Rental Property Repair Costs: Data from 20,000+ Maintenance Requests

Owning a rental property means dealing with repairs at some point. When you see a leaking pipe or a broken appliance, it may seem like a small issue at first. But once you start making repairs, you quickly see how the costs can add up.

The difficult part is knowing what to expect. Some repairs are inexpensive and happen often, while others are rare but can cost thousands of dollars. The difference can come down to the property’s age, location, repair type, and even the time of year. All of these factors can affect how much landlords spend on maintenance.

We looked at over 20,000 maintenance requests handled by Bay Property Management Group in 2025 to see what landlords were actually spending on repairs. But we didn’t look at cost alone. We also looked at how often repairs came up, which ones were most common, how long they took, and how the numbers differed depending on the property and market.

So, what can landlords learn from all that repair activity? Let’s get into it.

Main Takeaways 

• The average rental property repair cost was nearly $500, while the median was $250. The difference shows how a smaller number of expensive repairs can push the average higher than what a typical repair costs.
• Rental units averaged 2.21 maintenance requests in 2025. This was based on requests across 8,148 rental units.
• The repairs that happened frequently weren’t necessarily the most expensive. Seven high-frequency, lower-cost categories accounted for nearly 47% of requests but only about 26% of maintenance spending.
• Older properties had higher repair costs in our data. Properties under 10 years old averaged just over $400 per repair, compared with $520 for properties 50 years or older.
• Most repairs stayed far below the largest expenses we saw. While 99% of repairs cost $5,200 or less, the most expensive individual maintenance request reached $58,364.25

Here are the numbers landlords ask about most, pulled directly from our 2025 maintenance data.

Table of Contents

How Much Do Rental Property Repairs Cost?

One of the biggest questions landlords have is how much they should expect to spend when something breaks. The answer isn’t always straightforward. As a property management company, we see rental property repairs of all sizes. Based on our 2025 maintenance data, some repairs cost less than $100, while others ran into thousands of dollars. That wide range is why it’s important to look at both the average and median rental property repair costs. Together, they give us a much better idea of what a typical repair may cost and how larger expenses can affect the overall numbers.

What Is the Average Cost of a Rental Property Repair?

Across the maintenance requests with recorded maintenance spending, the average rental property repair cost was just under $500 in 2025.

However, that doesn’t mean landlords should expect every maintenance request to cost around $500. An average includes everything from inexpensive everyday repairs to the occasional job costing several thousand dollars. Those expensive repairs can pull the average higher, even though most individual requests cost much less.

What Is the Median Rental Property Repair Cost?

The median rental property repair cost was $250. In simple terms, half of the maintenance requests cost $250 or less, while the other half cost $250 or more.

For landlords trying to understand what a more typical repair looked like in our data, the median gives some useful context. At $250, it was nearly half the almost $500 average.

Why Is There Such a Big Difference Between the Average and Median?

The difference comes down to a relatively small number of expensive repairs.

Most maintenance requests stayed well below the highest costs in the dataset. In fact, 99% of repairs cost $5,200 or less. Only about 1% of repairs cost more than $5,200. At the extreme end, the most expensive individual maintenance request cost $58,364.25.

So, while $250 was the midpoint of the repairs we analyzed, occasional high-cost jobs pushed the overall average upward. This is why looking at both the average and median gives landlords a clearer picture of rental property repair costs.

How Often Do Rental Properties Need Repairs?

Repair costs are only part of what landlords have to plan for. You may spend $200 on one repair, but if several issues come up within the same year, you may end up spending more on maintenance.

So, how often does the average rental actually need repairs? Our 2025 data gives us a better idea of what that repair frequency looked like across the rental units we analyzed.

How Many Maintenance Requests Does the Average Rental Have Each Year?

In 2025, rental units in our analysis averaged about 2.21 maintenance requests per unit across 8,148 rental units.

However, this number is an average across all units in the analysis. It doesn’t mean every rental property will have exactly two maintenance requests each year. Some may have fewer, while others may have several.

What Does Repair Frequency Mean for Annual Maintenance Costs?

