We built our pool 15 x 50 a few years ago, very similar cost and set up as yours, gunnite, travertine coping, hot tub etc etc. A huge expense was the travertine pavers/labor for the pool deck. That was almost as much as the pool! Be sure to automate everything to your phone.

I’m on Long Island, NY. We got a quote in 2020… along with everyone else. It was $36,500 for a 14×24 vinyl-lined pool. That only included the excavation, pool and salt water filter. It didn’t include the permit or pavers. We ended up shelving the idea. For only three months of usage, we’d rather put our money somewhere else.

There is an existing concrete pool on our property (we tore down the old house) and it was able to refinished for about $92k. This includes all new pump, heater, having it refinished, adding lights and a tanning deck and converting to salt water. So your estimate sounds on par. And if our pool structure has already lasted 30 years, yours will we’ll outlive its guarantee!

I didn’t put in a pool but we had to get ours resurfaced and we changed to a saltwater system. It was $7,500 total for a 15’ x 30’ pool in Florida. We also installed a heat pump and with electrical it cost about $5,000 total.

We’re in the design phase now for a 20×40, 3.5-8’ depth gunite pool with a water feature (grotto with waterfall). Our quote is $149k. We’re just outside of Buffalo, NY so we’ll only get use from May-Sep (if we’re lucky!) still not 100% sure it’s a wise investment…

We are currently remodeling our pool. We live in Orange County, CA. We are changing our shape from large oval to a rectangle shape and adding a Baja shelf and jacuzzi. Our pool cost to remodel shape, add those elements, pebble tec, all new plumbing, heater, and pool equipment. We are doing limestone coping and pavers covering 1,000 sq ft around the pool. Our price for all of this is $135,000. We are also adding a patio structure that is $12,000 (24×16) and a bbq island that is another $14,000. Hope this helps someone get an idea on pricing!

We paid 65k in Florida in Feb of 2019. It included 20×35 with a back wall and five scuppers. It is Saltwater, concrete with pebble finish, with steps and a sun ledge. It also included 12×12 pavers and four huge palm trees with landscape lighting.

In 2018 we put in a fiberglass pool and spa for $65k. We moved within the same neighborhood and are having the exact same pool put in but now it’s $85k.

Mine cost about the same here in Charlotte, but in 2019.
One thing I regret not installing was some sort of water leveling mechanism. Here in NC the water evaporates fairly quickly, and then there are those storms that almost flood the pool!

Wow!! Is this relevant? We put a pool in our 3/2 home in south Florida in the year 2000! It was a basic smallish pool with chlorine filtration, and no hot tub. Everyone has pools there so lots of competition. But we did it for 15k! My how costs have gone up!

We’re in East TN, and we put our pool in 6 years ago when we bought our home. The deck needed to be replaced, so we budgeted for a screened porch (which we had at my husband’s previous house and LIVED IN). We did an irregular shape with a waterfall, deck jets, tanning ledge. With pavers, plumbing, screened porch, etc… our total was $60K. Fast forward to 2022, and the same pool, etc would be well over $100K!

Hi!!!
This post was great, thank you CLJ.

I’m 2017, in South Carolina. We payed 45k for a fiberglass. It was the same shape was yours without all the bells and whistles. We had a tanning ledge that was about 10 feet to walk. And it had water features (little raising water fountains) we also added a fountain on the side as a design to tie in our home for about $3k. It was a dream come true for me. And… people like to say that you don’t get the investment back. Not our case. We sold our house for $50k more than comparable homes in 2018, in under 20 hours! Mind you… the market was normal back then. So it was a huge win!

