diff --git a/bigquery/docs/conf.py b/bigquery/docs/conf.py
index 62815ae73b38..c9ff82d8e72b 100644
--- a/bigquery/docs/conf.py
+++ b/bigquery/docs/conf.py
@@ -326,9 +326,9 @@
 
 # Example configuration for intersphinx: refer to the Python standard library.
 intersphinx_mapping = {
-    "python": ("http://python.readthedocs.org/en/latest/", None),
     "gax": ("https://gax-python.readthedocs.org/en/latest/", None),
     "pandas": ("https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/", None),
+    "python": ("http://python.readthedocs.org/en/latest/", None),
 }
 
 # Napoleon settings
diff --git a/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/job.py b/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/job.py
index f4c919a2d8fc..bc87f109a484 100644
--- a/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/job.py
+++ b/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/job.py
@@ -2810,7 +2810,7 @@ def result(self, timeout=None, retry=DEFAULT_RETRY):
         dest_table = Table(dest_table_ref, schema=schema)
         return self._client.list_rows(dest_table, retry=retry)
 
-    def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None):
+    def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None, progress_bar_type=None):
         """Return a pandas DataFrame from a QueryJob
 
         Args:
@@ -2837,6 +2837,16 @@ def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None):
                 provided ``dtype`` is used when constructing the series for
                 the column specified. Otherwise, the default pandas behavior
                 is used.
+            progress_bar_type (Optional[str]):
+                If set, use the `tqdm <https://tqdm.github.io/>`_ library to
+                display a progress bar while the data downloads. Install the
+                ``tqdm`` package to use this feature.
+
+                See
+                :func:`~google.cloud.bigquery.table.RowIterator.to_dataframe`
+                for details.
+
+                ..versionadded:: 1.11.0
 
         Returns:
             A :class:`~pandas.DataFrame` populated with row data and column
diff --git a/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/table.py b/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/table.py
index 46419e70a83e..dcb25d8bb3c6 100644
--- a/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/table.py
+++ b/bigquery/google/cloud/bigquery/table.py
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@
 except ImportError:  # pragma: NO COVER
     pandas = None
 
+try:
+    import tqdm
+except ImportError:  # pragma: NO COVER
+    tqdm = None
+
 from google.api_core.page_iterator import HTTPIterator
 
 import google.cloud._helpers
@@ -44,6 +49,10 @@
     "The pandas library is not installed, please install "
     "pandas to use the to_dataframe() function."
 )
+_NO_TQDM_ERROR = (
+    "A progress bar was requested, but there was an error loading the tqdm "
+    "library. Please install tqdm to use the progress bar functionality."
+)
 _TABLE_HAS_NO_SCHEMA = 'Table has no schema:  call "client.get_table()"'
 _MARKER = object()
 
@@ -1330,12 +1339,22 @@ def _to_dataframe_dtypes(self, page, column_names, dtypes):
             columns[column] = pandas.Series(columns[column], dtype=dtypes[column])
         return pandas.DataFrame(columns, columns=column_names)
 
-    def _to_dataframe_tabledata_list(self, dtypes):
+    def _to_dataframe_tabledata_list(self, dtypes, progress_bar=None):
         """Use (slower, but free) tabledata.list to construct a DataFrame."""
         column_names = [field.name for field in self.schema]
         frames = []
+
         for page in iter(self.pages):
-            frames.append(self._to_dataframe_dtypes(page, column_names, dtypes))
+            current_frame = self._to_dataframe_dtypes(page, column_names, dtypes)
+            frames.append(current_frame)
+
+            if progress_bar is not None:
+                # In some cases, the number of total rows is not populated
+                # until the first page of rows is fetched. Update the
+                # progress bar's total to keep an accurate count.
+                progress_bar.total = progress_bar.total or self.total_rows
+                progress_bar.update(len(current_frame))
+
         return pandas.concat(frames)
 
     def _to_dataframe_bqstorage(self, bqstorage_client, dtypes):
@@ -1385,10 +1404,37 @@ def get_dataframe(stream):
         # the end using manually-parsed schema.
         return pandas.concat(frames)[columns]
 
