Lenders denied 354,761 applications for home-improvement loans in 2025 and made 613,448, so 36.6% of those decisions were denials, down from 39.1% in 2024. For comparison, the share was 31.4% for cash-out refinancing, 21.7% for other refinancing and 14.5% for home purchases.
Texas had the highest home-improvement denial share, 50.5%, followed by the District of Columbia (48.6%) and Florida (46.2%). The lowest were North Dakota (19.4%) and Iowa (19.9%).
By loan purpose
| Loan purpose | Denied, 2025 | Loans made, 2025 | Denied share, 2025 | Denied share, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | 607,818 | 3,592,033 | 14.5% | 15.0% |
| Home improvement | 354,761 | 613,448 | 36.6% | 39.1% |
| Refinance (not cash-out) | 288,000 | 1,042,078 | 21.7% | 24.2% |
| Cash-out refinance | 436,542 | 953,349 | 31.4% | 34.0% |
| Other purpose | 426,483 | 624,151 | 40.6% | 44.4% |
Home improvement loans by state
| State | Denied, 2025 | Loans made, 2025 | Denied share, 2025 | Denied share, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 19,464 | 19,087 | 50.5% | 53.9% |
| District of Columbia | 623 | 660 | 48.6% | 51.8% |
| Florida | 30,822 | 35,889 | 46.2% | 49.7% |
| Hawaii | 1,563 | 1,833 | 46.0% | 51.5% |
| Louisiana | 2,810 | 3,422 | 45.1% | 45.9% |
| Mississippi | 2,543 | 3,127 | 44.9% | 47.4% |
| Maryland | 8,325 | 10,933 | 43.2% | 45.8% |
| Georgia | 13,733 | 18,036 | 43.2% | 46.7% |
| Nevada | 3,494 | 4,707 | 42.6% | 45.4% |
| Illinois | 12,593 | 17,909 | 41.3% | 44.0% |
| West Virginia | 1,594 | 2,372 | 40.2% | 43.7% |
| California | 33,685 | 51,902 | 39.4% | 42.1% |
| New York | 20,118 | 31,068 | 39.3% | 41.4% |
| Alaska | 436 | 681 | 39.0% | 41.7% |
| North Carolina | 15,518 | 24,703 | 38.6% | 38.7% |
| New Jersey | 12,168 | 19,408 | 38.5% | 42.1% |
| Alabama | 5,141 | 8,263 | 38.4% | 41.0% |
| Delaware | 1,616 | 2,611 | 38.2% | 40.6% |
| Rhode Island | 2,141 | 3,598 | 37.3% | 39.5% |
| South Carolina | 5,339 | 9,008 | 37.2% | 39.3% |
| Tennessee | 8,180 | 14,177 | 36.6% | 38.0% |
| Ohio | 18,164 | 31,623 | 36.5% | 39.0% |
| New Mexico | 1,350 | 2,455 | 35.5% | 38.6% |
| Arizona | 8,381 | 15,442 | 35.2% | 37.8% |
| Arkansas | 2,646 | 4,895 | 35.1% | 37.9% |
| Connecticut | 4,558 | 8,806 | 34.1% | 37.4% |
| Virginia | 9,747 | 19,310 | 33.5% | 36.4% |
| Missouri | 5,864 | 11,757 | 33.3% | 36.1% |
| Colorado | 6,078 | 12,231 | 33.2% | 33.4% |
| Washington | 9,057 | 18,288 | 33.1% | 34.7% |
| Pennsylvania | 18,815 | 38,099 | 33.1% | 35.7% |
| Michigan | 12,288 | 25,030 | 32.9% | 35.3% |
| Massachusetts | 8,608 | 17,624 | 32.8% | 34.1% |
| Kentucky | 4,308 | 9,075 | 32.2% | 32.9% |
| Indiana | 7,886 | 16,960 | 31.7% | 33.8% |
| Oklahoma | 2,651 | 5,739 | 31.6% | 33.1% |
| Kansas | 2,283 | 5,230 | 30.4% | 31.6% |
| New Hampshire | 2,163 | 5,037 | 30.0% | 32.9% |
| Montana | 834 | 2,055 | 28.9% | 29.8% |
| Oregon | 4,344 | 10,811 | 28.7% | 29.8% |
| Utah | 3,929 | 10,492 | 27.2% | 27.0% |
| Maine | 1,801 | 4,851 | 27.1% | 28.3% |
| Wyoming | 347 | 946 | 26.8% | 30.9% |
| Idaho | 2,561 | 7,155 | 26.4% | 28.6% |
| Nebraska | 1,225 | 3,498 | 25.9% | 27.5% |
| Minnesota | 4,316 | 12,687 | 25.4% | 26.0% |
| South Dakota | 409 | 1,216 | 25.2% | 25.6% |
| Vermont | 647 | 1,971 | 24.7% | 24.9% |
| Wisconsin | 5,317 | 17,996 | 22.8% | 23.5% |
| Iowa | 1,702 | 6,855 | 19.9% | 22.0% |
| North Dakota | 309 | 1,283 | 19.4% | 21.7% |
What these numbers are
This is our calculation from public HMDA data: loans denied as a share of applications that were either denied or became loans. It leaves out applications that were withdrawn, closed as incomplete, or approved but not taken by the borrower, and applications for loans bought from other lenders. One person who applies to several lenders counts once for each application. A higher share does not by itself show that lenders treat any group unfairly; HMDA does not include credit scores, and the mix of borrowers differs from state to state.
In HMDA, a loan is "home improvement" when it is mainly for repairing, rehabilitating or remodeling a home. They include closed-end loans and home equity lines of credit secured by the house. Unsecured home-improvement loans are not reported. Lenders report home equity lines of credit only above a volume threshold, so open-end lines are partly missing.
Source
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, HMDA Data Browser aggregation API, 2025 and 2024 data, loan purposes 1, 2, 31, 32 and 4, actions taken 1 (loan originated) and 3 (application denied), queried October 17, 2026. U.S. government data in the public domain. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Home Improvement Loan Denials by State," My Credit Guide, October 17, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/home-improvement-loan-denials/.