Top State-by-State Bathroom Trends Across the U.S. Right Now

The Houzz Research team regularly shares info on nationwide remodeling trends, focusing on budgets, style, features and more. Now, for the first time ever, we’re zooming in to let you know what’s popular for bathrooms on a state level, based on survey responses from nearly 4,500 homeowners on Houzz in 46 states*.

Download the 2023 Houzz U.S. Bathroom Trends Report for national data

Median Spend Soars

While the median spend on primary bathroom remodels nationwide has grown by 50% year over year, increasing from $9,000 in 2021 to $13,500 in 2022, median spend varies widely by state. At the top end of the range are Virginia ($20,000), South Carolina ($18,500) and Rhode Island ($18,500). At the lower end are Arkansas ($2,700) and New Mexico ($5,000), followed by Montana and West Virginia ($6,000 each). California, New York, Georgia, and several other states came in with a median spend at $15,000 each, while Vermont, Louisiana, Indiana and several other states hover at the $10,000 mark.

Those rankings don’t correlate exactly to spenders in the 90th percentile in all cases, however. For instance, Oregon homeowners have the highest top 10% of renovation spend ($62,000) but a median spend of $11,000, and California isn’t far behind ($60,000). Delaware follows with a top 10% spend of $56,000.

Some Style Preferences Might Surprise

For the second year in a row, transitional style bathrooms top the list for freshly updated primary bathrooms nationwide (23%). Among the 30 states where transitional is the preferred style are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Washington. Six states have contemporary as the most popular style among renovating homeowners: California, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Utah. Homeowners in four states prefer modern overall: Hawaii, Louisiana, Nebraska and New Mexico. Traditional is the most popular in only three states: Maine, Oklahoma and Vermont. Delawareans and Rhode Islanders both lean toward beach style, and Idahoans prefer rustic.

East Coast Hires Pros Most Often

Among the survey respondents, more than 95% of those from Rhode Island hired a pro for their primary bathroom renovation. Massachusetts isn’t far behind (93%), and New Hampshire is just below that (91%), meaning the top three states for pro hiring are on the East Coast. Texas matched the nationwide average hiring rate for primary bathroom renovations of 86% exactly. Remodeling pros in those areas were likely seeing an uptick in bathroom remodeling leads.

Two states on opposite coasts had the same average hiring rate (California and Pennsylvania, 89%). In the South, Mississippians and Louisianians hired pros most frequently (90% and 88%, respectively). In the Midwest, Nebraska came in tops at 82%, and in the Southwest, Arizona came in just under the national average at 85%.

Most Replace Vanities, Some Lose Tubs

More than half of homeowners who renovate their primary bathroom replace the vanity as part of their project across all states. Hawaii and Illinois remodelers opt for new bathroom vanities most frequently (83%), but New Jersey and West Virginia remodelers closely follow (82%), and Maryland checks in at 81%. Notably, even though Nebraska and Vermont residents are at the far other end (52% and 53%, respectively), upgrading the vanity is still a more popular choice than leaving it as is during primary bathroom remodels. It’s also worth noting that 62% of remodeling homeowners nationwide opt for a fully custom or semi-custom model.

While homeowners don’t completely ditch tubs in their primary bathrooms as often as they upgrade vanities, the percentages indicate that doing so is fairly common. Renovating homeowners in Mississippi are the most likely to nix the tub (54%), followed by New Hampshire and Delaware (44% and 39%, respectively). Interestingly, although folks in Rhode Island hire pros most frequently, less than 5% said they got rid of the tub in their primary bath. Instead, exactly half of them (50%) use the pro help to change or reframe the bathroom walls, putting Rhode Island at the top in this category. Following that, three states tied for how frequently remodeling homeowners change or reframe bathroom walls: Kansas, Oregon and Oklahoma (48% each).

Many Seek Bigger Showers and Bidet Features 

Nationally, 20% of remodeling homeowners increase the size of their primary shower by more than 50%. But in Mississippi, more than double that share (44%) do so, and almost as many in Montana (43%) do so as well. Of the remaining states in our survey, 21 came in above that 20% figure, ranging from 21% (Arkansas, Massachusetts, Nevada and Vermont) to 33% (Nebraska). Oklahoma isn’t far behind, at 32%.

The nationwide share of those increasing the size of their shower (20%, as noted above) roughly correlates with the share of those who increase the size of their bathroom (22%). But by state, the shares don’t necessarily line up. For instance, Kansas has the highest percentage of baths greater than 200 square feet after a renovation (40%), but only 18% of showers in that state, on average, grew by 50% or more. And while Mississippi has the highest percentage of significantly expanded showers after a renovation (44%), it has one of the lowest percentages of bathrooms bigger than 200 square feet (8%). 

As for the toilet, among the 64% of homeowners nationwide who upgrade this feature in their primary bathroom, many choose a model with a bidet feature. In Maine, Utah and Vermont, exactly half (50%) do so on average, and 45% in Arkansas 45%. And in 25 other states, at least 1 in 5 go for a bidet feature, ranging from 20% (Delaware, New Mexico, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin) to 40% (Hawaii). At 37%, California is up there as well.

Two Sinks and White Walls? Yes, Please!

Nearly 2 in 3 homeowners nationwide (65%) choose to install double-sink bathroom vanities during a primary bathroom renovation. In four states, at least 4 in 5 on average opt for double sinks: West Virginia, 88%; Nebraska, 85%, Kansas, 85%; South Carolina 83%; Arizona, 79%; and Tennessee 78%. And in nine states, at least 70% do: North Carolina, 75%; Texas, 74%; Kentucky, 74%; Nevada, 73%; New Mexico, 73%; Florida 72%; Alabama 71%; Georgia, 71% and Washington 71%.

For both shower and nonshower walls, as well as countertops and vanities, white is the most popular color choice in primary bathroom renovations. States where the majority prefer white for a primary bath accent wall include Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maryland and Oklahoma. Gray is the next-most-popular color for accent walls in a bath overall. Only Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii and Kentucky residents tend to go for blue, and only Iowa, Mississippi and Utah tend to prefer beige.

For more info on what’s popular in bathrooms in the United States as a whole, read the 2023 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends report.

*Only includes states with more than 50 responses.