-    def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None):
+    def _get_progress_bar(self, progress_bar_type):
+        """Construct a tqdm progress bar object, if tqdm is installed."""
+        if tqdm is None:
+            if progress_bar_type is not None:
+                warnings.warn(_NO_TQDM_ERROR, UserWarning, stacklevel=3)
+            return None
+
+        description = "Downloading"
+        unit = "rows"
+
+        try:
+            if progress_bar_type == "tqdm":
+                return tqdm.tqdm(desc=description, total=self.total_rows, unit=unit)
+            elif progress_bar_type == "tqdm_notebook":
+                return tqdm.tqdm_notebook(
+                    desc=description, total=self.total_rows, unit=unit
+                )
+            elif progress_bar_type == "tqdm_gui":
+                return tqdm.tqdm_gui(
+                    desc=description, total=self.total_rows, unit=unit
+                )
+        except (KeyError, TypeError):
+            # Protect ourselves from any tqdm errors. In case of
+            # unexpected tqdm behavior, just fall back to showing
+            # no progress bar.
+            warnings.warn(_NO_TQDM_ERROR, UserWarning, stacklevel=3)
+        return None
+
+    def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None, progress_bar_type=None):
         """Create a pandas DataFrame by loading all pages of a query.
 
-
         Args:
             bqstorage_client ( \
                 google.cloud.bigquery_storage_v1beta1.BigQueryStorageClient \
@@ -1413,6 +1459,26 @@ def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None):
                 provided ``dtype`` is used when constructing the series for
                 the column specified. Otherwise, the default pandas behavior
                 is used.
+            progress_bar_type (Optional[str]):
+                If set, use the `tqdm <https://tqdm.github.io/>`_ library to
+                display a progress bar while the data downloads. Install the
+                ``tqdm`` package to use this feature.
+
+                Possible values of ``progress_bar_type`` include:
+
+                ``None``
+                  No progress bar.
+                ``'tqdm'``
+                  Use the :func:`tqdm.tqdm` function to print a progress bar
+                  to :data:`sys.stderr`.
+                ``'tqdm_notebook'``
+                  Use the :func:`tqdm.tqdm_notebook` function to display a
+                  progress bar as a Jupyter notebook widget.
+                ``'tqdm_gui'``
+                  Use the :func:`tqdm.tqdm_gui` function to display a
+                  progress bar as a graphical dialog box.
+
+                ..versionadded:: 1.11.0
 
         Returns:
             pandas.DataFrame:
@@ -1429,10 +1495,12 @@ def to_dataframe(self, bqstorage_client=None, dtypes=None):
         if dtypes is None:
             dtypes = {}
 
+        progress_bar = self._get_progress_bar(progress_bar_type)
+
         if bqstorage_client is not None:
             return self._to_dataframe_bqstorage(bqstorage_client, dtypes)
         else:
-            return self._to_dataframe_tabledata_list(dtypes)
+            return self._to_dataframe_tabledata_list(dtypes, progress_bar=progress_bar)
 
 
 class _EmptyRowIterator(object):
diff --git a/bigquery/noxfile.py b/bigquery/noxfile.py
index 82846604306e..2c11f5b67056 100644
--- a/bigquery/noxfile.py
+++ b/bigquery/noxfile.py
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ def default(session):
 
     # Pyarrow does not support Python 3.7
     if session.python == '3.7':
-        dev_install = '.[pandas]'
+        dev_install = '.[pandas, tqdm]'
     else:
-        dev_install = '.[pandas, pyarrow]'
+        dev_install = '.[pandas, pyarrow, tqdm]'
     session.install('-e', dev_install)
 
     # IPython does not support Python 2 after version 5.x
diff --git a/bigquery/setup.py b/bigquery/setup.py
index 6b4edaf561c0..696e093cd6ff 100644
--- a/bigquery/setup.py
+++ b/bigquery/setup.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     # Exclude PyArrow dependency from Windows Python 2.7.
     'pyarrow: platform_system != "Windows" or python_version >= "3.4"':
         'pyarrow>=0.4.1',
+    'tqdm': 'tqdm >= 4.0.0, <5.0.0dev',
     'fastparquet': ['fastparquet', 'python-snappy'],
 }
 
diff --git a/bigquery/tests/unit/test_table.py b/bigquery/tests/unit/test_table.py
index d9ba9db3f05d..4500856ec2a4 100644
--- a/bigquery/tests/unit/test_table.py
+++ b/bigquery/tests/unit/test_table.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import itertools
 import json
 import unittest
+import warnings
 
 import mock
 import pytest
@@ -29,6 +30,11 @@
 except (ImportError, AttributeError):  # pragma: NO COVER
     pandas = None
 
