How much do home inspectors make?

Home inspector pay is quoted three ways, and each source counts something different. This table lists them side by side:

BLS is the federal source most sites quote. Its figure covers construction and building inspectors, and home inspectors are one specialty in that group. In May 2025, the lowest 10% earned less than $47,140 and the highest 10% earned more than $114,200.

Two limits matter. More than a third of the jobs in the group are in local government, where inspectors check work against the building code. And BLS wage data leaves out self-employed workers. A home inspector who owns the business is self-employed, so that inspector's pay isn't in the number.

The ASHI Reporter column on home inspector income ran with InspectorPro Insurance and drew on data from its applicants. It found new inspectors a little over $50,000 in average gross revenue, and all others near $123,000 a year.

Read those as business numbers, not take-home pay. Gross revenue is money in before expenses like insurance, a vehicle, tools, and report software. The $123,000 figure also includes owners of firms with several inspectors. The column gives no sample size or time period.

Indeed's home inspector salary page shows an average base pay of $64,889 a year, from about 1,900 job postings over 36 months. Its range runs from $38,598 to $109,088. It describes jobs working for someone else, which is a different path from owning the business.

For an owner, revenue is the fee times the number of inspections. At the ASHI column's average new-inspector fee of $390, $50,000 in gross revenue takes about 128 inspections. Working for a firm trades that math for a wage.

The license comes first in most states, and the exam is part of it. For the steps, see how to become a home inspector. For the outlook and the work itself, see is home inspection a good career.