🛁Bathroom Calculator
Free tool · No sign-up · 2026 national pricing

Bathroom Remodel Cost Calculator

Use this free bathroom calculator to price your exact square footage — not dead Small/Medium/Large buckets. It works as a bathroom remodel cost calculator and a bathroom renovation cost calculator in one, showing a live estimate range, cost per square foot, DIY savings badge, plumbing scope impact, a visual bathroom remodel cost breakdown, and a printable quote sheet. Left side: your inputs. Right side: the money.

⚡Quick answers people search for most

The bathroom remodel numbers people look up every day — computed with the same bathroom renovation cost calculator engine that powers the tool above.

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5×8 hall bath (40 sf) · Pull & Replace · Mid

$9,000 – $17,000

Likely ≈ $12,500. The classic full-hall-bath budget: new tub, tile surround, floor, vanity, paint.

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5×7 powder room (35 sf) · Refresh · Budget

$3,000 – $5,500

Vanity, faucet, mirror, paint and hardware in place. No wet-area work at all.

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10×10 primary bath (100 sf) · Full Gut · Mid

$35,000 – $68,000

Down to studs with re-pipe and layout change. Likely ≈ $50,000, labor ~55% of total.

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Cost per square foot, 2026 national

$115 – $775 / sf

Budget refresh ≈ $115; mid pull-and-replace ≈ $310; high-end gut ≈ $775 — all incl. 10% contingency.

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Labor share of a remodel bill

45% – 55%

Tile setting and plumbing rough-in are the two biggest labor lines. DIY the right trades to cut 15–25%.

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Mid-range remodel ROI at resale

60% – 70%

Refresh spends less and loses less in absolute dollars. Luxury gut remodels return ≤50%.

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Tub-to-shower conversion (60 sf) · Mid

$6,000 – $11,500

Tub out, tiled walk-in shower with glass panel and a new valve — likely ≈ $8,500. Vanity, floor and paint stay.

📊2026 bathroom remodel cost by size and scope

Mid-range finish, national-average labor, fixtures kept in place, no add-ons. These are the same buckets the calculator uses — drag the slider above to price anything in between.

ScopeSmall35 sfMedium60 sfLarge100 sfX-Large140 sf

Refresh

New paint, vanity, fixtures, mirror — keep tile and layout

$4,000 – $7,500≈ $5,600 likely$6,500 – $13,000≈ $9,600 likely$11,000 – $21,500≈ $16,000 likely$15,500 – $30,500≈ $22,400 likely

Pull & Replace

New tub/shower, tile, floor, vanity — same footprint

$7,500 – $15,000≈ $11,000 likely$13,000 – $25,500≈ $18,800 likely$22,000 – $42,500≈ $31,400 likely$30,500 – $59,500≈ $43,900 likely

Tub-to-Shower

Tub out, tiled walk-in shower with glass panel — rest of the room stays

$3,500 – $6,500≈ $4,900 likely$6,000 – $11,500≈ $8,500 likely$10,000 – $19,000≈ $14,100 likely$14,000 – $27,000≈ $19,800 likely

Full Gut

Down to studs — new everything, layout changes possible

$12,500 – $24,000≈ $17,600 likely$21,000 – $41,000≈ $30,100 likely$35,000 – $68,000≈ $50,200 likely$49,000 – $95,500≈ $70,200 likely

Finish tier moves the same room by 2×. At 60 sq ft pull-and-replace, national average: Budget ≈ $13,500 · Mid-range ≈ $18,800 · High-end ≈ $29,200. The room never changed — the tile grade, vanity and valve did.

🗺️Bathroom remodel cost by region

Labor rates and material logistics swing the same remodel by ±30% depending on where you live. Pull & replace, mid-range finish, fixtures kept in place — priced at each regional tier.

RegionTypical $ / sq ftSmall35 sfMedium60 sfLarge100 sfX-Large140 sf

Lower-cost metro

Midwest, parts of South & Mountain West

$194–$376mid likely ≈ $277/sf$7,000 – $13,000≈ $9,700 likely$11,500 – $22,500≈ $16,600 likely$19,500 – $37,500≈ $27,600 likely$27,000 – $52,500≈ $38,600 likely

National average

Most metros

$219–$426mid likely ≈ $313/sf$7,500 – $15,000≈ $11,000 likely$13,000 – $25,500≈ $18,800 likely$22,000 – $42,500≈ $31,400 likely$30,500 – $59,500≈ $43,900 likely

High-cost metro

NYC, SF Bay, Boston, LA, Seattle, DC

$286–$555mid likely ≈ $408/sf$10,000 – $19,500≈ $14,300 likely$17,000 – $33,500≈ $24,500 likely$28,500 – $55,500≈ $40,800 likely$40,000 – $77,500≈ $57,100 likely

Why the spread is so wide: the same tile setter bills roughly $55/hr in Midwest and Southern metros but $95/hr in the Bay Area, and high-cost jurisdictions add permit, inspection and disposal fees on top. Pick your region tier in the calculator above and the multiplier applies to the entire labor stack — not just one line of the bid.

