Boosting your home’s curb appeal affects more than just your resale value.

What makes up good (and bad) curb appeal. 

Curb appeal is the sum of many parts. For homeowners on a budget, small upgrades, such as replacing a mailbox or adding planter boxes, can instantly spruce up a home.

If you’re looking to make a bigger investment, homeowners told us: landscaping is the biggest bang for the buck, with 82% rating it as a major improvement. A majority also agreed that painting the exterior (78%), a well-kept lawn (73%), and beautiful windows (68%) all dramatically improve curb appeal.

On the flip side, the biggest curb appeal “faux pas” are trash in the yard (81%) and overgrown landscaping (81%), followed by an overgrown lawn (77%), parking old cars, RVs, vans, or boats out front (64%), poorly maintained fences and exterior (58%) and a home’s exterior needing a wash or paint job (57%). 

One thing is for sure: curb appeal matters. Almost unanimously, 98% of homeowners feel that having a home with good curb appeal is important. And homeowners are making the investment. This year, curb appeal projects on Thumbtack were up 24% year-over-year in the last six months. 

The ROI of investing in your curb appeal.

More than half of homeowners (54%) say their neighborhood or street’s curb appeal impacted their decision to buy their home.

When it comes to quantifying the importance of curb appeal, 57% say a beautiful exterior improves a home’s value by at least $20,000 — and 16% say the impact is over $50,000. On average, homeowners judge a house with high curb appeal to be 34% more valuable than the exact same house with poor curb appeal.

Given its emotional and financial significance, it’s no surprise that 84% of homeowners plan to invest in their home’s curb appeal this year. And 58% plan to spend at least $5,000 to boost their curb appeal annually (with 30% earmarking more than $10K per year).

According to data on Thumbtack, it can cost roughly $5K for a light curb appeal boost, $15K for a medium boost, and $25K for a bigger overhaul. 

The impacts of curb appeal on neighborhood relationships.

Curb appeal can spark strong feelings. The majority of our respondents (89%) say they feel proud of their home’s curb appeal, and most had opinions about their neighbors’ homes.

Nearly everyone (94%) told us they think it’s important to have neighbors who maintain their homes’ curb appeal. Just under half (46%) say they have at least one neighbor with an “eyesore” property. And even if a neighboring home with poor curb appeal was only hypothetical, 71% of people said they would think negatively of that homeowner (with 19% even admitting they’d be more likely to gossip about said neighbor).

“Strong curb appeal demonstrates a deep investment in a neighborhood. It elevates the sense of community pride and fosters a welcoming atmosphere for residents and visitors alike,” said Heidi Andersen, Head of Revenue at Nextdoor, “For many neighbors, the neighborhood is a gathering place, a central hub, and most importantly, a place they come to for genuine connections, support, and shared experiences among its residents. Every day, neighbors everywhere are transforming houses into homes and streets into welcoming avenues for their communities."

In fact, when given the choice, most people unsurprisingly preferred to be around homes with attractive exteriors — 75% of homeowners told us they go out of their way to seek out neighborhoods with the best curb appeal, be it to spend time with family and friends (40%), walk their dog (39%), exercise (36%), or go out to eat (22%).

To further underscore the communal value of curb appeal, 81% of homeowners say they collaborate with neighbors on shared projects or initiatives that could enhance the overall attractiveness of the neighborhood. And 44% have offered to help their neighbor with a front yard project such as lawn mowing, snow blowing or leaf raking.

The cities with the best curb appeal.

We looked at the cities where curb appeal projects were a top priority across the U.S. and found the cities with the best curb appeal, according to Thumbtack are***:

Costs for curb appeal projects vary across the top cities – hitting Seattle with the highest costs and Tampa with the lowest costs.

Ready to get started on an exterior update? Download the Thumbtack app (available on iOS and android) to instantly book projects to help boost your home’s curb appeal. 

Related: 15 front yard curb appeal ideas for any budget.

*Survey methodology: This sample of 1000 U.S. adult homeowners (aged 18-­75) was surveyed on June 28 and 29, 2023. Age cohorts were sampled to align with generational homeownership proportions in the US. DKC Analytics conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the Pollfish survey delivery platform. No post-­stratification has been applied to the results.

**Pricing is based on data from June 2022 - June 2023. All cost estimates are compiled based on reports from Thumbtack professionals and third-party research. Costs represented are for labor, not inclusive of materials. Real costs may vary based on location, pro, supply, and materials selected. These figures are averages based on estimates for projects across the country, real costs may vary. Cities ranking data is based on data from June 2022 - June 2023.

***Ranking data is from consumer requests on Thumbtack from June 2022 to the present for door installations, junk removal, lighting installations, exterior painting, lock installations, deck staining, fence installations, fence painting, gardening, garage door installations, gutter installations, landscaping design services, lawn mowing and trimming, siding installations, shrub trimming, sod installations, sprinkler installations, tree or shrub planting, tree or shrub removal, window installations, patio additions, and pressure washing. Rankings were based on the relative frequency of such requests adjusted for the population of state and metropolitan areas.