A home elevator costs a national average of $50,000, with most installations running $35,000 to $60,000, per Fixr’s cost guide.1 Retirement Living puts the average homeowner’s cost higher, around $65,000, while manufacturers and dealers quote entry points of $30,000 to $40,000 installed for a basic two-stop shaftless lift (Savaria) and around $35,000 and up including tax, shipping, and installation (Lifeway Mobility).3,4,5 Figures below are the latest published national figures* from each source.
*National figures, not local quotes. Angi’s page is labeled 2026 data (updated October 17, 2026), HomeGuide’s is dated January 20, 2026, Retirement Living’s was updated September 23, 2026 with figures labeled 2025, Savaria’s was published August 10, 2026, Fixr’s was updated January 31, 2025, and Lifeway Mobility’s page is undated. Your price depends on elevator type, floors served, retrofit work, cab finishes, and labor.
$50,000
national average (Fixr)
$35,000 – $60,000
typical range (Fixr)
$30,000 – $40,000
entry-level, installed (Savaria)
+$10,000 – $15,000
per added floor (HomeGuide)
What sources say
| Source | Figure | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Fixr | $50,000 average; $35,000 – $60,000 range; low $15,000 (cable-driven); high $100,000 (custom cable) | Home elevator cost guide (updated January 31, 2025) |
| Angi | Lead figure: $4,191 average, most pay $2,711 – $5,930 (500 verified projects); same page prices elevator types at $15,000 – $60,000 and installer labor at $700 – $15,000 | Home elevator cost guide (2026 data, updated October 17, 2026) |
| Retirement Living | Average starting price $30,000; homeowners pay around $65,000 on average; range $30,000 to $100,000+ | Home elevator cost guide (updated September 23, 2026; figures labeled 2025) |
| Savaria (manufacturer) | Starts $30,000 – $40,000 installed (2-stop shaftless); traditional with hoistway $45,000 – $75,000; luxury 3–5 stops $75,000+ | Pricing article (published August 10, 2026) |
| Lifeway Mobility (dealer) | Starts around $35,000, up to $80,000+; through-floor $35,000 – $60,000; traditional starts $50,000 – $60,000 | Pricing guide (undated page, titled 2026; quotes include tax, shipping, installation) |
| HomeGuide | Pneumatic vacuum elevators $35,000 – $100,000+ installed by size | Pneumatic-specific cost guide (dated January 20, 2026) |
Two flags on this table. First, Angi’s lead average of $4,191 conflicts with everything else on its own page — its type table starts at $15,000 and its installer-labor range alone reaches $15,000 — and Angi does not explain the gap; the 500-project dataset may include repairs or partial jobs rather than full installations, but Angi does not say so.2 Second, the remaining averages ($50,000 Fixr, ~$65,000 Retirement Living, $30,000 starting price Retirement Living/Savaria) are differently scoped averages — treat their spread as a spread of averages, not a price range for a typical project.1,3,4
Cost by elevator type
Fixr and Angi publish identical figures on four rows — cable-driven at $15,000 to $35,000, geared traction at $25,000 to $38,000, gearless traction at $29,000 to $55,000, and pneumatic at $35,000 to $60,000 — and neither page attributes its table to the other, so we report the match as matching figures, not corroboration.1,2 Retirement Living publishes two type tables that disagree with each other (its hydraulic row appears at both $20,000 – $50,000 and $45,000 – $85,000+); the table below uses its larger table and flags the conflict.3
| Type | Fixr / Angi (installed) | Retirement Living |
|---|---|---|
| Cable-driven / winding drum | $15,000 – $35,000 | $20,000 – $40,000 |
| Hydraulic | $22,000 – $53,000 (Fixr); $25,000 – $50,000 (Angi) | $45,000 – $85,000+ (conflicts with its own $20,000 – $50,000 figure elsewhere on the page) |
| Geared traction | $25,000 – $38,000 | $45,000 – $85,000+ (traction) |
| Chain-driven | $27,000 – $62,000 (Fixr) | — |
| Gearless traction | $29,000 – $55,000 | — |
| Pneumatic / vacuum | $35,000 – $60,000 | $35,000 – $85,000 |
| Shaftless / through-floor | $15,000 – $25,000 (Angi) | $35,000 – $60,000 |
| Vertical platform lift | $5,000 – $20,000 (Angi) | — |
| Outdoor elevator | $2,000 – $10,000 (Angi) | — |