+try:
+    from tqdm import tqdm
+except (ImportError, AttributeError):  # pragma: NO COVER
+    tqdm = None
+
 from google.cloud.bigquery.dataset import DatasetReference
 
 
@@ -901,7 +907,6 @@ def test_time_partitioning_setter_none(self):
         self.assertIsNone(table.time_partitioning)
 
     def test_partitioning_type_setter(self):
-        import warnings
         from google.cloud.bigquery.table import TimePartitioningType
 
         dataset = DatasetReference(self.PROJECT, self.DS_ID)
@@ -920,7 +925,6 @@ def test_partitioning_type_setter(self):
             self.assertIs(warning.category, PendingDeprecationWarning)
 
     def test_partitioning_type_setter_w_time_partitioning_set(self):
-        import warnings
         from google.cloud.bigquery.table import TimePartitioning
 
         dataset = DatasetReference(self.PROJECT, self.DS_ID)
@@ -938,7 +942,6 @@ def test_partitioning_type_setter_w_time_partitioning_set(self):
             self.assertIs(warning.category, PendingDeprecationWarning)
 
     def test_partitioning_expiration_setter_w_time_partitioning_set(self):
-        import warnings
         from google.cloud.bigquery.table import TimePartitioning
 
         dataset = DatasetReference(self.PROJECT, self.DS_ID)
@@ -956,8 +959,6 @@ def test_partitioning_expiration_setter_w_time_partitioning_set(self):
             self.assertIs(warning.category, PendingDeprecationWarning)
 
     def test_partition_expiration_setter(self):
-        import warnings
-
         dataset = DatasetReference(self.PROJECT, self.DS_ID)
         table_ref = dataset.table(self.TABLE_NAME)
         table = self._make_one(table_ref)
@@ -1112,8 +1113,6 @@ def _make_one(self, *args, **kw):
         return self._get_target_class()(*args, **kw)
 
     def test_ctor(self):
-        import warnings
-
         project = "test-project"
         dataset_id = "test_dataset"
         table_id = "coffee_table"
@@ -1191,8 +1190,6 @@ def test_ctor_view(self):
         self.assertTrue(table.view_use_legacy_sql)
 
     def test_ctor_missing_properties(self):
-        import warnings
-
         resource = {
             "tableReference": {
                 "projectId": "testproject",
@@ -1413,6 +1410,129 @@ def test_to_dataframe(self):
         self.assertEqual(df.name.dtype.name, "object")
         self.assertEqual(df.age.dtype.name, "int64")
 
