What Does it Cost to Maintain an Above Ground Swimming Pool

Deciding to get an above-ground swimming pool is almost always based on emotion. Then quickly after the fantasy of getting one, research on the cost to have one built is next.

Now, you’ve found the right type of above-ground pool based on your finances and are ready to commit. And whether you have chosen to self-install a $400 Intex pool or are having a metal-walled above ground with a deck installed for thousands, you’ve decided it’s worth the money.

But what about the ongoing cost of having an above-ground swimming pool? I mean, you might have come into some money or have been saving to get the pool, but aren’t financially independent enough to not care what the pool will cost you every month.

For everyone, knowing what the ongoing cost will be for a luxury item is a really good idea.

The monthly cost to maintain an above-ground swimming pool depends on where you live, the size of the pool, and what season it is. The cost of electricity varies greatly depending on where you live. Also, how long and hot an area’s swim season is varied. Going on median averages for these two factors, most will pay around $90 per month in the summer months to maintain their above-ground pool.

THE 2 MAIN FACTORS THAT DETERMINE YOUR MONTHLY ABOVE-GROUND POOL MAINTENANCE COST

About 90% of maintaining a swimming pool is with water quality. To keep good water quality, you need to be able to move and clean the water, and also treat the water with chemicals.

It is impossible to maintain water healthy for humans in a man-made (or woman-made) pool without the water being able to move. This is where a pump is needed. Pumps run on electricity, and electricity costs money.

Just like air, water is an excellent environment for life. And with water, life happens fast. Again, in an artificial human-made body of water, life will grow no matter what, so we need chemicals to constantly kill and get rid of that life. And chemicals cost money.

So the two main cost factors for maintaining a pool are the electricity cost for the pump and the cost of chemicals to kill living things in the water.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RUN A POOL PUMP?

Most people just want a ballpark figure on the electric cost to run a pool pump. Some will want to be specific. If you want specifics, then you will have to find out what your electric company charges you per kilowatt-hour or “KWHr”. To help, read this article with a breakdown on the cost to run your pool pump.

The ballpark figure that I can give is based on an average-sized one-speed pool pump (1-1.5HP) running about 8 hours a day. I’m also going to take the median average cost per kilowatt-hour in the United States.

NOTE: If you live overseas or in states with high electric costs like Hawaii and Alaska, then you’re probably already aware that your cost to run a pool pump will be considerably more.

The ballpark average cost to run an above-ground pool pump in the summer months is about $50 per month.

It’s important to point out that this is the highest monthly figure for the year. In the cooler months and during the winter, you won’t have to run the pump as long each day.

Most pools that can stay open year-round (like in Texas and Florida) can drop the daily pump run time in half (from 8 to 4 hours per day). This will cut your electric cost in half for a big part of the year.

WHAT IS THE MONTHLY CHEMICAL COST FOR AN ABOVE GROUND POOL?

The chemical cost to maintain an above-ground pool varies greatly. How much you spend depends on how hot it is and other weather conditions and how knowledgeable you are with pool water chemistry.

I’ll first address the weather. When you have been doing the same thing as long as I have, complex things become simpler to describe. So, with pool water chemistry, I say two things.

“The warmer the water, the more things grow”

This simple fact is the reason that you will use more chemicals in the summer for your pool. In the summer, the water is warmer than in the spring, fall, and winter (unless you’re very close to the equator).

To put a finer point on this, you will notice that at the beginning of your pool season (sometime in the spring), you will use fewer chemicals. Then as the summer comes, your pool will need more.

Same with when the pool season is coming to an end (sometime around Fall). You’ll notice that as the summer is cooling, your chemical usage will drop.

Eventually, when winter comes, your chemical usage will drop down significantly, and depending on where you live, you may not need to add anything to the pool when it’s cold.

The second thing I say is:

“Anything that falls into or goes in the pool water will cause more chemical usage”

The vast majority of swimming pools are outside in nature. I have installed some above grounds in warehouses, home garages, and large indoor rooms, but that is very rare.

