Home improvement in the U.S. is hands-on but rarely fully DIY

Americans may embrace DIY (Do-It-Yourself) when it comes to home improvement, but full independence is uncommon.

YouGov Profiles data shows that 32% of U.S. adults are planning a project in the next three months. Across locations, intentions are largely similar. Three in 10 of those living in cities (32%), suburbs (31%) and towns (32%) say they have plans for home improvement. Rural residents are the most likely to be planning projects, at 38%.

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Painting tops the list of planned projects

Among those planning home improvement projects, smaller and more practical tasks are the most common.

Painting interior walls tops (13%), followed by flooring or carpet installation (7%) and bathroom remodeling (7%). Exterior painting and gutter work also feature (both 6%).

There are also some notable regional differences. Rural homeowners are generally more likely to take on hands-on or maintenance-heavy tasks, including flooring (10%), gutter work (8%), and interior painting (16%). Urban residents, by contrast, are slightly more likely to report plans for kitchen remodeling (7%).

DIY is rarely done alone

While many Americans are willing to get involved in home improvement, most prefer a hybrid approach that combines DIY with professional support.

The most common approach (28%) is to do what they can themselves while bringing in professionals when needed. A further 18% say they typically rely on professionals for most of the work but still like to stay involved.

Fully independent DIY is less common. Just 14% say they prefer to handle projects entirely on their own, while one in five (20%) opt to fully outsource the work.

There are also some differences in how men and women approach projects. Men are slightly more likely to prefer working independently (16% vs. 12%), while women are more inclined toward collaborative approaches. For example, 15% of women say they tend to complete projects with friends and family, compared to 9% of men.

Home Depot and Lowe’s lead Purchase Intent

When it comes to where Americans plan to purchase for home improvement projects, established big-box retailers dominate as per data from YouGov BrandIndex.

Home Depot ranks first with a score of 24.9%, followed by Lowe’s at 21.7%. IKEA comes in third (12.8%), appealing to those seeking more design-oriented or modular solutions.

Home Goods (11.4) and Ace Hardware (8.8) round out the top five, indicating a mix of large-scale suppliers and smaller, convenience-focused retailers.

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Methodology:

YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data through rolling surveys, rather than a single limited questionnaire. Figures are drawn from responses collected between March 2025 - March 2026 using a 52-week dataset updated weekly. Data is nationally representative of adults (18+) in the US and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race.

YouGov BrandIndex tracks daily perceptions of thousands of brands. Rankings are based on the Purchase Intent question: “From which of the following would you be most likely to purchase?”. Scores are reported as percentages, based on daily US surveys weighted using propensity scoring with ACS benchmarks (age, gender, race, education, region). Figures cover the period March 15, 2025 – March 15, 2026 with sample size ranging from 2,990 to 3,096.