Depending on the size of your family and the number of existing bathrooms in your house, adding a new bathroom may be one of the best home improvement decisions you’ll make. According to Greg Miedema, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers (NAHBR), additional bathrooms are highly desirable features. “You can almost never go wrong adding a bathroom,” says Miedema.


This is especially true if an additional bathroom helps relieve congestion at hectic times, or if it provides much-needed convenience for guests—no small considerations.


As an investment, however, a new bathroom should be carefully considered. The cost of a midrange bathroom addition if about $40,000, but the return on that investment averages a modest 51%, according to Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report. That value has been steadily declining over the past several years due to rising construction costs and falling home prices.


Nevertheless, national averages may not be a reliable predictor of value in your particular neighborhood. Before committing to a bathroom addition, call in a real estate agent or professional appraiser to evaluate whether an additional bathroom makes sense in your situation. Buyers tend to prefer houses where the number of bathrooms equals the number of bedrooms, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).


NAHB data also suggests that an additional half bath may increases a home’s total value by about 10%, while an additional full bath increases the value by 20%. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll recoup the full value of your remodeling investment—on average, you’ll spend almost twice what you recoup.


National and regional data from the Cost vs. Value Report:


National average cost, midrange 6×8-ft. bathroom addition:


Job cost: $40,096
Resale value: $20,455
Cost recoup: 51%


National average cost, upscale 10×10-ft. bathroom addition:


Job cost: $76,209
Resale value: $40,061
Cost recoup: 52.6%


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