Bathrooms connect everyday water use, energy demand, household safety, and access to sanitation. The figures below distinguish U.S. estimates and product specifications from case studies, emergency-department surveillance, and global service indicators.
Key Bathroom Statistics
These highlights summarize the most broadly useful measurements:
- In 2015, the average person in the United States used 82 gallons of water at home per day.
- In the EPA’s estimate, about 70% of U.S. household water use was indoors.
- In the EPA’s current estimate, toilets used nearly 30% of average indoor household water in U.S. homes.
- In 2024, showering accounted for nearly 17% of residential indoor water use in the United States.
- In 2024, an average U.S. family used nearly 40 gallons per day for showering.
- Under the current EPA product specification, WaterSense toilets used 1.28 gallons per flush or less.
- In 2024, standard U.S. residential showerheads used 2.5 gallons per minute.
- In 2024, WaterSense showerheads used no more than 2.0 gallons per minute.
- In the EPA estimate, replacing old toilets could reduce toilet water use by 20% to 60% for an average U.S. family.
- In the EPA estimate, replacing old toilets could save nearly 13,000 gallons per U.S. home per year.
- In the 2024 EPA estimate, one WaterSense showerhead could save up to 2,700 gallons per average U.S. family per year.
- In the 2024 EPA estimate, one WaterSense showerhead could save 310 kilowatt-hours per average U.S. family per year.
- In the 2008 U.S. emergency-department estimate, 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries affected people aged 15 and older.
- In 2008, falls caused 81.1% of nonfatal bathroom injuries among U.S. people aged 15 and older treated in emergency departments.
- In 2008, the bathroom-injury rate was 515.3 per 100,000 for U.S. people aged 85 and older.
- In 2017, 2.1 billion people globally lacked safely managed drinking water at home.
- In 2017, the WHO/UNICEF JMP reported hygiene estimates for 70 countries.
Contents
- Household bathroom water use statistics
- Bathroom fixture statistics: toilets, showers and faucets
- Bathroom water-efficiency savings and household leaks
- Bathroom energy and hot-water data
- Bathroom injury statistics by age, location and activity
- Global sanitation and hygiene statistics
Household Bathroom Water Use Statistics
EPA’s household figures establish scale, but they are not a bathroom-only census. In 2015, the average American used 82 gallons of water per day at home, while the EPA estimated that about 70% of household water use was indoors.
The bathroom was the largest indoor household water-use area in the EPA’s summary, with toilets alone accounting for nearly 30% of average indoor use. Showering represented nearly 17% of residential indoor water use in the EPA’s 2024 estimate, and showering by an average family used nearly 40 gallons per day.
| Measure | Figure | Population, period and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Total home water use | 82 gallons/person/day | U.S. residential use, 2015 estimate |
| Indoor share | About 70% | U.S. households, EPA estimate |
| Toilet share | Nearly 30% | Average indoor household use in U.S. homes |
| Showering share | Nearly 17% | U.S. residential indoor use, 2024 estimate |
| Family showering use | Nearly 40 gallons/day | Average U.S. family, 2024 estimate |
Sources: EPA Statistics and Facts, EPA Residential Toilets, and The WaterSense Current: Fall 2024. Outdoor water use was more than 30% of total household water use on average in the EPA fact-sheet estimate, which provides comparison context rather than a bathroom measure.
Bathroom Fixture Statistics: Toilets, Showers and Faucets
Fixture statistics show the difference between older equipment and WaterSense-labeled products. Older inefficient toilets could use as much as 6 gallons per flush, compared with a WaterSense limit of 1.28 gallons per flush or less.
The WaterSense toilet limit is 20% below the federal 1.6-gallon-per-flush standard. EPA describes the label as requiring products to be 20% more water-efficient than standard models while performing as well or better; these are product criteria, not measured averages across bathrooms.
| Bathroom fixture | Standard or older benchmark | WaterSense benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Toilet | Up to 6 gallons/flush for older inefficient models | 1.28 gallons/flush or less |
| Showerhead | 2.5 gallons/minute | No more than 2.0 gallons/minute |
For showerheads, the 2.5-gallon-per-minute figure is EPA’s 2024 standard-flow benchmark, not a survey of every installed unit. WaterSense’s 2.0-gallon-per-minute figure is a certification maximum, and actual flow depends on pressure and installation.
Sources: EPA Residential Toilets, The WaterSense Current: Fall 2024, and EPA Statistics and Facts. EPA also estimates that replacing old bathroom faucets and aerators with WaterSense models can save $250 in water and electricity costs over a faucet’s lifetime, depending on usage, energy prices, and utility rates.
Bathroom Water-Efficiency Savings and Household Leaks
EPA savings figures are modeled estimates for an average family or household, so local rates, fixture condition, usage, and replacement choices matter. Replacing old toilets with WaterSense models can reduce toilet water use by 20% to 60%, save nearly 13,000 gallons per home per year, and save more than $170 annually in water costs.
The same EPA residential-toilet estimate places lifetime water-cost savings above $3,400, while a general WaterSense summary estimates about $130 per year when all old inefficient toilets in an average family home are replaced. These two annual toilet figures use different source assumptions and should not be reconciled as a single national result.
- A WaterSense showerhead could save up to 2,700 gallons per average family per year in the 2024 EPA estimate.
- The same showerhead estimate included 310 kilowatt-hours of electricity saved per average family per year for pumping, treating, and heating avoided water.