In nature, there’s wind and rain, so anything that falls into the pool will affect the water chemistry. This includes swimmers, animals, leaves, dirt, pollen, rainwater, well/municipal water, objects (floating or not), snow, ash, bugs, frogs, dust, etc.

With every little tiny thing that enters the pool water, chemicals are needed to sanitize, oxidize, or ph balance it.

The best example of this is when it rains. The rainwater may not have anything living in it, but it will affect the chlorine and ph level in the pool. And non-chlorinated water with a different PH entering the pool will dilute the chlorine level and at least temporarily change the ph.

Another good example is when you have a pool party. The pool will be bombarded with swimmers. And swimmers have layers of skin, oils, hair products, clothing, and body fluids which all affect the water chemistry. And these effects will require more chemical usage.

Why do I bring all of this up? Because it’s important to know that what a pool is exposed to will determine how much chemical it needs to be well maintained.

So if you live in a sub-tropic climate with super hot summers, daily rain showers, and the pool is under a giant tree that is always raining down leaves, then it’s gonna cost you more in chemicals. And if you have a lot of kids, pool parties, swimming dogs, and raccoons that come every night to clean their food and poop in your pool, then you’ll be buying more chemicals resulting in a higher monthly pool cost.

This works both ways too. If you live in someplace like Canada where the water never gets too hot, don’t get a lot of rain, have no trees in the yard or any kids, dogs, or nighttime raccoons visiting, then you will use much fewer chemicals to maintain the pool which will make your monthly pool cost lower.

KNOWLEDGE OF POOL WATER CHEMISTRY WILL REDUCE YOUR COST

When I install an above-ground pool, part of my installation is to give an explanation of the pool’s equipment and how things work. In addition, I will often give some basic knowledge of water chemistry.

Learning how to chemically maintain a swimming pool is fairly simple, but not so simple as it can be all absorbed in one conversation or article. It takes time and experience to learn.

With knowing this, my standard advice for new pool owners is to take a water sample from the pool to a pool store (if you have one available). There, they will analyze the water in an official and complex-looking way.

I have nothing against most pool stores, but part of their bottom line is selling chemicals. They will sell you stuff that you don’t really need but I still recommend going to them at first though because your pool is new and you want to start out with clear and healthy water. And if you buy and treat your pool with what they sell you, the pool will be good.

After you have the pool for a couple of months, you’ll begin to understand what is needed and what isn’t. Every pool is different, so the more you learn about what your pool wants, the fewer chemicals you will need.

NOTE: As a pool guy of 36 years and the experience of having a maintenance business for sixteen years, I don’t use any specialty chemicals to service my pool. I use mainly just liquid chlorine, chlorine tabs, and occasionally a yellow algae treatment. Specialty chemicals and add-ons are not worth the cost when you know about pool chemistry and the characteristics of your own pool.

With all these variables, it’s hard to come up with a ballpark figure for monthly pool chemical cost, but I will give you one anyway.

The average median monthly chemical cost for an above-ground pool in the summer is in the range of $30 -$60. This number can be much higher depending on the conditions mentioned above.

DO ABOVE GROUND POOL CHEMISTRY ADDONS REDUCE THE MONTHLY COST OF CHEMICALS?

In the now 36 years of being in the pool business, I have seen a lot of trends and products to help with pool chemistry come and go. While most things don’t last, a couple have survived.

Currently, the three main chemical add-ons for above-ground pools are salt chlorine generators, copper ionizers, and mineralizers. There are maybe a half dozen other products available but I won’t list them. What I will say though is that they more than likely will not reduce your chemical cost (even though they will tell you they will).

Copper ionizers and mineralizers won’t do much to reduce your monthly chemical cost. They do kill some stuff in the water, so the reality is that you may use less of a sanitizer (chlorine), the reduction will be so minimal that you probably wouldn’t notice. Match any small savings against the cost of those products and you’re quickly in the negative, financially.

