Kitchen remodel cost dataset

What each budget actually buys

National figures, 160 square foot kitchen with 20 linear feet of cabinet, nothing moving position. Trade prices: a general contractor coordinating the trades adds a margin on top of all of them.

The step that matters is between rows two and three, and it is not about quality. Below it the boxes stay where they are; above it they can move. If you have ever wished the kitchen were arranged differently, only rows three upward can give you that, and if you have not, rows one and two are a different kitchen for a fraction of the money.

Where the money goes, in five groups

Computed from the line items on the default specification — new stock cabinets, quartz, mid-range appliances, vinyl floor — not asserted.

Cabinets

26%

Floor, walls and finishing

26%

Appliances and hood

24%

Countertop and backsplash

19%

Plumbing and electrical

6%

Two of the five carry most of it. Cabinets are the largest group in an ordinary remodel and the decision that moves the total most; appliances are the only group that can overtake them, and they do it the moment the set goes to professional or integrated — where it reaches 45%. Plumbing and electrical, which people worry about, is 6%.

The levers, one at a time

Cabinets

Appliances

Countertop and floor

Moving the sink, the gas or an appliance

Adds $1,291 — twelve more plumber hours plus pipe, vent and any gas run. A kitchen waste needs fall and a vent, and both have to be found in a floor or wall that already has other things in it. Moving the sink to an island is the hardest version and it usually means opening the floor. It is worth settling before falling in love with a drawing, and it is the one difference between two otherwise identical quotes that nobody asks about.

Line items

The cabinets, countertop and appliances appear as allowances rather than as built-up costs, because each has its own calculator on this site where it is priced properly. Those allowances exclude the strip-out, the wall repair and the painting, which are separate lines here.

The reasoning behind each figure

Written out so a kitchen fitter can point at the exact assumption that is wrong.

Strip out the kitchen

• Six labourer hours plus half an hour per linear foot of cabinet: units down, countertop out, appliances disconnected and everything carried out. Wall cabinets come down before base units because they are above them.
• Nothing here where the cabinets are kept or refaced, which is most of the reason those two options change the shape of a kitchen budget rather than just its size.
• ⚠️ Cutting an old tiled splashback is silica work under OSHA 1926.1153, and in a house built before 1978 removing painted cabinetry is above the federal lead threshold and needs a certified firm.

Skip and disposalestimated, ±47%

• A stripped kitchen fills a skip fast: cabinets are bulky, a stone countertop is heavy, and old appliances go separately because most yards will not take them mixed.

Permit and inspectionestimated, ±63%

• Usually required once plumbing, gas or electrical work is altered. The fee varies by locality more than almost anything else here, which is why the band is wide and is our estimate rather than a published figure.
• Unpermitted kitchen work is one of the things that surfaces during a sale, and by then the walls are shut.

Reface the cabinets (allowance)estimated, ±38%

• New doors, drawer fronts, veneer over the face frames, hinges and handles, fitted. Our dedicated refacing calculator prices it door by door and compares it with new cabinets at every grade — this is the same job as an allowance inside a whole-kitchen figure.
• Choosing this keeps the layout exactly as it is, and keeps your countertop, which is why the countertop option above can be set to "keep".

New stock cabinets (allowance)estimated, ±42%

• Priced per linear foot of run, supplied and fitted, including crown moulding and handles. Twenty linear feet is the trade's reference kitchen, the "10x10".
• ⚠️ Lower per foot than our standalone cabinet calculator because the strip-out and the disposal are separate lines on this page and are inside the figure there.
• Cabinet boxes are composite wood products under the emission standards the EPA administers following the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act of 2010. Compliant material is labelled.

New semi-custom cabinets (allowance)estimated, ±38%

• Per linear foot, supplied and fitted. Made to order in your sizes and finish, so nothing is filled out with strips and the run fits the wall it is on.
• The lead time is the thing to plan around rather than the price: six to ten weeks, ordered before the demolition and not after it.

New custom cabinets (allowance)estimated, ±42%

• Per linear foot, built by a cabinetmaker for your room and fitted. It is the right answer for an awkward space, a period house or an unusual layout.
• On a plain rectangular kitchen the money buys appearance rather than fit, because stock sizes already fit it. That is worth knowing before rather than after.

Laminate countertop (allowance)estimated, ±42%

• Sold by the running foot and fitted in a day. Roughly a third the price of stone and the only one a competent amateur can install.
• Supplied, fabricated and fitted, with the sink and cooktop cutouts and an eased edge. Our countertop calculator prices it from your own linear feet and shows the slabs and seams; this is the same job as one allowance.

