How many grafts do I need for a hair transplant?
Only a surgeon who examines your scalp and donor area can tell you. What we can show is how many grafts people actually had at each stage of hair loss, from what patients wrote about their own procedure on reddit (r/HairTransplants and r/tressless), each person counted once.
Grafts people had, by Norwood stage
| Stage before surgery | People with a graft count | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norwood 2 | 25 | 2,350 | 1,850–2,900 |
| Norwood 3 | 86 | 2,670 | 2,152–3,300 |
| Norwood 4 | 27 | 4,200 | 3,209–5,000 |
| Norwood 5 | 36 | 4,000 | 3,250–4,600 |
| Norwood 6 | 58 | 4,650 | 4,021–6,000 |
| Norwood 7 | 12 | 4,200 | 3,577–4,600 |
Graft counts people stated in their own post-surgery threads, for the stage they gave themselves. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile. Not sure of your stage? See the Norwood scale.
Cost and results per graft count
For each count: what clinics' published per-graft prices come to, what patients reported paying, which Norwood stages people had, and patients' own before-and-after results.
- 1,000 grafts · 41 people's reports
- 1,500 grafts · 171 people's reports
- 2,000 grafts · 441 people's reports
- 2,500 grafts · 596 people's reports
- 3,000 grafts · 698 people's reports
- 3,500 grafts · 570 people's reports
- 4,000 grafts · 508 people's reports
- 4,500 grafts · 358 people's reports
- 5,000 grafts · 281 people's reports
- 6,000 grafts · 65 people's reports
What decides the number
- The area to cover. A hairline alone needs fewer grafts than a hairline plus mid-scalp and crown.
- Your donor area. The grafts come from the back and sides of your head, and that supply is limited for life.
- The density you want. Ask the clinic how many grafts it plans for each zone, not only the total.
Then compare what that count costs on the cost calculator and the doctors' published prices, credentials and patient reports in the directory.
SaveMyHairline is an independent hair transplant doctor directory: published prices, checked credentials and real patient reports, with sources. No clinic can pay to appear.