How Much Does a Brazilian Butt Lift Cost?

The average cost of Brazilian butt lift surgery is $8,773, but prices in the U.S. range from just $4,000 to as much as $18,000, according to 1,345 patient reviews.

The cost of this cosmetic procedure can vary widely, depending on factors like:

• your surgeon’s credentials and level of experience
• their location
• the complexity of your procedure, including the type of liposuction you get and whether you have any add-ons like breast augmentation
• your anesthesia provider’s credentials

BBL surgery is the most popular butt augmentation procedure partly because of its body contouring and sculpting benefits, which create an hourglass figure.

During this two-step operation, a plastic surgeon harvests your own fat from other areas of the body via liposuction before performing a fat transfer, injecting the purified fat into your buttocks and hips.

Read on to learn exactly what you’re paying for, get all the details on why Brazilian butt lift costs vary, and find out whether real patients think BBL surgery was worth the money.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About a Brazilian Butt Lift

What will your total BBL cost include?

During your consultation, ask your plastic surgeon for an all-in BBL price quote, with specific line items for:

• the consultation fee (which may be applied to your surgery)
• the surgeon fee
• facility fees for the private surgery center or hospital operating room
• anesthesia fees
• pre- and post-op appointments

Also be sure to ask:

• if you’ll need to cover the cost of compression garments and other recovery supplies integral to the success of this augmentation procedure
• how your surgeon handles BBL revision surgery costs, in case you aren’t happy with your initial results

Why do Brazilian butt lift costs vary?

All of these factors will have an impact on your Brazilian butt lift price.

1) Your surgeon’s credentials and level of expertise.

A BBL (buttock augmentation with fat grafting) is “the most surgeon-dependent plastic surgery procedure,” says Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon Dr. Kenneth Hughes. It's also among the riskiest types of cosmetic surgery, carrying the potential for life-threatening complications if your surgeon is inexperienced or doesn’t follow the latest safety recommendations. 

A board-certified plastic surgeon with years of experience, who performs dozens of BBL procedures each month, will charge accordingly for their level of experience and skill.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) lists $6,083 as the average surgeon’s fee for a BBL with a board-certified plastic surgeon.

Paying more for a surgeon’s experience is worth it for two big reasons:

• You'll have a better chance of getting your desired buttock enhancement results the first time, without the expense of BBL revision surgery.
• You can feel more confident that your surgeon is following the latest safety protocols, including injecting fat only above the gluteal muscles and using ultrasound imaging to guide their injections—both of which have been shown to lower the risk of complications.

When choosing a BBL surgeon, make sure that they’re certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and have a solid track record of reviews from happy, healthy patients, not just an impressive before and after photo gallery. These factors are far more critical than social media fame.

Related: The Brazilian Butt Lift Consultation Checklist

2) Your provider’s location.

Brazilian butt lift costs can vary by U.S. state, metro area, and neighborhood. Surgeons who practice in a city, like New York or Los Angeles, with a high cost of living have to charge more, to help cover their overhead.

For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area, plastic surgeon Dr. Miguel Delgado reports that his surgeon’s fee alone starts at about $8,000 for a BBL. 

Miami-based plastic surgeon Dr. Oliver Chang reports that the all-in cost for a BBL at his practice can range from $7,000 to $13,000. "This is usually the total fee including facility, anesthesia, and equipment," he says. “The average cost of a Brazilian butt lift here in Miami ranges from $4,000 to $20,000 amongst all the qualified BBL surgeons." 

It's also common for people to travel to places like Mexico or the Dominican Republic for BBL surgery. While this can certainly make your Brazilian butt lift cost less, it's absolutely vital to thoroughly research your provider, surgical center, and aftercare facility if you go this route. 

You’ll also want to make sure that someone on your surgeon’s team speaks your language, or that a translator is available to help you communicate your needs before and after surgery—including at the recovery house.

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

If you want to stay local but keep BBL costs down, you’ll probably get a more reasonable quote from someone who operates in an affordable neighborhood than from a luxury practice in the heart of town.

3) The type of surgical facility.

Another major factor is the facility where your surgery will be performed. Most BBLs are performed in private surgical centers, which are more affordable than hospital operating rooms. 

If your surgery will be performed in a private surgical center, ask your provider to confirm that:

• The facility has been certified for patient safety by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), the American Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), and/or Medicare.
• They have hospital privileges to perform a BBL at a nearby hospital (so you won’t have to be sent to a nearby emergency room if a serious complication arises).

4) The complexity of your procedure.

Some surgeons charge a flat rate for BBL surgery, but for most, "the fee is correlated with the surgical time and how difficult it is to harvest the fat,” Dr. Delgado explains. Every Brazilian butt lift procedure differs in terms of “where the fat is located on the body, how long it will take to harvest it, and how large the patient wants the buttock to be."

The number of areas of the body treated via liposuction and the sheer amount of fat (i.e. the number of cc’s) removed or transferred can impact the cost of Brazilian butt lift surgery. If you don’t have enough fat in one area, like your abdomen, and your surgeon needs to liposuction multiple zones, this may add to your overall cost.

