The half bath on the ground floor would be my choice, assuming there’s no bathroom at all on that floor now.

Correct. No bath at all on 1st floor.

I'd go for 2 full bathrooms because you can rent to the 2 unrelated singles.

I'd go for 2 full bathrooms, too. Speaking as someone who rented a 1000-square-foot 3/2 for 12 years, and raised 3 kids there. ;) And if I were renting jointly with another unrelated adult, I'd definitely want 2 full bathrooms.

You're only talking about one additional shower (or tub). It's not a big difference in cost, but it'll seem like a lot more to renters.

Any chance you can do both? That's the set-up I had in my last house, which was small, and it worked very well while raising two teens. If not, I'd definitely go for two full bathrooms.

How about a full with tub upstairs and a small three piece down. My first floor powder room has a small stand alone shower.

I assume both bedrooms are on the second floor. If so, full bath upstairs, powder room at least (a must) on the 1st floor.

Comments are great! Thanks so much. Have been leaning toward 2 full for the reasons suggested. Plus, the space for a possible 1st floor 1/2 def wouldn't be big enough for a shower.

We have a 2/1 that will very soon officially be a 2/2, and we considered just adding a half bath, which would have been a much simpler project. But in the end, it seemed the added value for the full bath (both for our family and for future owners or renters) was more than worth it. We are a family of four, and the single bathroom is definitely the most limiting aspect of a small house. That said, if you're sure you wouldn't have more than two people likely to live there, it may not be as big an issue. We are in a high-cost urban area where many families live in 2BR homes and a third bedroom is a (pricey!) luxury, but the equation would be quite different in a place where 4BR+ homes were common and affordable and a 3BR would not be likely to draw families. It also depends on what your costs will be and what rents are like in your area--our added bathroom was on a very lean budget with a lot of our own time, so we have already added more value to the home than we spent on the project, and would make it back in rent quite quickly if we needed to rent out the house. But in other areas with softer markets, that might not be the case. Half our budget was materials, which are presumably pretty comparably priced nationally in the age of internet sales. The other half was labor, which is going to be a lot more variable.

I'd vote for full bath upstairs and powder room downstairs. For an apartment like what you're describing, two full bathrooms seems like an excessive level of luxury.

When I shared an apartment with room mates as a single woman we always only had a single bathroom (no second powder room) and it was almost totally fine except for sometimes needing to pee when someone was occupying the shower. In the big city where I live I don't know anyone in a two-roommate situation with two full bathrooms. As a young couple my husband and I lived together with just one full bathroom and that was workable too. Now our family (us plus a toddler) has a full bathroom upstairs and a powder room downstairs and it's a definite upgrade that feels pretty generous. The only time we wish for a second full bath is when we have house guests and have to all book our turn in the one shower in the morning.

Ideal configuration is two bathrooms upstairs - don't have to be with tubs.

A powder room on the first floor if you can squeeze it in. It can be small but most people don't want to send guests upstairs to use a bathroom; might have guests who have problems with stairs; don't want to go upstairs to pee or have to go upstairs if a kid needs to use the bathroom.

A powder room on the first floor is a must. I don't care how many bathrooms you have upstairs.

We stayed with friends; their only bathroom was upstairs. And our next door neighbors have a tri-level. No bathroom on the main floor; you have to either go upstairs or to the basement` to use the facilities. I would never buy either of those houses.

The other thing is having a handwashing sink other than the kitchen sink on the main level. DH thinks he has to wash his hands at the kitchen sink before dinner....and there is a powder room 5 steps away. I don't want or need someone tying up the kitchen sink with handwashing while I'm trying to prepare a meal. Endless source of irritation.