+    @unittest.skipIf(pandas is None, "Requires `pandas`")
+    @unittest.skipIf(tqdm is None, "Requires `tqdm`")
+    @mock.patch("tqdm.tqdm_gui")
+    @mock.patch("tqdm.tqdm_notebook")
+    @mock.patch("tqdm.tqdm")
+    def test_to_dataframe_progress_bar(
+        self, tqdm_mock, tqdm_notebook_mock, tqdm_gui_mock
+    ):
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import RowIterator
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import SchemaField
+
+        schema = [
+            SchemaField("name", "STRING", mode="REQUIRED"),
+            SchemaField("age", "INTEGER", mode="REQUIRED"),
+        ]
+        rows = [
+            {"f": [{"v": "Phred Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "32"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bharney Rhubble"}, {"v": "33"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Wylma Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "29"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bhettye Rhubble"}, {"v": "27"}]},
+        ]
+        path = "/foo"
+        api_request = mock.Mock(return_value={"rows": rows})
+
+        progress_bars = (
+            ("tqdm", tqdm_mock),
+            ("tqdm_notebook", tqdm_notebook_mock),
+            ("tqdm_gui", tqdm_gui_mock),
+        )
+
+        for progress_bar_type, progress_bar_mock in progress_bars:
+            row_iterator = RowIterator(_mock_client(), api_request, path, schema)
+            df = row_iterator.to_dataframe(progress_bar_type=progress_bar_type)
+
+            progress_bar_mock.assert_called()
+            progress_bar_mock().update.assert_called()
+            self.assertEqual(len(df), 4)
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(pandas is None, "Requires `pandas`")
+    @mock.patch("google.cloud.bigquery.table.tqdm", new=None)
+    def test_to_dataframe_no_tqdm_no_progress_bar(self):
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import RowIterator
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import SchemaField
+
+        schema = [
+            SchemaField("name", "STRING", mode="REQUIRED"),
+            SchemaField("age", "INTEGER", mode="REQUIRED"),
+        ]
+        rows = [
+            {"f": [{"v": "Phred Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "32"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bharney Rhubble"}, {"v": "33"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Wylma Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "29"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bhettye Rhubble"}, {"v": "27"}]},
+        ]
+        path = "/foo"
+        api_request = mock.Mock(return_value={"rows": rows})
+        row_iterator = RowIterator(_mock_client(), api_request, path, schema)
+
+        with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as warned:
+            df = row_iterator.to_dataframe()
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(warned), 0)
+        self.assertEqual(len(df), 4)
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(pandas is None, "Requires `pandas`")
+    @mock.patch("google.cloud.bigquery.table.tqdm", new=None)
+    def test_to_dataframe_no_tqdm(self):
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import RowIterator
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import SchemaField
+
+        schema = [
+            SchemaField("name", "STRING", mode="REQUIRED"),
+            SchemaField("age", "INTEGER", mode="REQUIRED"),
+        ]
+        rows = [
+            {"f": [{"v": "Phred Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "32"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bharney Rhubble"}, {"v": "33"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Wylma Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "29"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bhettye Rhubble"}, {"v": "27"}]},
+        ]
+        path = "/foo"
+        api_request = mock.Mock(return_value={"rows": rows})
+        row_iterator = RowIterator(_mock_client(), api_request, path, schema)
+
+        with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as warned:
+            df = row_iterator.to_dataframe(progress_bar_type="tqdm")
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(warned), 1)
+        for warning in warned:
+            self.assertIs(warning.category, UserWarning)
+
+        # Even though the progress bar won't show, downloading the dataframe
+        # should still work.
+        self.assertEqual(len(df), 4)
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(pandas is None, "Requires `pandas`")
+    @unittest.skipIf(tqdm is None, "Requires `tqdm`")
+    @mock.patch("tqdm.tqdm_gui", new=None)  # will raise TypeError on call
+    @mock.patch("tqdm.tqdm_notebook", new=None)  # will raise TypeError on call
+    @mock.patch("tqdm.tqdm", new=None)  # will raise TypeError on call
+    def test_to_dataframe_tqdm_error(self):
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import RowIterator
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.table import SchemaField
+
+        schema = [
+            SchemaField("name", "STRING", mode="REQUIRED"),
+            SchemaField("age", "INTEGER", mode="REQUIRED"),
+        ]
+        rows = [
+            {"f": [{"v": "Phred Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "32"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bharney Rhubble"}, {"v": "33"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Wylma Phlyntstone"}, {"v": "29"}]},
+            {"f": [{"v": "Bhettye Rhubble"}, {"v": "27"}]},
+        ]
+        path = "/foo"
+
+        for progress_bar_type in ("tqdm", "tqdm_notebook", "tqdm_gui"):
+            api_request = mock.Mock(return_value={"rows": rows})
+            row_iterator = RowIterator(_mock_client(), api_request, path, schema)
+            df = row_iterator.to_dataframe(progress_bar_type=progress_bar_type)
+
+            self.assertEqual(len(df), 4)  # all should be well
+
     @unittest.skipIf(pandas is None, "Requires `pandas`")
     def test_to_dataframe_w_empty_results(self):
         from google.cloud.bigquery.table import RowIterator
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 584ce42e952a..1ff88dbae6f6 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -317,13 +317,13 @@
 
 # Configuration for intersphinx:
 intersphinx_mapping = {
+    'fastavro': ('https://fastavro.readthedocs.io/en/stable/', None),
     'google-auth': ('https://google-auth.readthedocs.io/en/stable', None),
     'google-gax': ('https://gax-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/', None),
     'grpc': ('https://grpc.io/grpc/python/', None),
-    'requests': ('http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/', None),
-    'fastavro': ('https://fastavro.readthedocs.io/en/stable/', None),
     'pandas': ('https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/', None),
     'python': ('https://docs.python.org/3', None),
+    'requests': ('http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/', None),
 }
 
 # Static HTML pages, e.g. to support redirects