- Average household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs rose from $624 in 2000 to $984 in 2024, an increase of 57.7%.
- Spending spiked sharply in 2022, jumping 19.0% in a single year to $1,160—the largest one-year increase in the 25-year series—before falling back to $975 in 2023.
- Despite the dollar increase, maintenance and repair spending has fallen as a share of household income, from 1.4% in 2000 to 0.94% in 2024.
- Of the three main vehicle ownership cost categories tracked by BLS, insurance grew far faster (+156.2%) than maintenance (+57.7%) or vehicle financing (+27.4%) over the same 25 years.
01 Introduction
Average household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs rose from $624 in 2000 to $984 in 2024, a 57.7% increase. Fuel and gas prices get most of the attention in conversations about the cost of driving, but maintenance and repairs are a cost every vehicle owner eventually pays, regardless of how much they drive. This article uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, which has tracked average household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs every year since 2000, independent of any repair shop, parts retailer, or extended-warranty company.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables, 2000–2024The figures below are average annual expenditure per consumer unit (BLS's term for a household), covering routine maintenance and unplanned repairs together, not a single mechanic's estimate or a specific repair job.
02 The Full 25-Year History, 2000–2024
Average household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs rose from $624 in 2000 to $984 in 2024—up 57.7% over 25 years. Unlike vehicle insurance, which was flat for years before rising sharply, maintenance spending climbed in a more gradual, steady pattern, with one notable exception in 2022.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables ("Maintenance and repairs" line item), 2000–2024| Year | Avg. Annual Spending | Index (2000 = 100) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $984 | 158 |
| 2023 | $975 | 156 |
| 2022 | $1,160 | 186 |
| 2021 | $975 | 156 |
| 2020 | $879 | 141 |
| 2019 | $887 | 142 |
| 2018 | $890 | 143 |
| 2017 | $954 | 153 |
| 2016 | $849 | 136 |
| 2015 | $837 | 134 |
| 2014 | $836 | 134 |
| 2013 | $835 | 134 |
| 2012 | $814 | 130 |
| 2011 | $805 | 129 |
| 2010 | $787 | 126 |
| 2009 | $733 | 117 |
| 2008 | $731 | 117 |
| 2007 | $738 | 118 |
| 2006 | $688 | 110 |
| 2005 | $671 | 108 |
| 2004 | $652 | 104 |
| 2003 | $619 | 99 |
| 2002 | $697 | 112 |
| 2001 | $662 | 106 |
| 2000 | $624 | 100 |
Estimate your vehicle's driving cost using official EPA fuel economy data.
Use the Calculator03 The 2022 Spike, and Its Partial Reversal
Spending jumped from $975 in 2021 to $1,160 in 2022, a single-year increase of 19.0%—the sharpest jump anywhere in the 25-year series. It then reversed almost as quickly, falling 15.9% to $975 in 2023, before ticking back up slightly to $984 in 2024.
Calculated from BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey multi-year tables: ($1,160 − $975) / $975 = 19.0%; ($975 − $1,160) / $1,160 = -15.9%04 Maintenance as a Share of Household Income
Dollar figures alone don't say whether a cost is becoming more or less of a burden, since household income also rises over time. Measured as a share of average household income before taxes, maintenance and repair spending tells a different story than the raw dollar figures.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables ("Income before taxes" and "Maintenance and repairs" line items)In 2000, maintenance and repairs consumed 1.4% of the average household's income before taxes. By 2024, despite spending 57.7% more in dollar terms, that share had fallen to 0.94%—because average household income before taxes more than doubled over the same period, from $44,649 to $104,207. In relative terms, maintaining a vehicle has become a smaller line item in the household budget, even though it costs more in absolute dollars.
Calculated: $624 / $44,649 = 1.40% (2000); $984 / $104,207 = 0.94% (2024). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys.05 Maintenance vs. Insurance vs. Financing
BLS tracks three separate "other vehicle expense" categories alongside fuel and vehicle purchases: maintenance and repairs, vehicle insurance, and vehicle finance charges. Comparing their growth since 2000 shows maintenance sitting in the middle of the pack.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables, 2000–2024| Category | 2000 | 2024 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle insurance | $778 | $1,993 | +156.2% |
| Maintenance and repairs | $624 | $984 | +57.7% |
| Vehicle finance charges | $328 | $418 | +27.4% |
Insurance grew nearly three times faster than maintenance and repairs, and almost six times faster than vehicle financing, over the identical 25-year window. Maintenance sits in between the two: a real, steady cost increase, but nowhere near as dramatic as what happened to insurance premiums over the same period.
06 Methodology and Caveats
All figures in this article come directly from BLS's published Consumer Expenditure Survey tables, without independent recalculation of the underlying survey data.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys- Figures are averages across all consumer units (BLS's term for a household), including households that spent $0 on maintenance and repairs that year, not an average among only those who paid for a repair.
- The category combines routine maintenance and unplanned repairs into a single line item; BLS does not publish a further breakdown between the two.
- These are nominal dollar figures, not adjusted for inflation. The income-share analysis in this article accounts for rising household income, but does not separately adjust for consumer price inflation.
- Data before 2013 uses a differently labeled income line item in BLS's own tables ("Income before taxes 1/" or "Income before taxes a/", both denoting the same measure with a different footnote reference across table vintages).
07 Data Sources
Every figure in this article comes from a U.S. government source. No proprietary, estimated, or third-party data was used.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year expenditure tables, 2000–2005, 2006–2012, 2013–2020, and 2021–2024. bls.gov/cex