Butcher block countertop (allowance)estimated, ±41%

• Solid timber, warm and repairable. It needs oiling and it does not belong either side of a sink unless the joint is sealed properly.
• Supplied, fabricated and fitted, with the sink and cooktop cutouts and an eased edge. Our countertop calculator prices it from your own linear feet and shows the slabs and seams; this is the same job as one allowance.

Quartz countertop (allowance)estimated, ±42%

• Engineered stone: consistent slab to slab, never needs sealing. ⚠️ Up to 95% crystalline silica, which matters for whoever cuts it rather than for you.
• Supplied, fabricated and fitted, with the sink and cooktop cutouts and an eased edge. Our countertop calculator prices it from your own linear feet and shows the slabs and seams; this is the same job as one allowance.
• ⚠️ CDC NIOSH states that some engineered stone products are made of up to 95% crystalline silica and names countertop work as a primary exposure concern. It is a hazard for whoever cuts it, not for you, and it is a reason to ask a fabricator how they cut.

Granite countertop (allowance)estimated, ±47%

• Natural stone, every slab different, takes a hot pan without a mark. Needs sealing, and the price runs much further upward than quartz because it is graded by rarity.
• Supplied, fabricated and fitted, with the sink and cooktop cutouts and an eased edge. Our countertop calculator prices it from your own linear feet and shows the slabs and seams; this is the same job as one allowance.

Plumber: sink, waste and appliance connections

• Six plumber hours across two visits: everything disconnected before the countertop is templated and reconnected after it is in. New shut-off valves throughout, because a seized stop turns a dripping tap into a whole-house shut-off.
• It is two visits and not one on any stone countertop, which is why the kitchen has no working sink for about a week in the middle of the job.

Move the sink, gas or an appliance position

• Twelve more plumber hours. A kitchen waste needs fall and a vent, and both have to be found in a floor or a wall that already has other things in it. Moving a sink to an island is the hardest version and it usually means opening the floor.
• This is the decision that separates a new kitchen in the old layout from a new kitchen in a new one, and it is worth pricing before falling in love with a drawing.

Pipe, vent and gas line for the new positionsestimated, ±49%

• Drain, vent, supplies and any gas run in the new route, plus the materials to close up what had to be opened to get there.

Electrician: circuits, GFCI and lighting

• Fourteen electrician hours: the small-appliance circuits above the countertop, GFCI protection, a dedicated circuit for the dishwasher and one for the range, the extractor and the lighting.
• A kitchen is the most electrically demanding room in a house, and a kitchen wired before the mid-eighties will not have anything like the circuits a modern one needs. Once the units are out this is the cheap moment to put that right, and after they go back it is not.

Cable, breakers and devicesestimated, ±49%

• GFCI receptacles, switches, boxes, cable and breakers. Small money against the hours and the only part of the electrical work you will ever see.

Builder-grade appliance set (allowance)estimated, ±37%

• Range, fridge, dishwasher and microwave at the entry level. They cook and chill exactly as well as the expensive ones; what you give up is quietness, finish and the length of the warranty.
• Range, refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave or hood, supplied. Fitting is inside the cabinet and electrical lines rather than here.
• Appliances have to be chosen before the cabinets are ordered, because their dimensions decide the cabinet sizes around them. Ordering them late is the single commonest way a kitchen slips a fortnight.
• ENERGY STAR certifies appliances on measured energy use, and on a dishwasher or a refrigerator that difference runs for a decade or more.

Mid-range appliance set (allowance)estimated, ±38%

• Where most kitchens land. Quieter dishwashers, better door seals, and a fridge that will still be running in twelve years.
• Range, refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave or hood, supplied. Fitting is inside the cabinet and electrical lines rather than here.
• Appliances have to be chosen before the cabinets are ordered, because their dimensions decide the cabinet sizes around them. Ordering them late is the single commonest way a kitchen slips a fortnight.
• ENERGY STAR certifies appliances on measured energy use, and on a dishwasher or a refrigerator that difference runs for a decade or more.

Professional or integrated appliance set (allowance)estimated, ±50%

• Commercial-style ranges and integrated fridges. It is the single fastest way to change a kitchen budget, and integrated units tie the cabinetry to those exact appliances for as long as it lasts.
• Range, refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave or hood, supplied. Fitting is inside the cabinet and electrical lines rather than here.
• Appliances have to be chosen before the cabinets are ordered, because their dimensions decide the cabinet sizes around them. Ordering them late is the single commonest way a kitchen slips a fortnight.
• ENERGY STAR certifies appliances on measured energy use, and on a dishwasher or a refrigerator that difference runs for a decade or more.