Repair frequency gives landlords another way to look at maintenance costs. A property may not have one particularly expensive repair, but several maintenance requests throughout the year can still add to the total cost.

This is also why repair frequency and repair cost are best considered together. Our data showed an average of 2.21 maintenance requests per unit, while individual repair costs varied considerably. Looking at both gives a more complete picture than estimating landlord maintenance costs based on the price of a single repair.

What Are the Most Common Rental Property Repairs?

Some repair issues came up much more often than others in our 2025 data. But being common didn’t necessarily mean they cost landlords the most.

In fact, several of the repairs that came up most often accounted for a much smaller share of overall maintenance spending.

Which Maintenance Issues Are Reported Most Often?

Seven categories stood out as high-frequency, lower-cost maintenance issues in our 2025 data. Together, they accounted for 10,487 of the 22,354 maintenance requests in this analysis, or 46.9%.

They included:

• Appliances
• Landscaping & Grounds
• Pest Control
• Locks & Access Control
• Doors & Windows
• Electrical
• Hauling & Trash

Appliances were the most common of the seven, with over 2,600 requests, followed by Landscaping & Grounds with 2,328 and Pest Control with 1,359.

How Much Do the Most Common Repairs Typically Cost?

Despite making up nearly half of the requests in this comparison, those seven categories accounted for about 26% of total maintenance spending.

The median cost also varied by repair type. Landscaping & Grounds had the lowest median at $140, while Doors & Windows and Electrical had a median of $250. Appliances came in at $198, Pest Control at $185, and Locks & Access Control and Hauling & Trash at $200.

This gives us an important distinction in the data: the repairs that happen most often aren’t necessarily the ones responsible for the largest maintenance costs.

Which Rental Property Repairs Cost the Most?

So far, we have seen that many common maintenance requests cost a few hundred dollars. However, the data also shows the other side of rental property repairs. Some individual jobs cost several thousand dollars, and a few went well beyond that.

Looking at these higher-cost repairs helps show just how wide the range of landlord maintenance costs can be.

What Were the Most Expensive Repairs in the Data?

The most expensive individual maintenance request in our 2025 data cost $58,364.25 and fell under Fire & Life Safety. The next highest was a $30,331.79 Water Damage & Mold repair, followed by a $22,525 HVAC request.

Other high-cost requests included:

• Plumbing — $19,280
• Fire & Life Safety — $18,277.50
• HVAC — $17,550
• Water Damage & Mold — $16,000
• Plumbing — $15,204
• Water Damage & Mold — $14,845

These are the most expensive individual requests in the data, so they shouldn’t be treated as the typical cost of repairing water damage, an HVAC system, or a plumbing problem.

How Do Major Repairs Compare With Typical Maintenance Costs?

The difference is quite large. As we saw earlier, the median maintenance request cost $250, while the average was around $500. 

In other words, 99% of the maintenance requests in this analysis cost $5,200 or less, while the remaining 1% went above that amount. Some of those requests reached tens of thousands of dollars.

This also helps explain the gap we saw between the median and average rental property repair costs. Most repairs were nowhere near the highest figures in the dataset, but a relatively small number of expensive jobs can push overall maintenance spending higher.

Does Property Age Affect Rental Property Repair Costs?

Property age can make a noticeable difference in repair costs. When we grouped the properties in our data by age, both the average and median repair costs generally increased as the properties got older.

The difference was especially clear when we compared the newest and oldest properties in the analysis. Let’s look at that next. 

How Do Repair Costs Compare by Property Age?

Properties that were less than 10 years old had the lowest average repair cost at around $407, with a median cost of $233. From there, costs generally increased with property age.

The data looked like this:

Properties 50 years or older averaged around $520 per repair, compared with nearly $407 for properties under 10 years old. That’s about a 28% difference between the oldest and newest groups.

How Much More Did Repairs Cost at Older Properties?

The difference wasn’t limited to the averages. Median repair costs also increased from $233 for properties under 10 years old to $260 for properties 50 years or older.

That matters because the median is less affected by a few unusually expensive repairs. Seeing both the average and median increase with property age gives us a clearer pattern in the data: older properties tended to have more expensive individual repairs.