A salt chlorine generator will reduce your monthly chemical cost as it will replace your need to have chlorine tablets and reduce the number of times the pool will need to be shocked. These generators are expensive though and the cells (for the quality units) last about three years before needing replacing, so you will never recover those costs with reduced monthly chlorine costs.

Please don’t kill the messenger. If you have something that is working and you think it is overall saving you money, then cool. Be you. I’m not one to argue with success. And hey, these things may be saving you money if you were buying a bunch of stuff(you didn’t really need) beforehand and now don’t because you know think the frog is making a difference.

THE MONTHLY COST TO MAINTAIN AN ABOVE GROUND POOL VARIES DEPENDING ON THE SEASON

If you are wanting to know what the true continuing cost is to have a swimming pool, you have to take into consideration that the majority of the cost will occur over the summer. Spring and fall months will be less and winter months may cost you nothing.

Since the cost varies depending on the season, the most accurate monthly cost will be an average over the entire year. Here is a typical average median cost to have an above-ground pool for each month.

So when you add all the months of the year together, then your total for electricity and chemicals is somewhere between $430 – $860.

Note: If you live in a cold climate, then you’ll want to factor in the cost of opening and closing the pool. Also, if you have a soft-sided Intex/Coleman type and take it down in the winter, you’ll want to factor in the cost of water to fill it every year.

THE LONG TERM COSTS OF HAVING AN ABOVE GROUND SWIMMING POOL

For the sake of being thorough, the longer-term maintenance costs for repair and replacement of components should be considered.

Liner Replacement

Metal-walled above-ground pools have vinyl liners, and they don’t last as long as the pool does.

Chinese-made or solid blue liners may only last 1 – 3 years, but the average good quality fully printed, heavy gauge liner will last between 5 – 8 years on average.

With this, you’ll want to take the cost to change the liner and then divide it by the age of the pool. The cost of liners ranges greatly depending on the size of the pool and some will do the liner change themselves to save on labor.

As an example of the cost for a new liner replacement. I’ll use a 24’ round size (which is the most common size).

Divide $1000.00 by 7 years (age of pool) $143.00 per year

Pump motor replacement

There are two parts to a pool pump – the pump and the electric motor. The pump portion of the pool should last a very long time, but the electric motor will not.

Pump motors will typically last about five years before needing to be replaced. This too can vary depending on where you live and how long your pool season is. Those living in colder climates that close their pools will have longer-lasting pump motors as they don’t run as much.

Note: Some pumps made for above-ground pools aren’t designed to come apart very well. This will result in replacing the entire pump instead.

Using the average lifespan of a pool pump motor of five years along with the average cost to replace one being around $400 (including parts and labor), then by dividing $400 by five years of usage, the average yearly cost for an above ground pool pump is about $80.00.

Filter repair/cartridge replacement

There are three types of filters for above-ground pools. All will have some long-term maintenance cost.

Cartridge type filters are my favorite, but the cartridge element inside will need replacing on an average of every 3 – 5 years. With the average filter element (for a quality and bigger sized filter) being around $75.00, consider factoring in a year’s cost of around $20 for this.

With sand-type filters, you’ll read on the internet that the sand in them will need replacing. This is not true, but there’s no harm in replacing it if you choose to believe it.

Sand filters have multi-port valves, and they often will start “acting up” at around five years old and will need some repairing or replacement. Consider this having a long-term yearly cost of about $20.

D.E. type filters are good, but they do seem to need maintenance about every five years on average as well. Most don’t have elements or multiport valves that need replacing, but they do have grids inside that usually start to break or get holes in them.

D.E. filters also take DE powder on a regular basis, but I wouldn’t factor that cost here as I consider it added to the cost of pool water chemistry.

You can consider the yearly cost to maintain a D.E. type filter at about $20 as well.

Equipment add-ons maintenance

Getting components to help with pool water chemistry seems like a good idea when getting a pool. Just know that there will be a long-term cost to maintaining them.

