NAHB: Millennials Want Both Shower Stalls and Tubs in Bathrooms

More than three-quarters of millennials desire primary bathrooms with both shower stalls and bathtubs, according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) 2019 What Home Buyers Really Want study. The survey polls recent and prospective buyers—people who have bought homes in the last three years or plan on purchasing a home in the next three years—about desired features in their spaces. Millennials, defined as individuals born after 1980, also report strong desires for double vanities, linen closets, and whirlpool tubs in their bathrooms, NAHB's Eye on Housing blog reports.

The next set of bathroom features popular among millennials indicate that they want larger bathrooms to accommodate certain amenities. For example, the second most popular bathroom feature among millennials is a double vanity (75%), followed by a linen closet in the primary bath (73%), a whirlpool tub (70%), and a private toilet compartment in the primary bath (68%). A dressing/make-up area and a ‘toilet, tub and sink – white’ are also important to millennials, with 67% each reporting that these are desirable or essential/must have features.

Millennials also expressed interest in having specific shower features: 66% want ‘multiple shower heads in a primary bath’, and 64% want a ‘body spray panel in a primary bath (shower head(s) plus spray massage jets)’. A majority of millennials also want a granite vanity (64 percent).

A sizable share of millennials—46%—want ‘dual toilets in the primary bath’, 32 percentage points more than seniors (14%). Fifty-five percent of millennials want ‘his & her baths’, compared to 39% of Gen X’ers, and only 25% of baby boomers and seniors. Fifty-six percent of millennials want a ‘toilet, tub and sink – color’, 21 percentage points above that of seniors (35%), and 70% of millennials want a whirlpool tub in a primary bath, compared to 44% of seniors.