We added an 18’x36’ upgraded vinyl pool (very thick material called poolhide, looks like concrete due to dark charcoal color). We were intially quoted $65k here in Northern NJ. This number did not include interior lights, heater or elec to power lights. That was an additional $5k. Further, all elec work was subbed out and we had to pay the electrician separately. Finally, pool coping was not included, another $5k. To add an auto cover would have been an additional $15k, which we couldn’t afford. I wanted a ‘Hamptons’ pool, ie: 2’ of bluestone coping around the entire perimeter. While the auto cover is expensive and have been known to break, it would have been the preferred method for a cold climate like this where you have to close a pool each season. For now, we are using a tarp cover, which can be a dangerous option (our kids are old enough to not go near it) because the pins for the strong cover must be set 3’ off the edge of the pool. The next Summer we added a bluestone lounge pad on one side, another $5k. We wrapped the wood fence required by the town around the whole property instead of just the pool, $10k. All in: over $100K! (Significantly more than the estimated cost.) Also, be aware of pool maintenance costs. We spend around $1200/season for someone to clean and treat the pool each week.

We’re in Tampa and started quoting pools in Sept 2020. We are spending 77k for a gas heated pool with seemingly similar dimensions – 14×28 pool, 5×10 sun ledge and 5×7 spa. Gunite shell, pebble finish, travertine decking. Tack on another 20k for running a gas line, capping and reinstalling irrigation, replacing all the landscaping they destroyed along the way and landscape lighting. Prices have spiked wildly during covid thanks to increased demand and supply issues. Our neighbor has a pretty similar pool they paid 50k for in 2017.

We are paying ~$42,000 for a fiberglass saltwater pool in Charleston. That also includes the necessary concrete, equipment, etc. It is a 12’9″ x 25′ and has a depth range of 3’9″ to 5’6″. We got quoted for gunite pools in our area and they started at ~$60,000. I originally liked the idea of the gunite, but we lived through a painful back porch addition that took 4x longer than expected and I thought I was going to lose my mind not being able to use our back yard since we have 2 pups. The back porch is also right off of my home office. So, when we were exploring pool options the fiberglass option was most appealing since it is a VERY short timeframe for install.

This might be too much to ask but any chance you can give us the breakdown of the $148k? how much approx for each feature?
“…permits and plans, demolition, digging, labor, the concrete shell, all of the plumbing, a filter system, a maintenance kit, a heater, pool pumps, umbrella sleeves, a pebble finish, steps into the pool, waterline tile, travertine coping, a hot tub, a tanning ledge, pool lighting, a hard cover, and even salt water to fill it up.”

I’m in the hill country of Texas. I was just quoted $120k for a tiny pool. About 14×20 with 5′ deep and a shelf. This did not include a spa which is another $25k. Nothing fancy either. It’s expensive here – I am told- because we sit on limestone and digging is hard.

I would say it depends on what you want (pool/bar, Baja shelf, bubblers, color lighting, salt water or chlorine, size not only side to side and front to back but also depth) We live in Arizona. Different areas in AZ also have different types of soil making some harder to dig and some ground here moves more than others (yellow or red zone) so they have to take all of that into account in addition to how far to run water and electric for the pool. We got 3 different bids from well known local vendors and they varied from $30k for the most basic to $100k to include Baja shelf, water feature, bubblers, lights, and a self cleaning feature. Of course I would love to get what we want but also understand that what you spend doesn’t exactly translate into 100% value added to the home when/if you go to sell.

Love your blog and this post is so informative! I was surprised by how much a pool cost ranges.
We are in the process of putting a pool currently in San Diego, CA. The quote we got for the pool was $140,000. Our pool is 23’×50′ and depth is between 3.5′ – 6′ – 3.5′ (for water volleyball). It includes 8’x9′ hot tub, 8’x14′ baja shelf, permits and plans, demolition, digging, labor, the concrete shell, plumbing, filter system, maintenance kit, heater, wiring for solar (not getting solar yet), pool pumps, umbrella sleeves, pebble finish, steps into the pool, 1.5’x30′ bench, waterline tile, travertine coping, LED pool lighting, salt water system.