How Do Rental Property Repair Costs Vary by Location?

Repair costs didn’t look the same across all five BMG markets in our 2025 data. Both the average and median costs varied depending on the market, with some locations showing a much wider gap between the two.

It’s important to note that these figures represent maintenance requests handled by our Baltimore, Austin, Laurel, Philadelphia, and Northern Virginia offices. They are not statewide averages.

Which Markets Had the Highest Average Repair Costs?

Of the five markets, Baltimore had the highest average repair cost at around $578 per request. Austin followed at $487, while Laurel averaged $446.

Philadelphia and Northern Virginia had the lowest averages in the group, both just around $426.

Here’s how the five markets compared:

Austin’s numbers stand out for a couple of reasons. Its median repair cost of $215 is the lowest of the five markets, likely tied to newer housing stock in growing suburban areas like Pflugerville, Cedar Park, and Round Rock, where fewer aging systems mean fewer big ticket repairs. Climate plays a role too. Austin summers put heavy demand on air conditioning systems, while the mild winters mean far less strain on pipes and heating compared to markets like Baltimore or Northern Virginia. The February 2021 winter storm Uri is a useful reminder of how unusual that balance can shift. That single event generated thousands of emergency maintenance requests across Texas almost overnight. Our 2025 data reflects a more typical year, but it still shows why keeping a reserve for emergency repairs matters, even in a market where extreme cold is rare. San Antonio is a newer market for BMG in Texas, so it isn’t part of this dataset yet, but we expect to include it as our portfolio there grows.

Which Markets Had the Highest Median Repair Costs?

Baltimore also had the highest median repair cost at $289, although Northern Virginia followed at around $254. Philadelphia had a median repair cost of nearly $246, Laurel $240, and Austin $215.

What’s interesting here is how much closer the medians are than the averages. The difference between the highest and lowest median was $74, while the average repair costs varied much more across the five markets.

Why Can Average and Median Costs Tell Different Stories?

The Baltimore numbers give us a good example. Its average repair cost was about $578, but its median was only $289. That means the average was about twice the midpoint of Baltimore’s repair costs.

We see a similar, although smaller, gap in the other markets. That’s because the average can move upward when a market has some particularly expensive repairs, while the median is less affected by those high-cost requests.

That’s why it’s useful to look at both numbers. The average tells us what repairs cost overall in each market, while the median shows where the middle of those repair costs fell.

How Much Do Emergency Rental Property Repairs Cost?

Emergency repairs are another part of the cost story. But how often did they actually happen, and did they cost more than regular maintenance? We looked at the emergency data from our different BMG offices to find out.

One thing to keep in mind is that each office tracks emergency maintenance a little differently. Some numbers are based on emergency work orders, while others come from after-hours or emergency response logs. So, rather than combining them into one company-wide rate, we’ll look at what happened in each market.

How Common Are Emergency Maintenance Requests?

True emergency repairs were fairly uncommon in several of the markets we analyzed. However, the numbers varied quite a bit from one BMG market to another.

In Laurel, 0.49% of 2025 work orders were classified as true emergencies. Austin recorded 126 emergency maintenance requests, representing 1.63% of its requests, compared with 7,601 non-emergency requests.

Northern Virginia’s emergency rate ranged from 0.56% to 1.40%, depending on which work orders were included in the calculation. The office also noted that its emergency response team resolves many calls through troubleshooting or determines that the issue can wait until the next day, meaning not every call results in an emergency work order.

Baltimore reported that about 12% of maintenance requests were emergent, while 88% were non-emergent, with 188 true emergencies recorded on its emergency response log.

Philadelphia’s numbers tell a slightly different story because they are based on after-hours calls. Of 713 after-hours calls, 158, or 22%, were classified as emergencies. The remaining 78% were non-emergencies.

Here’s a quick look at how emergency maintenance activity compared across the five BMG markets:

How Do Emergency Repair Costs Compare With Non-Emergency Repairs?

Where we have costs for both types of requests, emergency repairs weren’t always dramatically more expensive.

