Washington is flush with toilets

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Washington ranks No. 2 for residential toilets, says real estate firm Redfim

Jeff Clabaugh

Broadcast/Web Reporter- Washington Business Journal

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The number of bathrooms is almost as important as the number of bedrooms for homebuyers, and in Washington, it should be fairly easy to get the number of loos you want, if real estate firm Redfin is right.

It ranks Washington No. 2 in the nation for the number of residential toilets per resident; the equivalent of 98 toilets in the metro for every 100 people. That's a total of 5,460,900 toilets in Washington homes.

That's a lot of water consumed, too. Redfin estimates 144.8 Olympic-sized swimming pools could be filled with the water used in a day's worth of flushes in the Washington area.

Only Boulder, Colorado, tops Washington for the number of toilets per person. In fact, in Boulder, Redfin says there are actually more residential toilets than actual people, or 102 toilets for every 100 Boulderites.

Having more bathrooms is increasingly important to house hunters, says Redfin.

"It's definitely a consumer-driven trend," says Leslie White, a Redfin agent in Washington. "I don't know when it took place, but having a master bathroom off the main bedroom is now seen as a requirement, whereas years ago, it was considered a luxury."

"I've toured lovely 100-year-old row houses, but if there's only one bathroom for the three bedrooms on the top floor, my clients' faces fall," she says.

Baltimore is near the bottom of the list, with 77 residential toilets per 100 residents.

Miami is dead last, with 62 residential toilets per 100 people.

Click on the graphic at the right to see the top 10 toilet cities.

Jeff Clabaugh covers general assignment and provides business coverage for WTOP.