We are rehabbing our 1990’s gunite pool. The price to sandblast, pebbletec, tile, bring drainage up to new code, repair lighting, fill the attached hot tub and make it a tanning ledge, replace the pool heater and pump is going to be around $50K. Putting in a pool is one thing but remember to ALSO budget for the ongoing care of the pool (chemicals, treatments, salt/chlorine, skimming tools), maintenance/break-fix and the rehab of a pool every 10-15yrs.

Our quote for 18×36 gunnite pool in WW WA this year is 140,000, no hot tub. Our current home in Portland OR 3 years ago pool with ledge and hot tub , saltwater, was 85,000. That’s how much supply and demand has changed since pandemic

In Murfreesboro TN (35 minutes south of Nashville) we are putting in a 15×35 saltwater system fiberglass pool with a large tanning ledge. The quote includes the standard 4ft of concrete around the pool with chiseled concrete coping. $84,500 from a highly recommended local company.

It’s my dream to one day have a house where we can add a small pool (also in Raleigh) so thanks for doing this and all you folks in the comments.

I’m not exactly sure what a finite pool is but we as well had the “we-promised-the-kids-a-pool” deal breaker. We needed up finding a property her in Quebec that we could put in a pool and being a very tall family (ha!) we went for a 16×36 pool – biggest we could do without the added expense for a retaining wall – and it’s 8 feet deep at one end. It’s concrete with a liner and a 3 foot sidewalk around and steps leading in. Saltwater and heated of course. We kept the lights and ditched the diving board when a special machine was needed to dig that cost more ($1500, the cost of the board.) in the end the whole project cost us $34,000 approx. – hole, liner, steps, lights, sidewalk, saltwater pump, heater and concrete pad for the equipment (and that’s Canadian dollars – so even less American ones haha)

We just signed a contract for a 40x16ft 7ft deep fiberglass pool with tanning ledge, led lighting, heater, salt water, 1500sqft of hardscape and includes all land clearing for $91,500. After much research, we decided on fiberglass due to cost of maintenance and the ability of holding water temps better than gunite. We are located in Oklahoma City.

We got quotes to put in a custom liner pool in a unique, organic shape with a tanning ledge – we also need a retaining wall and pretty significant landscaping around it and it was $80-100k (we’re in NC too). Fiberglass was a little cheaper as far as install but more tricky to get the pool onto our property. Gunite was completely out of our price range. Our neighbors down the street have a very nice gunite pool and the actual pool only cost about $60k, but they also have a large retaining wall, landscaping and fencing that weren’t included in that number. We decided to forego a pool for now and do what needs to be done with the landscaping.

I would keep in mind that Christmas Vacation was released in 1989. My parents had a pool put in at our house in Austin, TX in the early 80s and I’m pretty sure it cost around $12,000 – and that was for an in-ground, fully plastered (no plastic liners), kidney shaped pool with a wide stone skirt and a wrought iron security fence. And a diatomaceous earth filter system, which was not normal in a residential pool at the time.

Your house sale is every seller’s dream, haha!
I love budgeting. I didn’t grow up being taught how to handle my money. As I became an adult I couldn’t figure out how I could be working so hard very day and have no money to show for it. Behind on bills every month, living on Top Ramen. I started budgeting in my mid/late 20’s and couldn’t believe how much money I had for everything. My husband and I became debt free last year thanks to budgeting! And now saving to become homeowners!

We put in a gunite salt water pool/hot tub combo about 4 years ago, in Houston, TX. I don’t remember the exact dimensions but overall its ~16,000 gallons, 6ft deep at the deep end, a 10-person hot tub, 4 scuppers, travertine tile/coping, “upgraded” color of pebble finish and the standard pool-concrete surrounding (stained a pretty color!). We also included landscaping in our budget since that was a huge part of the overall ascetic for us. Total it was about $90k.

Here in TX the kids will swim without the heater on even as late as December (too cold for me, but the kids love it!). We made a choice as a family to put in a pool now while they are young so we can really get some good mileage out of it and we use it so, so much!