📝How to use the bathroom remodel calculator

Eight steps from tape measure to contractor bids — the same workflow professional estimators follow, minus the clipboard.

1

Choose who does the work

Start with Hire a Pro for a realistic all-in budget. Then flip to Partial DIY and check the trades you'll self-perform — tear-out, painting, flooring and tile setting are the common DIY wins. Licensed plumbing and electrical always stay professional.

2

Pick your scope of work

Refresh (surfaces only), Tub-to-Shower (wet area only), Pull & Replace (everything swapped, same footprint) or Full Gut (down to studs). If you're not sure, price them all — the range jump between scopes is usually the single biggest decision in the budget.

3

Drag the size slider to your exact square feet

Measure wall to wall inside the room and enter the exact number — no more forcing a 65 sq ft bath into a 'Small' or 'Medium' bucket. The cost-per-sq-ft figure updates live, and preset buttons snap to 35 / 60 / 100 / 140 sq ft when you want the classic sizes.

4

Set the plumbing & layout scope

Keeping every fixture in place is the cheap option. Partial Reconfiguration (move a toilet or vanity) adds plumber labor, permit and dumpster. Full Gut-to-Studs assumes re-piping the whole room and re-waterproofing.

5

Toggle complexity upgrades

Each toggle shows its own +$ range: curbless shower, freestanding tub, heated floor, custom vanity, steam system, electrical rough-in. Toggle them on and off to see exactly what each decision costs — nothing is buried in a lump sum.

6

Declare the home's age honestly

If the house was built before 1980, switch on the age toggle. It adds a rough-in and subfloor risk buffer that reflects what pros quietly pad into bids for older homes — better to see it than to meet it as a change order.

7

Set finish quality and region

Budget = stock big-box fixtures; Mid-range = semi-custom vanity and designer tile; High-end = custom cabinetry and stone. Then pick your region tier — coastal metros run up to 30% over the national average.

8

Print your estimate and get bids

Name the estimate (e.g. 'Master Bath — Plan A'), print the clean PDF quote sheet, and hand the identical sheet to three contractors. Asking them to match or beat a specific line-item list is the fastest way to normalize competing bids.

🧪Worked example: 60 sq ft hall bath, mid-range, plumbing moved

Every number below comes from the same transparent math the calculator runs — a 6×10 bath, pull-and-replace, heated floor added, toilet relocated, built in 1995.

The math, step by step

  1. Base installed rate: Pull & Replace × Mid-range × National = $285/sf × 60 sf = $17,100 (labor 50% ≈ $8,550, materials ≈ $8,550).
  2. Labor splits into 8 trades — tear-out $1,026, plumbing rough-in $1,539, electrical $684, tile $2,138, flooring $1,026, paint $684, fixtures $1,026, waterproofing $428.
  3. Materials split: fixtures & cabinetry ≈ $5,130, tile & flooring ≈ $3,420.
  4. Heated floor toggle: +$750 (mid of $500–$1,000) into tile & flooring.
  5. Partial Reconfiguration: plumber labor +$2,500 (mid of $1,500–$3,500) + permit $325 + dumpster $450.
  6. Subtotal ≈ $21,088 → 10% contingency +$2,113.
  7. Total: $16,000 – $31,500, likely $23,200 ≈ $386.67/sf.

Calculator output for this example

Estimate range

$16,000–$31,500

likely $23,200

Per sq ft

$386.67

60 sf · national avg

Labor & Installation

$11,050

48% of total

Fixtures & Cabinetry

$5,130

22% of total

Tile & Flooring

$4,170

18% of total

Permits & Contingency

$2,888

12% of total

🔨DIY vs. hiring a pro: what you can safely save

Labor is 45–55% of a remodel bill, and some of it is genuinely within reach of a careful homeowner. Here is the honest split — including the trades you should never touch.

TaskPro costDIY costDifficulty
Tear-out & disposal$900 – $1,800Dumpster fee onlyEasy
Painting$600 – $1,200$100 – $200 materialsEasy
Flooring install$700 – $1,500Tool rental + materialsModerate
Tile installation$1,800 – $3,500$400 – $800 materialsHard
Fixture setting$700 – $1,400Free (tools ~$100)Moderate
Plumbing & electricalAlwaysNot recommendedPro only

Live example — 60 sf pull & replace, mid-range

DIY tear-out + painting + flooring: saves ≈ $2,736 — about 15% of the total. The badge in the calculator updates the moment you check a trade, and strikethrough lines in the labor breakdown show exactly which work you removed.