The shaftless row shows how much scope matters: Angi prices a shaftless unit at $15,000 to $25,000 while Retirement Living and Lifeway price through-floor elevators at $35,000 to $60,000 — a two-fold gap the sources do not explain, though Lifeway’s figures include tax, shipping, and installation while Angi does not state its basis.2,3,5 Savaria, a manufacturer, puts a two-stop shaftless lift at $30,000 to $40,000 installed.4
Cost by number of floors
Every additional story adds cost. The adder itself disagrees across sources: Fixr says about $10,000 per additional story, Angi says $5,000 to $15,000 per floor, and HomeGuide says $10,000 to $15,000 per floor beyond a two-story setup — a spread of $5,000 to $15,000 per floor that none of the sources reconciles.1,2,6
| Home | Average cost installed (Fixr, pneumatic basis) |
|---|---|
| 2-story | $38,000 – $55,000 |
| 3-story | $48,000 – $62,000 |
| 4-story | $55,000 – $70,250 |
Note that vertical platform lifts and shaftless models top out at one to two floors, so they are not options for taller homes.2
Cost by brand
Fixr prices installed units by brand; Retirement Living prices full projects by provider, a different basis that produces higher numbers.1,3
| Brand | Fixr (installed) | Retirement Living (project) |
|---|---|---|
| Easy Climber | $12,000 – $16,000 | — |
| Stiltz | $20,000 – $25,000 | — |
| Inclinator | $25,000 – $35,000 | — |
| Savaria | $28,000 – $36,000 | — |
| Crystal | $30,000 – $40,000 | — |
| Harmar | — | $31,000 – $36,000 |
| Stratus | $32,000 – $45,000 | — |
| Pneumatic | $35,000 – $60,000 | — |
| Lifeway Mobility | — | $35,000 – $100,000+ |
| Arrow Lift | — | $30,000 – $100,000+ |
| Otis | $40,000 – $50,000 | — |
Installation and labor
Labor estimates span a wide range: Angi puts an elevator installer at $700 to $15,000 depending on retrofit complexity, while Retirement Living and HomeGuide both put installation labor at $5,000 to $15,000 — the two agree with each other, and Angi’s lower floor is unexplained.2,3,6 Angi’s task breakdown prices site inspection at $70 to $1,500, framing and shaft construction at $200 to $4,500, lift and wiring setup at $300 to $6,000, doors and sensors at $100 to $2,000, and testing at $30 to $1,000; a general contractor to manage the project averages $4,000 at $300 to $500 per day.2
HomeGuide’s pneumatic guide itemizes common extras: cutting floor openings at $1,000 to $3,000 per floor, an electrician at $300 to $800+, a 220-volt electrical upgrade at $500 to $2,000+, ceiling-height modifications at $1,000 to $5,000, custom finishes at $2,000 to $15,000, and smart-home integration at $1,000 to $3,000.6 Angi adds that decorative automatic sliding doors can add up to $25,000 and high-end custom cabs can push a project over $50,000.2
New construction vs. retrofit
Installing during new construction is significantly cheaper than retrofitting: Angi reports a retrofit can cost up to three times more, because the contractor must clear space for the pit and shaft and reroute HVAC, electrical, or plumbing lines.2 Replacing an existing elevator with an updated model is generally cheaper than a full retrofit from scratch.2
Permits, inspections, and maintenance
Angi and HomeGuide agree on building permits at $200 to $2,000.2,6 Inspections disagree: Angi prices an annual inspection at $75 to $300 while HomeGuide puts required inspections at $150 to $400+ per visit, with no explanation for the gap.2,6 Maintenance estimates disagree even more widely — Angi prices an annual maintenance contract at $200 to $350, HomeGuide puts pneumatic maintenance at $500 to $1,000 a year, and Retirement Living at $800 to $1,400 a year — so budget to the top of the range until you have a local quote.2,3,6 Angi prices repair labor at $75 to $100 per hour, and both Angi and Fixr note cable-driven systems need cable replacement roughly every three to five years at $2,000 to $3,000 (Angi’s figure).1,2
Home elevator vs. stair lift vs. platform lift
A home elevator is the most expensive accessibility option by far. Retirement Living prices stair lifts at $2,900 to $14,000, and a vertical platform lift covers a porch or short rise for a small fraction of an elevator’s cost — though lifts and shaftless models cannot serve more than one or two floors.2,3 See our guides to stair lift cost and vertical platform lift cost for those options.