In Baltimore, emergency maintenance requests averaged around $819, compared with $661 for non-emergency requests. Laurel showed a smaller difference, with emergency work orders averaging $383 and non-emergency work orders averaging $314.

Northern Virginia actually showed the opposite pattern in the figures provided. Emergency work orders averaged $330, while non-emergency averages ranged from around $293 to $353, depending on which types of work orders were included.

Austin’s emergency work orders averaged $441. However, we don’t have a corresponding non-emergency average in the office data, so we can’t make a direct cost comparison for that market.

Are All After-Hours Maintenance Calls Emergencies?

Not every maintenance call that comes in after hours turns out to be an emergency. Philadelphia received 713 after-hours calls in 2025, but only around 22% were classified as emergencies. The remaining 78% were non-emergency calls.

Northern Virginia’s emergency response team saw something similar. The team reported that many calls could be resolved through troubleshooting, while other issues did not require immediate repairs and could wait until the next day.

This shows why after-hours calls and emergency maintenance requests are not necessarily the same thing. A tenant may report an issue after normal business hours, but the maintenance team still has to determine whether the problem requires immediate attention.

How Long Do Rental Property Repairs Take?

Repair costs are only one part of the picture. Landlords also have to consider how long it takes to get a maintenance issue resolved. Some repairs can be completed fairly quickly, while others may take several weeks.

In our 2025 data, we looked at 17,915 completed maintenance requests with usable start and completion dates to see how long repairs actually took.

How Long Does the Average Repair Take to Complete?

Across those completed requests, the average repair took around 14 days, while the median completion time was 8 days. In other words, half of the completed maintenance requests were closed within eight days.

The difference between the two numbers tells us something important. Some repairs took much longer to complete and pulled the average upward, while the median gives us a better idea of the typical turnaround time in the data.

Which Types of Repairs Take the Longest?

Completion times also varied depending on the type of repair. Of the major repair categories analyzed, Security & Access had the longest median completion time at around 25 days, followed closely by Roofing & Exterior at around 24 days.

Several other categories also took longer than the overall 8-day median:

At the other end, Hauling & Trash had a median completion time of 2 days, while Locks & Access Control had a median of 5 days.

So, the data shows that repair time can vary quite a bit depending on the issue. While half of all completed requests were resolved within eight days, some repair categories typically took two to three weeks or longer.

When Are Rental Property Repairs Most Common?

Rental property repair needs can change throughout the year. Looking at our 2025 data by quarter, some maintenance issues became more common as temperatures changed, while others appeared near the top of the list throughout the year.

Heating and air conditioning showed the clearest seasonal pattern. However, plumbing issues, door repairs, and several other everyday maintenance problems remained common across multiple quarters.

Which Repairs Were Most Common Throughout the Year?

Some repair categories appeared among the most common maintenance requests regardless of the season.

Door repairs ranked in the top five during every quarter, with 203 requests in Q1, 178 in Q2, 217 in Q3, and 233 in Q4. Drains and pipe clogs also remained common, ranking among the top five in Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4.

Washers appeared in the top five during all four quarters as well, while ceiling leaks and dryers also showed up among the higher-volume repair categories at different points during the year.

So, while some maintenance needs clearly changed with the seasons, other issues continued to generate requests throughout 2025.

Which Repairs Increased During Warmer Months?

Air conditioning repairs stood out once temperatures began to rise.

In Q2, air conditioning became the most common repair category with 464 requests. Q3 recorded 310 requests, again making AC the most common maintenance issue during the quarter.

That’s a noticeable change from Q1, when air conditioning didn’t appear among the five most common repair categories.

Which Repairs Increased During Colder Months?

Heating repairs showed almost the opposite pattern.

Heater repairs ranked first in Q1 with 241 requests. They then dropped out of the top five during Q2 and Q3 before returning as the most common repair category in Q4 with 378 requests.

The quarterly data therefore shows a clear shift between the two HVAC needs: heating requests were most common during the colder parts of the year, while air conditioning requests moved to the top during the warmer quarters.

Who Pays for Rental Property Repairs?

Repair costs don’t always fall on the same person. Depending on the situation, a maintenance expense may remain with the property owner or be charged back to the tenant.

