Considering a bathroom remodel? You’re probably curious about how much it will cost.

You’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll break down the cost of your bathroom remodel depending on size, materials, and type of project.

To start, what’s the average cost of a bathroom remodel?

The average cost of remodeling your bathroom can differ significantly based upon the scope of your project (whether this is your master bathroom or half bath, for starters), but according to the Remodeling Cost vs Value Report 2021, here’s the average amount you can expect to pay for the following renovations:

• Midrange Bathroom Remodel: $21,377
• Upscale Bathroom Remodel: $67,106
• Midrange Bathroom Addition: $49,598
• Upscale Bathroom Addition: $91,287

The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) report that homeowners spent a mean of $32,000 renovating their bathrooms in 2019, roughly twice what they spent on redoing a guest bath (about $18,000) or a powder room (about $12,000), according to Homelight.

Just remember that these averages change by location, with the cost of contractors and materials differing across the country.

To give an example, you can expect a mid-range bathroom remodel to cost an average of $28,786 in San Francisco, CA whereas the same project would be $18,591 in Knoxville, TN.

That’s a difference of $10,195 compared between these two locations.

Take the time to properly cost out your dream bathroom to know exactly how much you’re going to need to borrow, then add on another 5% to cover any unexpected costs that come up during construction.

What Is The Most Expensive Part of a Bathroom Remodel?

When it comes to scoping out your bathroom remodel to try and better understand how much it’s going to cost to complete it, you’ll probably be wondering what the most expensive parts of this type of project are.

And this is especially the case when you’re looking to keep this cost down.

Estimating Bathroom Renovation Costs

Before you actually get estimates from contractors - you might want to have a good idea of the ranges of costs for your project.

There are a few factors that will determine the price:

• Room size: This will determine the cost for flooring and painting.
• Quality of materials: We don’t recommend low-quality materials for your bathroom, especially if you’re planning on staying awhile. But higher quality will be more expensive.
• Changing the floorplan: If you’re moving sinks, toilets, shower, or walls - you’re changing the floorplan, which will most certainly up your budget.
• Types of materials (fixtures, appliances, counters, etc): If your Pinterest board is full of natural stone, mosaic tiling, concrete, and marble countertops - you might be in for a surprise when you look up the costs.

To help give an idea as to the elements that cost the most in a typical bathroom renovation, we turned to HomeAdvisor data to see what makes up the highest percentage of costs:

The Cost of Materials

Before we dive in, let’s make one thing clear; the cost of materials can vary massively depending on the choices you make, hence why the percentages here are split into such wide bands.

Here’s how the cost of materials commonly breaks down in a new bathroom:

Bathroom vanity (10% - 30%)

Showers (5% - 25%)

Fixtures (10% - 20%)

Faucets and plumbing (12% - 16%)

Flooring (10% - 15%)

Entry doors and windows (8% - 10%)

Countertops (5% - 10%)

Lighting (5% - 7%)

Painting (5% - 6%)

Bathroom fan (2% - 5%)

Labor Costs

Labor costs often account for between 40% and 65% of the total cost of a bathroom remodel, split between general contractors, plumbers, interior designers, electricians and drywall installation contractors.

You can also expect to pay anywhere between $1,000 and $2,300, on average, for the demolition of your existing bathroom, quickly increasing beyond this if there’s a requirement to remove load-bearing walls or where there’s a need to break water pipes or electrical lines.

Of course, the larger your bathroom and the more complex it is, the more you should expect to pay out on labor costs.

What are the typical costs for the types of contractors?

• General contractor: If your bathroom project is complex, when you hire a general contractor, they may also bring in subcontractors for each of the below specialties. However, you’ll be paying the general contractor (GC) the full fee and they will then pay their sub-contractors.

• Plumber: Plumbing is probably the most expensive specialty for a sub-contractor because it requires such a specific skill-set and can go very badly if it’s done wrong. Their rate is generally $50-$200 per hour.

• Designers: While some contractors are particularly skilled at giving you good design ideas for your bathroom, many folks also choose to hire a designer to create plans for the space or an interior designer to pick out the finishes and decor after.

  On average, an interior designer will cost $2,000 to $5,000, but there are many online services today that are a lot cheaper.

• Electricians: Electricians also require many hours of formal training and are a high-priced specialty. There are a lot of risks involved with electrical work, so it’s important to find someone experienced. Their rate is generally $50-100 per hour.

• Tiling: While tiling doesn’t require as much specific training as plumbing and electrical work, it’s still crucial that you have someone experienced. When tiling is done wrong it can cause severe water damage. The rate for tiling is generally $40-$65 per hour.

Cost to Demo a Bathroom

If you’re completely gutting your entire bathroom for the remodel, you’ll need to factor in demolition costs. A complete demo for a bathroom can range anywhere from $500 to $2,300, according to HomeAdvisor.

Why? That includes waste removal, labor, and equipment.

Permits

Another cost to factor in is building permits, which you may very well need for a complete bathroom remodel. Most likely your contractor will take care of this, but you still need to be involved and aware of the process, especially the cost.

Here are the situations where you’d need to pay for a permit, according to Miller Construction & Design:

• Moving a sink or your bath and a new plumbing supply and drain lines are needed.
• Demolishing a shower wall or dividing wall within your bathroom. The same goes for adding a dividing wall or building a shower structure.
• Adding windows in the bathroom.
• Changing the roofline of your bathroom such as adding skylights.
• Adding an electrical point in a vanity area of your bathroom.

Read more on whether or not you’ll need a permit and how to get one.

The average cost for permitting ranges from $175 to $2,000, depending on how many of these bullet points are part of your renovation and where you live.

Not sure if you’re willing to pay? Check out some of the consequences of renovating without a permit.

Average Cost of Bathroom Remodel by Room Size

If you’re looking to get a ballpark average of the cost of a bathroom remodel by room size, Fixr provides data on this exact topic, which we’ve combined with our own data to create these estimates:

Types of Bathrooms by Size

The type of bathroom remodel will also impact the cost. For example, a half-bathroom will most always be cheaper than a master bathroom or full bathroom upgrade.

Here are some averages, provided by Kukun:

Powder Room Remodel Cost

Average Cost: $3,000 to $10,000

What’s Typically included?

• Fixture upgrades
• Fresh paint
• New lighting and flooring

Guest Bathroom Remodel Cost

Average Cost: $6,000 to $21,000

What’s Typically included?

• Shower, Sink and fixture upgrades
• New tile
• New vanity
• Fresh paint
• New lighting and flooring

Master Bathroom Remodel Cost

Average Cost: $10,000 to $40,000

What’s Typically included?

• Shower, Sink and fixture upgrades
• Replacing faucets
• New tile
• New vanity
• Fresh paint
• New lighting and flooring

How To Pay for a Bathroom Renovation

Don’t have the savings to pay upfront for a bathroom remodel? More and more homeowners are using loans with low-interest rates to get all of their renovation projects done at once.

Check out a few of the different options you have to finance a bathroom remodel, from RenoFi Loans to cash-out refinancing to personal loans.

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