Finessing your shape outside the typical bounds of a BBL will also up your BBL cost. “Often fat is also added to the hips in addition to the buttocks, with extensive liposuction of the flanks (love handles) and lower back to achieve a more curvy, hourglass shape,” says Marina del Rey, California plastic surgeon Dr. Ziyad Hammoudeh. (Some providers call this sculpting technique lipo 360.) These tweaks add time. And more time equals more money—for your surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and the surgical center.

At your initial consultation, your surgeon will determine how many body areas will need liposuction or fat grafting, to create the best body contouring results.

5) The technology that’s used.

Some surgeons prefer to use an energy-assisted lipo technique, like VASER liposuction or power-assisted lipo (PAL). Devices like these break up or liquify the excess fat before it’s suctioned out. This makes it easier to remove, so you have less trauma to the surrounding tissue and a quicker recovery. 

Others prefer to use a BeautiFill device for harvesting and processing body fat. This system has the advantage of a greater fat cell viability rate (up to 95%), so it’s an especially popular choice for “skinny BBL” procedures.

As an additional safety measure, many plastic surgeons are now performing BBLs under direct ultrasound guidance (you may see this type of butt aug marketed as an “Ultra BBL”). Ultrasound makes the procedure safer by allowing surgeons to see exactly where they’re placing their cannula. This ensures that fat is injected above the gluteal muscle, far away from veins that can shuttle misplaced fat to the heart and lungs, causing a fatal embolism. 

While these advanced technologies can enhance the speed, efficacy, and safety of a BBL, they also require special equipment. And since surgeons have to recoup the costs of such investments, these techniques can increase the total cost of Brazilian butt lift surgery.

6) Any add-on procedures.

It's common for a BBL procedure to be combined with other cosmetic surgeries. In fact, it’s frequently performed as part of a mommy makeover, which also includes breast augmentation and a tummy tuck, especially for patients who are bothered by loose skin on the abdomen.

A mommy makeover costs over $13,000, on average, but adding even just one additional surgical procedure to your treatment plan can significantly inflate your bill.

That said, some surgeons offer a discount if you have multiple procedures. "A BBL would cost less if multiple procedures were performed," explains Dr. Delgado. In his practice, "the BBL would be an add-on or secondary procedure," so the price would be discounted.

7) Who administers your anesthesia.

BBL surgery is usually performed under general anesthesia, which allows the patient to be fully asleep and comfortable.

• If your anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist (CRNA) rather than a board-certified anesthesiologist (an MD), you’ll pay a lower fee.
• Both providers are qualified, but some surgeons prefer the expertise of a medical doctor.

Cheap BBL deals and special offers

Especially in cities like Miami, where a high volume of plastic surgeons compete for patients, it’s common to see providers advertise rock-bottom BBL pricing. 

If you see a BBL cost that’s thousands of dollars less than the going rate, consider this a red flag. All too often, providers who offer deeply discounted Brazilian buttock lifts make money on high patient volume, operating a “chop-shop” or assembly-line practice, with little concern for patient safety.

Some reputable, board-certified plastic surgeons offer seasonal special offers, but you’ll also find deals from general physicians or other MDs. They may call themselves “cosmetic surgeons” but don’t have anywhere near the same level of training and experience as legitimate, board-certified plastic surgeons.

Especially with BBL surgery, bargain shopping is not recommended: it's essential to find a surgeon who will take their time, follow the latest safety protocols, and make sure you come through this potentially risky procedure safely, with a good aesthetic result.

Is a BBL worth the money?

Brazilian butt lift surgery has an 85% Worth It Rating from reviewers on RealSelf, so a solid majority of patients who reviewed their procedure think their results are worth the price (and recovery time). 

Many who are happy with their results say the procedure gave them a rounder derriere that doesn’t look too overdone. BBL surgery results are very long-lasting, as long as you don't experience drastic weight fluctuations post-procedure.

Reviewers who rated the procedure “Not Worth It” often complained that their results weren't dramatic enough, or they had dents and lumps that needed to be corrected by revision surgery, at an additional expense. 

Rarely, patients developed complications that required emergency medical care, including this RealSelf member who developed a fat embolism—an experience that left her with lingering health problems and significant medical bills.

An experienced plastic surgeon can explain the pros and cons of this butt augmentation option and assess whether you’re a good candidate. 

They may recommend one of these alternatives:

• A Sculptra butt lift uses injectable poly-L-lactic acid to gradually stimulate your body’s collagen production. Results are far more subtle than those achieved by a traditional BBL. They’re also more fleeting, lasting up to five years or so. Since Sculptra is an expensive material—and because dozens of vials are typically needed to create an obvious change in the size and shape of the butt—the price of a Sculptra BBL can rival or exceed the cost of Brazilian butt lift surgery.
• Silicone butt implants offer predictable, permanent results, but not everyone offers them because they require incisions and have a high complication rate.

Can you finance a Brazilian butt lift?

Yes, most practices offer payment plans or accept financing options.

For example, CareCredit is widely accepted by providers across the U.S., for both plastic surgery and nonsurgical procedures.

Brazilian butt lift costs in U.S. states

Browse average Brazilian butt lift costs and ranges by state, according to the 4,235 most recent RealSelf reviews as of February 2023. (Note: In the map image, blank states don't have enough recent data to display.)

Brazilian butt lift costs by major U.S. metros