The 2 Best Toilet Seat Risers of 2025
When it comes to finding the right toilet seat riser for your setup, it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. The height and shape of your toilet, as well as your height and who you’ll be sharing the toilet with, all factor into picking the perfect riser.
Shape of toilet bowl
Every toilet bowl has either a round or elongated opening; knowing which one you have is crucial to getting a snug, secure fit with your toilet seat riser. Though you can often tell just by looking if it’s a circle or an oval, measuring is the easiest way if you’re unsure.
Measure from the front lip of the toilet seat to the bolts of the toilet seat. A round toilet bowl is generally around 16.5 inches in length while an elongated bowl is 18.5 inches.
Some toilet seat risers work for both shapes, but be sure to check before purchasing, as most are designed for one shape or the other.
Find the right seat height
The toilet seat risers we found typically ranged between 2 inches and 6 inches in height (though most fell closer to the 3-to-4-inch range). To figure out what height of toilet seat riser you need for your setup, follow these steps:
- Measure from the floor to the back of the person’s knee.
- Measure the height of the existing toilet from the floor to the top of the seat (if you plan to use your current toilet seat on top of the riser) or the top of the toilet base (if you’re using a riser like the Bemis or Dr. Maya that fits directly onto the base).
- Subtract the toilet height from the height of the person’s knee. The difference between them will give you a height to start with.
The above will help you determine the correct height of a toilet seat if you want to sit with your knees at a 90 degree angle (essentially making it so that you neither have to lower yourself down too far nor are sitting uncomfortably high). However, this angle won’t be right for all who use a toilet seat riser, occupational therapists say, so it’s ideal to talk to a professional who can help you determine the right height for you. For those who have significant trouble with joints, more height might be better.
Whatever height you go for, your feet should still be able to touch the floor while sitting.
Installation method
Toilet seat risers fall into one of three installation methods:
- Set-on: The riser just sits inside the toilet bowl; it is not secured.
- Clamp-on: The riser has pressure-mounted knobs to hold it in place.
- Bolt-on: The riser is attached to the toilet with bolts like a regular toilet seat.
The first two methods are best suited for people who need to regularly add and remove the toilet seat riser, such as households with children who can’t get on a raised seat or those who travel often. Though a set-on toilet seat can temporarily work in a pinch, the occupational therapists we spoke to were skeptical of the stability and security of these seats. If you need an easily removable riser, they recommend using a clamp-on seat that everyone in the household can securely tighten and loosen.
All of that being said, both occupational therapists that we spoke to emphasized that if a bolt-on seat is an option, it’s the best choice. Although they can seem intimidating to install, in reality it takes around five minutes to get most of these seats in place, even for people new to the process.
The main concern that many have with a bolt-on riser is that guests or other household members won’t want to use it. You might have some necessary reasons to remove and re-add your toilet seat riser, but for many households, the right toilet riser doesn’t need to be removed for others to use it. In the case of our top pick, the Bemis Independence Assurance 3″ Raised Toilet Seat, many of our testers actually preferred it over a regular toilet seat.