Does insurance, Medicare, or the VA help pay?
On Medicare, the owning source is direct: CMS’s Durable Medical Equipment Reference List (NCD §280.1) names “Elevators” with a “Deny” status (“convenience item; not primarily medical in nature”), and “Stairway Elevators” referencing the same entry.7 Medicare.gov’s examples of covered DME do not include elevators; it does confirm Medicare Advantage plans may offer extra benefits Original Medicare does not, so check your specific plan.8
On the Medicaid side, nearly all states operate Home and Community-Based Services (1915(c)) waivers with state-designed service lists.9 Some state waivers cover home accessibility work — Medicaid.gov’s West Virginia factsheet lists “environmental accessibility adaptations home” as a covered service under that state’s Aged and Disabled Waiver — but whether an elevator qualifies under your state’s waiver is a state-by-state question the national sources do not resolve; ask your state Medicaid office.10
For veterans, the VA runs disability housing grants for buying or adapting a permanent home: the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant offered up to $126,526 for FY 2026 and the Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant up to $25,350, for veterans with specific qualifying service-connected disabilities (such as loss or loss of use of more than one limb for SAH), with funds usable up to six times over a lifetime.12 Those amounts are labeled FY 2026, which ended September 30, 2026, and the VA had not posted FY 2027 amounts when we checked on October 25, 2026, so confirm the current limits before budgeting.12 The grant page’s examples of covered adaptations are installing ramps and widening doorways; it does not name elevators, so a home elevator would need to qualify under both your program eligibility and your specific approved project — confirm both with the VA before assuming any coverage.12 The smaller HISA benefit ($6,800 or $2,000 lifetime) does not list elevators among its approved purposes; we found no HISA determination on elevators, which is a finding, not proof none exists.11
Is a home elevator tax deductible?
Only partly, in most cases. IRS Publication 502 allows capital expenses for equipment or improvements whose main purpose is medical care for you, your spouse, or your dependent, but it singles out elevators: its list of examples notes that “elevators generally add value to the house.”14 When an improvement increases your home’s value, only the portion of the cost above that increase counts as a medical expense — so a $50,000 elevator that adds $30,000 of value would yield at most a $20,000 medical expense.14 The usual limits also apply: only expenses not reimbursed by insurance or another payer count, and medical expenses are deductible only if you itemize on Schedule A and only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.13,14 A tax professional can confirm how this applies to your situation.
Related guides
Dumbwaiter Cost
Vertical Platform Lift Cost
Stair Lift Cost
Wheelchair Ramp Cost
All cost guides
Sources
1. Fixr — Home Elevator Cost (updated January 31, 2025)
2. Angi — How Much Does a Home Elevator Cost? (2026 Data, updated October 17, 2026)
3. Retirement Living — How Much Does a Home Elevator Cost? (updated September 23, 2026; figures labeled 2025)
4. Savaria — How Much Does a Home Elevator Cost in 2026? (published August 10, 2026)
5. Lifeway Mobility — How Much Does a Home Elevator Cost in 2026? (undated page)
6. HomeGuide — How Much Does a Pneumatic Vacuum Elevator Cost? (dated January 20, 2026)
7. CMS — NCD, Durable Medical Equipment Reference List (§280.1; version effective June 9, 2025)
8. Medicare.gov — Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Coverage
9. Medicaid.gov — Home & Community-Based Services 1915(c)
10. Medicaid.gov — West Virginia Waiver Factsheet (Aged and Disabled Waiver services list)
11. VA Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service — Home Improvements/Structural Alterations (HISA)
12. VA.gov — Disability Housing Grants (SAH, SHA, and TRA amounts for FY 2026)
13. IRS — Topic No. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses
14. IRS — Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, Capital Expenses section