections Adjusted for Cost of Living

RANK STATE COST OF LIVING ADJ. PER HOME
1 Virginia 97.0 $2,071
2 Colorado 100.4 $2,006
3 Utah 93.0 $1,957
4 District of Columbia 139.6 $1,939
5 Illinois 95.5 $1,922
6 Texas 92.8 $1,903
7 Kansas 91.3 $1,890
8 Nebraska 91.7 $1,886
9 Washington 102.6 $1,847
10 Georgia 92.7 $1,846
11 Minnesota 101.8 $1,817
12 Oklahoma 90.4 $1,816
13 North Dakota 100.4 $1,810
14 Maryland 117.7 $1,808
15 Wyoming 93.2 $1,799
16 Tennessee 89.7 $1,765
17 New Mexico 93.4 $1,759
18 Iowa 92.5 $1,746
19 Massachusetts 121.3 $1,745
20 Missouri 93.7 $1,743
21 Montana 98.6 $1,743
22 Ohio 94.1 $1,734
23 Michigan 93.9 $1,718
24 Connecticut 125.2 $1,715
25 Idaho 94.2 $1,715
26 Kentucky 90.0 $1,712
27 Wisconsin 98.8 $1,708
28 Mississippi 87.8 $1,706
29 Indiana 90.7 $1,701
30 Louisiana 95.3 $1,693
31 Alabama 92.4 $1,689
32 Arizona 101.8 $1,686
33 Florida 99.7 $1,682
34 New Hampshire 116.1 $1,675
35 New Jersey 127.6 $1,669
36 North Carolina 97.8 $1,667
37 Pennsylvania 101.6 $1,659
38 Delaware 105.7 $1,653
39 Arkansas 92.5 $1,652
40 South Dakota 98.3 $1,645
41 South Carolina 96.1 $1,644
42 Nevada 100.2 $1,622
43 California 127.1 $1,611
44 Vermont 117.2 $1,568
45 Rhode Island 120.9 $1,563
46 Oregon 121.7 $1,495
47 Alaska 131.8 $1,482
48 West Virginia 98.6 $1,474
49 New York 132.2 $1,470
50 Maine 109.7 $1,463
51 Hawaii 162.9 $1,248

After adjusting for by how expensive each state is, the top five for home improvement activity in 2014 are Virginia, Colorado, Utah, the District of Columbia, and Illinois. The bottom five are Alaska, West Virginia, New York, Maine, and Hawaii.

Bottom line: If you live in a state near the top of the list, don’t expect that you’ll have a lot of flexibility on schedule or price when working with a pro for your home improvement project since lots of your neighbors are probably planning similar projects, too. If you’re in a state near the bottom of the list, you might have a little more leeway.

More from Porch:
Tips to Conserve Water in Your Home
Should You DIY Your Bedroom Remodel?
These 5 States Love Pianos Almost as Much as TVs

Tim Ellis is a data journalist for home improvement website Porch.