The permit rule: anything behind a wall — drain relocation, new circuits, vent changes — is licensed work in every US jurisdiction. DIY there fails inspection and surfaces as unpermitted work at sale. DIY the messy and the cosmetic; hire the code-bound.

📈Bathroom remodel cost breakdown: six factors that move a bathroom budget

A clear bathroom remodel cost breakdown before you get bids is the difference between a planned remodel and a financed surprise.

Scope decisions compound

Scope is the multiplier on everything else. Refresh ≈ 50% of a pull-and-replace budget; full gut ≈ 160%. Decide scope first, because it resets every other number on the page.

Plumbing location

Every inch a fixture moves, drains, vents and subfloor follow. Keeping the toilet and vanity within a few inches of their current spots is the cheapest structural decision you'll make.

Finish tier

Mid-range runs ~1.4× budget; high-end runs ~2.2× budget for the identical room. The delta is almost entirely material cost — vanities, tile grade, valves and slab tops.

Wet-area waterproofing

Non-negotiable and invisible. Membrane, backer board and slope-to-drain work don't photograph well, which is exactly why lowball bids cut them. This calculator keeps them priced in.

Region labor rates

The same tile setter bills $55/hr in the Midwest and $95/hr in the Bay Area. Our regional multiplier (0.88× / 1.0× / 1.3×) applies to the whole labor stack, not just one line.

What demo uncovers

Rot, mold, termite damage and undersized framing live behind tile. That's why the model carries a 10% contingency — and why pre-1980 homes get an extra risk buffer.

Where a dollar of remodel budget goes (mid-range pull & replace, national average): labor & installation 8 trades ≈ 45–55%, fixtures & cabinetry ≈ 25–30%, tile & flooring ≈ 15–20%, permits & contingency ≈ 10%. The donut chart in the calculator re-splits these live for your exact configuration.

❓Frequently Asked Questions

The questions we get most often from people planning a bathroom remodel — answered with real numbers and practical advice.

How much does a bathroom remodel cost in 2026?

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For a standard 60 sq ft hall bath, a pull-and-replace remodel runs about $13,000–$25,500 nationally, with a likely number near $18,800. A cosmetic refresh (paint, vanity, fixtures, no tile work) typically lands at $6,500–$13,000, while a full gut down to the studs with layout changes runs $21,000–$41,000. Labor accounts for 45–55% of the total in most markets, which is exactly why the DIY toggle on this calculator moves the number so much. High-cost metros like NYC, SF, Boston, LA and Seattle run 25–30% above these figures.

What's included in a bathroom remodel cost breakdown?

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A professional bathroom remodel cost breakdown splits the budget into four buckets: labor and installation (45–55% across eight trades), fixtures and cabinetry (25–30%), tile and flooring (15–20%), and permits plus contingency (about 10%). This free bathroom calculator re-splits those buckets live for your exact square footage, scope and finish level — the donut chart and the printed quote sheet show every line, so nothing hides inside a lump sum.

How do I calculate cost per square foot for a bathroom?

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Divide the total installed cost by the room's floor area. Bathrooms run $115–$775 per sq ft installed depending on scope and finish level — far higher than the $30–$80 per sq ft of general living space because a bathroom concentrates plumbing, waterproofing, tile and electrical into a tiny footprint. This calculator shows your exact per-square-foot figure live as you drag the size slider, so a 65 sq ft bath never gets forced into a 'small' or 'medium' bucket that doesn't fit.

What is the cheapest way to renovate a bathroom?

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A cosmetic refresh: keep the tub, toilet and tile in place and spend on paint, a new vanity top, faucet, mirror, lighting and hardware. That's the 'Refresh' scope in this calculator — roughly half of a full pull-and-replace budget. The biggest single lever after scope is DIY: tear-out, painting, and even flooring are realistic self-performed jobs that together remove $2,500–$6,000 of labor from a mid-range project. Never DIY plumbing rough-in or electrical — permit and code issues cost more than you save.

Does moving plumbing really double the budget?

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It doesn't double it, but it's the single largest optional line item. Minor moves — shifting a drain or supply line a foot or two — run $500–$2,000. Relocating a toilet or vanity 3–4 feet adds $1,500–$3,500 in plumber labor plus $150–$500 in permit fees plus $300–$600 for a dumpster — because drains, vents and the concrete or subfloor above them have to be opened. A full re-pipe (gut-to-studs) adds $5,000–$8,000. If your budget is tight, keeping every fixture within a few inches of its current location is the cheapest 'layout change' you can make.

Why does the calculator subtract tile area from paint?

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Paint and tile cover the same wall surface, so a tub surround tiled to 72 inches (about 66 sq ft across three walls) and a vanity splash must be excluded from the paintable area or you'll buy gallons you never open. This tool's materials list already nets tile out of paint — the paint line covers only the walls that actually get painted, and the wall-tile line carries its own +15% cut waste.