The biggest and most common example of this is with salt-chlorine generators. Some are better than others, but they all have one thing in common – the cells will need replacing.

Chlorine generators salt cells will last an average of about three years. The cost to replace this depends on the manufacturer, but figure it costing somewhere in the range of $100 – $200 for this.

Another good example of this is copper ionizers. The copper blocks in them get used up usually in two years and new ones are needed.

There are too many variations here for me to list the actual cost of equipment adding, but just know that it will cost you in the long term to keep using them.

Complete pool replacement

Above-ground swimming pools don’t last forever. The less expensive soft-sided Intex/Coleman type will last from one to three seasons before needing replacement. On the extreme other end, true semi-inground pools like Radiant or Aquasport 52 will last many decades.
Most above-ground pools lie in the middle of these two extremes. They are a one-piece, continuous metal-walled pool with separate liners and have frames made out of resin, aluminum, or steel.

These traditional above grounds will last in the big range of 10 to 20 years before needing replacement.

I’m not sure if it’s worth factoring in the entire life of your above-ground pool and determining a yearly cost for having it, but if you are a very long-term thinking financial person, then go for it.

As an example and using the average price of a 24’ round metal-walled above-ground swimming pool (pre-covid prices) of around $3000.00, I would divide this total pool package cost by an average age of 12 years. This will give a yearly long-term cost for the pool at $250.00.

Also, if you are one of the many who buy a new Intex type soft-sided pool every couple of years to keep replacing what you have, then yes, it’s good to factor this cost in.

Knowitall opinion: I’m not a fan of the option of buying a cheap Intex-type pool every couple of years. This is because you will wind up having a cheap pool with terrible equipment for years and years, never knowing how much better a metal-walled above-ground really is.

I also don’t like the fact that these cheap throw away soft-sided pools are helping to fill up landfills all over the world.

To determine the yearly cost of the entire pool, you take the cost of the pool(with installation) and divide it by the number of years it lasted (or you expect it to last)

Here in Florida, most Intex/Coleman type pools last one or two seasons. I have heard some people being able to make them last for years. This is mainly pool owners in the north where the swim season is much shorter. As they take it down every winter (which is about 8 months a year).

Traditional metal-walled pools last more consistently across all regions.

POOL TOYS, FLOATS, GADGETS, CLEANERS, COVERS, AND OTHER NON-ESSENTIALS

Water is a lot harsher of an environment than most realize. Very few things that you get for a pool will last forever. To consider your real cost of having a swimming pool, you’ll have to factor in all the things that you buy for it.

Do you buy stuff every year for your above-ground pool? Things like floats, solar devices, and other gadgets are never one-time purchases. Think about how much is spent a year on these items.

Above ground pool cleaners are not great and even the good ones don’t work well for very long. Most who get an auto-cleaner will use it until it starts acting up (usually after the first year) then they throw it in storage somewhere and never used it again.

Others like having an auto cleaner, so they buy replacements every couple of years. In this case, it’s good to factor in this ongoing cost as they are usually between $125 and $175.

Other micro incidentals to consider are maintaining a test kit/strips, deck cleaning/maintenance costs, insect repellent, sunscreen, etc.

TOTAL YEARLY COST TO HAVE AND MAINTAIN AN ABOVE GROUND SWIMMING POOL

Factoring in all things related to your situation should give you a fairly accurate cost.

Yearly median average cost to have and maintain an above ground pool in the North

Yearly median average cost to have and maintain an above ground pool in the south

To be more accurate, add the cost of the pool purchase and divide by the number of years the pool is expected to last.
Also, add the cost to service, repair, or replace any equipment components and divide by the age (in years) of the item serviced.
Add any other ongoing non-essential expense

A good overall example of the total cost with considering all things, I’ll use a metal-walled 24’ pool that cost $4000.00 complete (with installation) with a salt-chlorine generator in Florida.