The challenge to interpreting all the numbers out there lies in the ever-elusive context, but how much will YOU make?  Income potential is what most of our students tell us they were looking at when deciding to become a home inspector. A plethora of websites are reporting everywhere from $10k to $80k per year, but we’ve sorted it all out for you here:

average Reported Income

The closest match to a home inspector found at the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, is called a Construction and Building Inspector at a median income of $62,860.00 per year (2020). 

There are two things you should know about this statistic. The first is that this includes home inspectors AND city/governmental inspectors. It’s hard to quantify the income as a valid number for someone who wants to be an independent home inspector.

The second thing is this is median income, not average income.  It’s the income smack dab in the middle of the entire range of how much all these people report on their taxes each year.

While $68k isn’t bad, it gets MUCH better.

Typical annual Business Volume

We promised you context, and here’s where the clarity occurs. According to InspectorPro Insurance, most home inspectors will perform 129 inspections in their first year and average 305 inspections per year after that.  Many home inspectors I know perform between 400-500 each year. That’s  6-10 inspections per week at about 3 hours each.   

Full vs. Part Time / Independent vs. employee

Here’s why the numbers really are all over the map.  Many people choose home inspections as a second or retirement job, and others make it a full-time career.  Furthermore, a significant number of inspectors work for a multi-inspector firm on a commissioned basis of 30-60%.  Throwing all of this into the mix skews the numbers, making it difficult for anyone to come up with an average number. 

Income POTeNTIaL

Let’s put it all into perspective.  Currently, the average home inspection fee in the US is about $450.  Doing the math, 305 inspections at $450 is $137.250, while 500 inspections could gross as much as $225,000! 

YOU Decide

Truthfully, it’s up to you.  How hard do you want to work?  Will you be starting your own business, or working for someone else?  Full time or part time?  Hopefully, these numbers help you decide how to best take control of your future!