Rather than getting into the legal responsibilities here, we looked at our 2025 maintenance data to see how often tenants were actually charged for repairs and how much those charges represented.

How Often Were Tenants Charged for Repairs?

Tenant chargebacks were relatively uncommon in the maintenance requests we analyzed. Across 22,354 maintenance requests with spend, 933 reimbursement charges were recorded. That works out to about 4.2% of maintenance requests.

In other words, about 95.8% of the requests in this analysis were not charged back to a tenant.

How Much of the Repair Cost Did Property Owners Cover?

Most repair costs in our data remained with property owners. The difference also tells us something about the types of repairs involved. In our data, repairs charged to tenants tended to involve smaller costs, averaging around $292 compared with $492 for repairs covered by property owners.

Overall, the data shows that tenant chargebacks represented only a small part of rental property maintenance activity.

What Do These Repair Costs Mean for a Landlord’s Maintenance Budget?

There is no single maintenance budget that will fit every rental property. And our data helps show why. Repair costs varied widely depending on the type of repair, property age, location, and other factors.

So, instead of focusing on one number, landlords can use several pieces of information when planning for future repair costs.

Use Typical Repair Costs as a Starting Point

The median repair cost in our 2025 data was $250, while the average was considerably higher at nearly $500.

For budgeting purposes, these numbers provide two different perspectives. The median gives landlords an idea of what a more typical repair looked like, while the average reflects the effect of higher-cost repairs as well.

Neither number tells you exactly what your next repair will cost. However, together they show why planning around only an average—or only a typical repair—may not give you the full picture.

Account for How Often Your Property Needs Repairs

The cost of each repair is only part of the equation. How often maintenance issues occur matters too.

Across the units included in our analysis, we recorded an average of 2.21 maintenance requests per unit during 2025.

That doesn’t mean every landlord should expect exactly 2.21 repairs each year. Instead, it shows why a maintenance budget needs to account for multiple repair requests, rather than setting aside enough money for only one problem.

Consider the Age of Your Rental Property

Property age was another clear difference in the data.

Properties under 10 years old had an average repair cost of $407, compared with $521 for properties 50 years or older. Median costs also increased from $233 to $260 between those two groups.

So, when planning a maintenance budget, the age of the property is worth considering alongside typical repair costs. Our data showed that older properties tended to have more expensive individual repairs, even though the property-age analysis does not tell us that they necessarily needed repairs more often.

Leave Room for Large, Unexpected Repairs

Finally, a maintenance budget needs to account for the fact that not every repair will fall near the median.

While the median repair cost was $250, only about 1% of requests cost more than $5,200. The most expensive individual request reached $58,364.25.

These high-cost repairs were not typical, but they show how quickly landlord maintenance costs can change when a larger problem occurs.

Taken together, our data suggests that landlords should look beyond a single average when planning their maintenance budget. Typical repair costs, repair frequency, property age, and the possibility of occasional high-cost repairs all provide useful pieces of the budgeting picture.

Factor in Texas Specific Conditions

Landlords budgeting for Texas rental properties should account for a few things that don’t show up in national averages. Summer heat puts consistent pressure on air conditioning systems, and AC repairs were the single most common request during Q2 and Q3 of 2025. Freeze risk is far less frequent, but Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 showed how quickly that can change, a single freeze event can generate a wave of emergency repairs across an entire market. Texas also has no state income tax, which affects how some landlords choose to structure their maintenance reserves compared to other states. And in fast growing suburban areas like Pflugerville, Cedar Park, and Round Rock, a large share of the rental housing stock is newer construction, which our data suggests tends to run lower repair costs than older properties.

About the Rental Property Maintenance Data

For this guide, we used Bay Property Management Group’s 2025 maintenance data, covering over 20,000 maintenance requests from our Baltimore, Laurel, Philadelphia, Northern Virginia, and Austin markets.

You may notice that the number of maintenance requests changes slightly depending on the finding. That’s because each question requires different information. For example, repair-time calculations only include completed requests with usable start and completion dates, while cost calculations require requests with recorded maintenance spending.

