How Much Does a Hair Transplant Cost?

A hair transplant costs $7,300 on average, according to thousands of recent patient reviews on RealSelf. However, some say they've paid over $19,000, and hair restoration surgeons on RealSelf say the price can range as high as $25,000.

Hair transplant surgery involves meticulously harvesting donor hairs from another area of your body (most commonly the back or sides of your scalp) and moving these hair grafts to an area that’s experiencing hair loss.

As with other elective cosmetic procedures, health insurance does not cover the cost of hair transplant surgery.

Read on to find out why the price can vary so much, and whether real patients think the results of surgical hair restoration are worth the money.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About a Hair Transplant

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What does the cost include?

It’s important to understand exactly what a quote includes when meeting with your doctor. During your consultation, ask for total price estimate that includes:

• the consultation fee (which may eventually be applied to your procedure)
• their surgeon fee
• facility fees for the surgery center
• anesthesia and surgical supply fees
• pre- and post-op appointments

Also ask if you’ll need to budget for pain medication and any recovery supplies.

What affects the cost of a hair transplant?

The cost of your hair transplantation surgery can vary significantly, depending on:

1. Your provider’s level of expertise.

As you’re researching surgeons, look for those who have been board-certified by the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, or in dermatology, plastic surgery, or facial plastic surgery, before pursuing specialized knowledge in hair transplant procedures and other hair loss treatments. 

If you’re considering surgeons outside the U.S., look for those who have been named a fellow of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery.

Increasingly, these procedures are being performed by technicians, rather than physicians. Even if they're using a robotically assisted device, results can be very technique-dependent. Some technicians don’t have the training or expertise to produce a natural-looking result. 

The more specialized and advanced your doctor’s training, the more you can expect to spend on your hair transplant. But you'll also be more likely to have a good result from your investment.

2. Their practice location.

The location of your hair transplant surgeon plays a big role in their cost structure.

Surgical procedures performed in major metro areas, particularly in upscale neighborhoods, tend to be pricier. 

On the other hand, areas with more providers tend to have lower costs, because these hair transplant surgeons may have to compete more for patients. 

For example:

• New York City facial plastic surgeon Dr. Edward S. Kwak says that the cost of hair transplant surgery in his office can range from $4,000 to $15,000, depending on how many follicles need to be transplanted.
• Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, a facial plastic surgeon and hair restoration surgeon with practices in Miami, charges up to $25,000 for his most complex, time-consuming procedures.
• In Walnut Creek, California, hair restoration surgeon Dr. Sara Wasserbauer charges from $4,000 to over $20,000," based on the [number] of grafts and the complexity of the procedure.”

Some people opt to travel for hair transplant surgery in countries like Turkey or Thailand, where the cost of living is significantly lower than in places like the U.S. 

If you go this route, pay special attention to their reviews and patient photos, and be sure to have a virtual consultation with the doctor to confirm that they're the one who will be performing your surgery. Artfully implanting hundreds of individual hair follicles is a delicate, technically demanding process, and bad results can be very visible. What initially seems like a bargain may come with additional costs for revision surgery.

Related: 6 Key Things to Do If You're Traveling Outside the U.S. for Surgery

3. The type of hair transplant surgery you choose.

There are two hair transplant surgery techniques: follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE). 

• FUT is also known as “strip,” because the surgeon removes a strip of tissue from the back of the head (the donor area) and then harvests "follicular units" (natural groupings of approximately one to four donor hair follicles) for transplantation to a thinning or bald area. This is the traditional form of hair restoration surgery and the most cost-effective pick, but since it can leave a noticeable horizontal or linear scar on the back of the scalp, it has largely fallen out of favor.
• In a FUE hair transplant, your surgeon extracts individual groups of donor hairs from the scalp (and sometimes other areas of the body, if your scalp is significantly balding) and grafts them, one by one, to the desired area. Some consider this the optimal technique, as the scars can be nearly imperceptible when performed well. But the more time-intensive, exacting donor hair extraction and grafting process makes it more expensive.

Some FUE surgeons use robotic surgical machines like NeoGraft, to harvest the donor hairs. ARTAS is a similar technology that uses computer-controlled algorithms to extract follicular units. These can then be grafted robotically or surgically, depending on the doctor’s preference. 

Because these techniques use machines rather than manpower to remove the follicular units, they’re typically more affordable than a surgeon-led FUE procedure, but still costlier than a FUT surgery. They also come with less predictable results.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About Hair Transplant Surgery

4. The number of grafts you need.

Hair restoration surgery can involve areas as large as the entire scalp (provided you have enough donor hair from elsewhere) or as small as your eyebrows. 

Your degree of balding or thinning, coupled with your expectations for the volume of new, healthy hair growth you want to see, will determine the number of grafts you need. This number could easily exceed 2,000.

This has a huge impact on the cost of your hair transplant. Most hair restoration surgeons charge by the graft—usually between $2 and $10 in the U.S.—while others charge by the session. 

While pricing models differ, you can assume that your surgeon will need to spend more time and labor on you if you need a significant number of grafts, which will make the procedure more costly. In fact, some procedures with more than 2,000 grafts can take so long that they need to be performed over two days.

Is hair transplant surgery worth the money?

Hair transplant surgery has a 94% Worth It Rating from reviewers on RealSelf, so most people who had this hair restoration procedure think it was worth the investment.

Happy reviewers reported dramatic results, with a new hairline that looks natural and full. Some even call the procedure life-changing. 

Among those who had poor results, the most common complaint was that the treatment area still looked sparse and that there was no improvement. Others were upset by results that looked “pluggy,” or follicles that didn’t lay in a natural-looking direction. 

Many who were unhappy with their results had undergone their procedure in places like Turkey or Argentina, to save on the cost of their surgery. If you decide to go that route, be sure to thoroughly research your hair transplant surgeon. Read patient reviews and find before and after photos of their patients. Also consider what your plan of action might be if you’re unhappy with the results delivered by a far-away provider.

When gauging whether your hair transplantation results are worth it, it’s important to have realistic expectations regarding the process and timeline—and to be patient.

• Within a few weeks of the procedure, the transplanted hair follicles will fall out. This is a normal part of the process, not a sign of failure.
• New hair growth starts about three months later. 
• You should see a significant amount of hair growth by the six-month mark. 
• Within 10 months to a year after your procedure, you'll see 90% of your new hair growth.

Ultimately, only you and your provider can determine whether hair transplant surgery will be worth it for you, given your budget.

RealSelf Tip: If cost is major concern, there are also nonsurgical treatments that can help restore thinning hair with less expense and no recovery time:

• Minoxidil, the key ingredient in Rogaine, can treat hereditary female- and male-pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia). It’s available both topically (as a short-contact foam that shampoos out) and orally (a low-dose pill).
• Finasteride (better known as Propecia) is a prescription medication that’s also proven to slow hair loss and ignite hair regrowth.

Both options are cheaper than hair transplant surgery, but they can get pricey with long-term use.

Can you finance the cost of hair transplant surgery?

Yes, most hair restoration providers accept financing options to spread out the cost of your procedure. During your consultation, ask which options they accept.

Hair transplant costs in U.S. states

Browse average hair transplant costs and ranges by state, according to the 278 most recent RealSelf reviews as of March 2023. (Note: States not included don't have enough recent data to display.)

Hair transplant costs by country

Browse average hair transplant costs and ranges by country, according to RealSelf member reviews from the past 4 years (as of March 1, 2022).

Hair transplant costs in major U.S. metros