Ducted extractor hood and duct runestimated, ±55%

• A hood that discharges to outside air, with the duct and the external grille. The alternative is a recirculating hood, which passes the air through a charcoal filter and puts it back in the room.
• The difference is not subtle: a recirculating hood removes some grease and no moisture and no heat. Ducting is far cheaper to do while the kitchen is out than to add afterwards, and it is the line most often value-engineered away.

Backsplash tile and setting materialsestimated, ±64%

• Tile, adhesive, grout and trim for the run between the countertop and the wall units — 18 inches over about half the cabinet run, which is what most kitchens actually tile.
• The band is four to one because a plain ceramic and a handmade zellige are both backsplash tile and both are ordinary choices.

Set the backsplash tile

• About twenty-four minutes a square foot, more than a plain wall because a backsplash is almost all edges: outlets, window returns, the end of a run and the underside of the wall units.
• ⚠️ Tile and stone setters are published for only 141 of the 530 areas in our index, so outside those this hour comes from the broader construction group for the same area.

Luxury vinyl plank flooringestimated, ±38%

• Waterproof, warm underfoot, down in a day. The most forgiving floor for a room with a dishwasher in it.
• Priced over the whole room. A kitchen floor is laid before the cabinets in a full remodel, so that appliances can be pulled out later without meeting a step.

Floor tile and backerestimated, ±45%

• Hard and cold and it lasts. Three times the labour of vinyl because the backer, the setting and the grouting each have to cure before the next.
• Priced over the whole room. A kitchen floor is laid before the cabinets in a full remodel, so that appliances can be pulled out later without meeting a step.

Hardwood flooringestimated, ±44%

• Continuous with the rest of the house, which is usually the whole reason. Water is its enemy, so the dishwasher and the sink cabinet need watching for the life of the floor.
• Priced over the whole room. A kitchen floor is laid before the cabinets in a full remodel, so that appliances can be pulled out later without meeting a step.

Lay the floor

• About seven minutes a square foot for vinyl plank, sixteen for hardwood and twenty-one for tile — the last spread over three visits because each layer cures before the next.
• Nothing at all where the existing floor stays, which is common when it runs through into the next room.

Sink and tapestimated, ±67%

• A sink and a tap, chosen before the countertop is cut because the cutout is made to them. The band runs from a stainless drop-in to a large undermount with a pull-out tap.
• EPA WaterSense labels taps on measured flow, and while its bathroom specification is the published one, the same principle applies at a kitchen sink you run several times a day.

Board, compound and paintestimated, ±51%

• Board where it was opened, tape, three coats of compound, primer and two coats. A kitchen ceiling almost always needs making good after old wall units come down, and that surprises people.

Board, tape and paint

• Fourteen hours plus a tenth per square foot of floor, over several visits because each coat of compound dries before the next and the paint goes on after all of them.
• It is the last trade in and the one whose schedule everything else pushes. A kitchen that is a week late is usually one whose countertop template ran late.

Light fittings and under-cabinet lightingestimated, ±62%

• Ceiling fittings, under-cabinet strips and their drivers and switching. Light on the worktop rather than only on the ceiling is the change people notice most and it costs the least of anything on this page.
• Under-cabinet lighting is cheap while the wall is open and awkward afterwards, because the cable has to come from somewhere.

Caulk, adjust and final cleanestimated, ±52%

• Silicone at every wall junction and along the countertop, every door and drawer adjusted so the gaps match, and the room cleaned. It is the last day and it is the whole of what people mean when they say a kitchen looks well fitted.

Snagging and cleaning hours

• Six hours at the end. Doors settle after they are hung, so a second pass a week later is normal on a good job and absent on a cheap one.

Not included in this dataset

A general contractor's margin

Every figure here is a trade price: what the carpenter, the plumber, the electrician and the tiler charge, each already including their own overhead and profit. A general contractor who coordinates them, holds the schedule and carries the risk adds a further margin on top of all of them, typically in the low tens of percent. That is real work and it is not in this number.

Moving or removing walls

Opening a kitchen into a dining room is framing and often structural, and it changes the electrical, the heating and sometimes the floor above. It is a different project with a different price and it needs an engineer rather than a calculator.

What is found once the units are out

A slow leak under a sink cabinet, a floor that is not level, old wiring with no ground, or a wall that turns out to be plaster over lath are all normal findings, and none can be priced beforehand. Agree an hourly rate for repairs in writing before the strip-out.

Windows, doors and heating

A new window over the sink, a wider doorway or a radiator that has to move are each separate jobs. Whatever heats the room today is assumed to stay.

Asbestos and lead in older houses

Sheet flooring and mastic from before the eighties can contain asbestos, and removing painted cabinetry in pre-1978 housing is far above the federal lead threshold. Testing comes first and neither is priced here.