In Pinellas County, a straight conversion in the same footprint typically runs $6,000 to $12,000. Moving the drain, going curbless, or opening up the opening pushes it to $12,000 to $20,000, because those change the plumbing and the slab rather than just the finishes.
What actually drives the number
The tub coming out is not the expensive part. These are:
- Does the drain move? A tub drain sits at one end; a shower drain usually wants to be central. On a slab, moving it means cutting concrete, re-plumbing, inspection and re-pouring — the single biggest line item, and it is the difference between the two price bands above.
- Curb or curbless. A curbless entry needs the floor recessed or the whole bathroom floor built up so the shower can fall to the drain. Beautiful, genuinely more accessible, and significantly more work on a slab.
- Glass. A framed panel is a few hundred dollars. Frameless heavy glass, custom measured, is often a couple of thousand on its own.
- Waterproofing and tile. Doing this properly — a bonded membrane system, not felt and hope — is non-negotiable and is where a suspiciously cheap quote has usually saved its money.
- Niches, benches, and a linear drain. Each is real labour, not a checkbox.
Should you keep one tub in the house?
Worth thinking about honestly rather than being talked into either answer. If this is your only tub and you might sell within a few years, buyers with small children do notice a house with no bathtub at all. If you have a tub in another bathroom, or you are staying put, converting the one you never use into a shower you use daily is one of the better value decisions in a house.
What we would not recommend
One-day tub-to-shower liner systems fit an acrylic shell over the existing surround. They are fast and they look fine initially. What they also do is seal an old, possibly wet, possibly rotten wall behind a waterproof shell where nobody can see it. If the reason you are replacing the tub is a leak or soft flooring, a liner hides the problem rather than fixing it.
Permits
Replacing a tub with a shower in the same footprint, reusing the existing plumbing, is often finish work. Moving the drain or altering the valve is not, and needs a permit and inspection. Any contractor who tells you a drain relocation does not need one is telling you something worth walking away from.