The figures should also be viewed as BMG’s actual 2025 maintenance experience rather than universal averages for every rental property. Repair costs and maintenance needs can vary depending on the property, location, age, type of repair, and other factors.

We plan to update this report with 2026 data once the year closes, so landlords can track how repair costs and trends shift over time.

FAQs About Rental Property Repair Costs

Rental property repair costs can vary quite a bit from one property to another. Here are quick answers to some common questions landlords may have about repair costs based on what we found in our 2025 maintenance data.

How Much Do Landlords Spend on Repairs Per Year?

There isn’t one annual amount that applies to every landlord. In our data, rental units averaged 2.21 maintenance requests per year, while the median repair cost was $250 and the average was nearly $500. Actual annual costs can vary depending on the number and type of repairs a property needs.

How much do rental property repairs cost in Austin, Texas?

In our 2025 data, the average rental property repair cost in Austin was $487, while the median was $215. Austin’s median was the lowest of the five BMG markets in this analysis, which may reflect the area’s newer housing stock in suburban communities like Pflugerville, Cedar Park, and Round Rock. These figures reflect BMG’s managed portfolio in Austin and are not a citywide average.

How much does AC repair cost for a rental property in Texas?

Our 2025 data doesn’t break out a specific average cost for AC repairs alone, but air conditioning was the most common repair category during Q2 and Q3, with 464 requests in Q2 and 310 in Q3. Since AC issues fall within our broader repair categories, the overall median of $250 and average of $494 offer the closest reference point until we have AC specific cost data to share.

How do Austin repair costs compare to other cities?

Of the five BMG markets in our 2025 data, Austin’s average repair cost of $487 landed in the middle, higher than Philadelphia and Northern Virginia (both around $426), but lower than Baltimore ($578). Austin’s median of $215 was the lowest of all five markets, meaning a smaller share of Austin repairs reached the higher cost end compared to other regions. See the full market comparison table above for the complete breakdown.

What Is the Average Rental Property Repair Cost?

The average rental property repair cost in our 2025 data was nearly $500 per maintenance request. However, the median was much lower at $250, showing that some high-cost repairs pushed the overall average upward.

How Much Should a Landlord Save for Unexpected Repairs?

Our data doesn’t point to one amount that every landlord should save. Repair costs ranged widely, and while the median request cost $250, only about 1% of requests exceeded $5,200. This shows why landlords may need room in their budgets for repairs that cost much more than a typical maintenance request.

Do Older Rental Properties Cost More to Repair?

They did in our 2025 data. Properties under 10 years old had an average repair cost of around $407, compared with $521 for properties 50 years or older. Median repair costs also increased from $233 to $260 between those age groups.

What Are the Most Common Rental Property Repairs?

Some of the most frequently reported issues included appliances, landscaping and grounds, pest control, locks and access control, doors and windows, electrical, and hauling and trash. Together, these seven categories accounted for 46.9% of the maintenance requests in that analysis.

Are Emergency Repairs More Expensive?

Not always. The results varied by BMG market. For example, Baltimore’s emergency requests averaged around $819, compared with $661 for non-emergency requests. In Laurel, the averages were around $383 for emergency work orders and $314 for non-emergency work orders. Northern Virginia’s figures varied depending on which work orders were included in the comparison.

How Often Do Rental Properties Need Repairs?

Across the 8,148 rental units included in this analysis, units averaged 2.21 maintenance requests in 2025. However, individual properties may have more or fewer maintenance requests in any given year.

Take the Stress Out of Rental Property Repairs

Rental property repairs are hard to predict, but managing them doesn’t have to take up all your time. From responding to maintenance requests to coordinating vendors and keeping track of repair costs, having the right systems in place can make property maintenance much easier.

At Bay Property Management Group, we handle the day-to-day maintenance needs of rental properties, along with the many other responsibilities that come with managing a rental. If you’re ready to spend less time dealing with maintenance calls and more time focusing on your investment, contact us today to learn more about our full-service property management solutions.

Whether you own rental property in Austin or San Antonio, our local teams handle maintenance coordination so you don’t have to. Learn more about our Austin property management services or our San Antonio property management services.