How much waste factor should I add for tile and flooring?

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Industry standards (NTCA/NWFA) call for 10% waste on straight-lay tile or LVP in a simple rectangular bathroom, and 15–20% for diagonal or herringbone patterns. Small bathrooms with many cuts around toilets, vanities and tub aprons can run higher. This calculator applies a +10% waste factor to floor area and +15% to wet-area wall tile automatically — the quantities in the materials list are what you should actually order, not the raw room dimensions.

Is a bathroom remodel worth it for resale value?

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A mid-range bathroom remodel recovers roughly 60–70% of its cost at resale in most US markets, per Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value data. A refresh recovers a similar share on a much smaller spend, so the absolute dollar loss is smaller. Full luxury gut remodels recover far less — 50% or below — because ultra-premium finishes rarely match buyer expectations in average-priced neighborhoods. If you're remodeling strictly for sale, stay at the refresh-to-pull-and-replace level.

How long does a bathroom remodel take?

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A cosmetic refresh takes 3–5 working days. A pull-and-replace runs 2–3 weeks including tile setting cure time and fixture delivery. A full gut with plumbing relocation runs 4–6 weeks once you add permit inspection gates and waterproofing cure stages. Add 2–4 weeks of lead time for special-order vanities and tile — the construction itself is rarely the bottleneck; waiting on materials is.

Do I need a permit to remodel my bathroom?

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Cosmetic work (paint, vanity swap, fixtures in place) generally needs no permit. Moving plumbing, altering vents, adding circuits or changing the layout does — typically $150–$800 depending on your municipality. Permits trigger inspections at rough-in and final stages, which protects you when you sell: unpermitted plumbing work is a classic home-inspection red flag that buyers use to renegotiate price.

My house was built before 1980 — what should I budget extra for?

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Turn on the 'Built before 1980' toggle. Homes of that era commonly hide galvanized or cast-iron supply and drain lines that crumble during demo, non-grounded circuits, and particleboard or plank subfloors that rot under old toilet flanges. Budget an extra $1,200–$2,500 as a rough-in and subfloor contingency — it's the buffer between a quote and a change order in older homes.

What's the difference between Refresh, Pull & Replace, and Full Gut?

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Refresh keeps all surfaces — paint, vanity, faucet, mirror, hardware only. Pull & Replace swaps everything in the same footprint: new tub or shower, new tile, new floor, new vanity, same drain locations. Tub-to-Shower removes the bathtub and builds a tiled walk-in shower in its place — wet area only, the rest of the room stays. Full Gut goes down to the studs: new drywall, new wiring, re-piped plumbing, re-waterproofed wet areas and layout changes become possible. This calculator prices all four scopes with the same inputs so you can compare instantly.

How accurate is this bathroom remodel calculator?

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This free bathroom calculator is a planning tool, not a bid. The model anchors to 2026 national installed-cost data for a 60 sq ft hall bath at mid-range finish (~$18,800 likely, $13,000–$25,500 range) and scales by exact square footage, scope, finish tier, region multiplier and every complexity toggle you select — each toggle shows its own dollar range so nothing is hidden inside a black box. Real quotes vary with contractor tier, material availability and what demo uncovers, which is why the range is intentionally wide and a 10% contingency is built in.

Can I print or export my estimate?

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Yes — enter an optional title like 'Master Bath — Plan A' and click Print / Export PDF. The tool generates a clean A4 quote sheet with your configuration, the estimate range, the cost breakdown by category, labor by trade, the full materials list and the contingency recommendation. Site navigation, ads and input panels are hidden automatically. It's the easiest way to compare bids: hand the same sheet to three contractors and ask them to match or beat it line by line.

Which bathroom remodel add-ons add the most value?

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Heated tile floors (+$500–$1,000) and a curbless walk-in shower (+$500–$1,500) top the value list — both show up in buyer walkthroughs and appraisal comparisons. Steam systems (+$1,500–$3,500) and freestanding tubs (+$500–$1,500) are lifestyle purchases that rarely return their cost. Custom vanities (+$500–$1,500) split the difference in primary baths where storage is the top complaint.

How much does a tub-to-shower conversion cost?

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A professional tub-to-shower conversion in a standard 60 sq ft hall bath runs $6,000–$11,500 at mid-range finish, with a likely number near $8,500 — that covers tub removal, a new shower pan, waterproofing, wall tile, a semi-frameless glass panel and a new pressure-balanced valve. Acrylic liner kits from big-box refinishers run $3,000–$6,000 but look dated fast, while high-end conversions with heavy 3/8-in glass, a recessed niche and a built-in bench reach $12,000–$16,000. Select the 'Tub-to-Shower' scope in the calculator above to price your exact room; conversion is one of the highest-ROI wet-area upgrades in homes where the tub is never used.