- EPA estimated more than $75 in annual water and energy-cost savings from one WaterSense showerhead under its utility-cost assumptions.
- Household leaks wasted an average 180 gallons per week, or about 9,400 gallons per year, in EPA estimates; these figures cover leaks throughout homes, not only bathrooms.
- Nationwide household leaks wasted nearly 900 billion gallons annually, equivalent to the annual household water use of nearly 11 million homes in EPA’s comparison estimate.
- Turning off the tap while brushing teeth could save 8 gallons per person per day, while turning it off while shaving could save 10 gallons per shave.
- EPA’s illustrative scenario of brushing twice daily and shaving five times weekly saved nearly 5,700 gallons per year; it is behavior-based, not a population survey.
Source: EPA Statistics and Facts, EPA Residential Toilets, and The WaterSense Current: Fall 2024.
Bathroom Energy and Hot-Water Data
WaterSense models bathroom-related energy impacts across water supply, wastewater, and hot-water systems. Its energy factor uses 2.069 kilowatt-hours per 1,000 gallons for municipal drinking-water processing and 2.521 kilowatt-hours per 1,000 gallons for wastewater processing, based on an EPRI 2013 factor.
| WaterSense model input | Figure | Scope and period |
|---|---|---|
| Weighted inlet-water temperature | 61.5°F | U.S. national average, 2024 assumptions |
| Water-heater temperature rise | 63.5°F | U.S. national average, 2024 assumptions |
| Hot share of shower water | 67.3% | U.S. weighted national model, 2024 |
| Hot share of lavatory-faucet water | 60.2% | U.S. weighted national model, 2024 |
| Electric water-heater efficiency | 0.944; 0.16452 kWh/gallon | U.S. residential model inputs, 2023 |
| Natural-gas water-heater efficiency | 0.615; 0.00084 mcf/gallon | U.S. residential model inputs, 2023 |
These are program assumptions and annual input values rather than a census of installed equipment or bathroom-specific meter readings. The underlying source is Data and Information Used by WaterSense.
A six-month 2014 case study at Kennesaw State University in Georgia illustrates how institutional results can differ from household estimates. A dormitory showerhead project saved more than 650,000 gallons, reduced dormitory water use by about 28%, and saved $6,500 in water bills; the single before-and-after case is not representative of average homes.
Source: EPA Shower Better.
Bathroom Injury Statistics by Age, Location and Activity
CDC surveillance estimated 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries among U.S. people aged 15 and older treated in emergency departments in 2008. The overall rate was 96.4 per 100,000, with a rate of 121.2 for women and 70.4 for men.
| 2008 bathroom-injury measure | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Falls as a share of injuries | 81.1% |
| Contusions or abrasions as diagnoses | 29.3% |
| Head or neck injuries | 31.2% |
| Treated and released | 84.9% |
| Subsequently hospitalized | 13.7% |
| Fractures as diagnoses | 17.4% |
Bathtub or shower locations accounted for 68.3% of injuries, at 65.8 per 100,000, while toilet locations accounted for 23.4%, at 22.5 per 100,000. Bathing or showering was the precipitating event in 27.5% of cases, slipping in 17.3%, and standing up from, sitting down on, or using the toilet in 14.1%.
Getting out of a tub or shower precipitated 9.8% of bathroom injuries, compared with 2.2% getting into one. CDC coding excludes slipping while bathing from the bathing category and places it under slipping, so these event categories should not be treated as per-use hazard probabilities.
Age differences were substantial in the weighted emergency-department estimates:
- The overall bathroom-injury rate rose from 58.8 per 100,000 at ages 15–24 to 515.3 per 100,000 at age 85 and older.
- Toilet-area injury rates rose from 4.1 per 100,000 at ages 15–24 to 266.6 per 100,000 at age 85 and older.
- Tub-or-shower injury rates rose from 49.7 per 100,000 at ages 15–24 to 200.2 per 100,000 at age 85 and older.
- Tub-or-shower injuries made up 84.5% of bathroom injuries at ages 15–24 and 38.9% at age 85 and older, while toilet-area injuries rose from 7.0% to 51.7% across those age groups.
- The fracture rate increased from 5.8 per 100,000 at ages 25–34 to 165.6 per 100,000 at age 85 and older.
- Hospitalization rates were 11.9 per 100,000 among ages 55–64 and 197.4 per 100,000 among people aged 85 and older; CDC reported hospitalization rates only for ages 55 and above.
Source: CDC, Nonfatal Bathroom Injuries Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years — United States, 2008. The figures are weighted emergency-department estimates; they exclude fatal injuries and injuries that did not receive emergency-department care.
Global Sanitation and Hygiene Statistics
Bathroom access is related to, but not identical with, global water and sanitation service indicators. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme’s 2017 baseline estimated that 2.1 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water at home, a definition that includes service-quality dimensions and is broader than simply having an improved source.
The 2017 JMP update reported hygiene estimates for 70 countries. That count describes countries with estimates, not a global population prevalence, and the indicator should not be collapsed into a simple count of households with bathrooms.
For U.S. context, the 2024 Residential Energy Consumption Survey collected responses from nearly 17,000 households in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey represents an estimated 132.5 million occupied primary-residence homes, but its housing-characteristics and energy-use indicators are not a direct census of bathroom ownership, fixture use, or bathroom-specific consumption.
Sources: WHO/UNICEF JMP, Progress on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG baselines and EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey.