RenoPeek

What a kitchen remodel costs, and where the money goes

By The RenoPeek desk, Cost research and tools · updated

A kitchen remodel averages $26,939 nationally, with most jobs landing between $14,589 and $41,547 — a spread of nearly three times for work described by the same two words. Cabinetry explains most of that gap, and layout changes explain the rest. Both are decisions, not fixed costs.

The number, and why it is a range

HomeAdvisor puts the national average kitchen remodel at $26,939, with a typical range of $14,589 to $41,547, read on August 14, 2026. The per-square-foot band is $75 to $250.

The range is the useful part. Two kitchens of identical size in the same city can sit at opposite ends of it, and the difference is almost never the appliances people focus on. It is cabinetry, and whether anything moved.

$26,939National average kitchen remodel, against a typical range of $14,589–$41,547. HomeAdvisor, read August 14, 2026.

Cost by scope

Scope is the first fork, and it maps onto four recognizable projects rather than a continuum.

ScopeCostWhat it covers
Budget-friendly$3,500–$20,000Paint, hardware, refacing, one appliance
Minor remodel$10,000–$20,000Surfaces and fixtures, layout untouched
Major remodel$20,000–$65,000New cabinetry, countertops, appliances
Total makeover$65,000–$130,000+Gut to studs, layout changes, structural work

The jump from minor to major is the jump from replacing surfaces to replacing casework. The jump from major to total is the jump from keeping the plumbing where it is to moving it.

Where the money actually goes

ComponentCostShare of budget
Cabinets$100–$1,200+ per linear foot~30%
Labor—~25%
Countertops$1,870–$4,400—
Flooring$1,000–$4,000—
Appliances$125–$5,000 each—
Permits$460–$2,770—
Designer$65–$250 per hour~3%

Cabinetry at roughly 30 percent is the headline, but the per-linear-foot spread is the real story: $100 to $1,200 and up is a twelve-fold range on the largest line item in the job. A 20-foot cabinet run can therefore cost $2,000 or $24,000, and both are called “new cabinets” in conversation.

One decision — stock cabinets, semi-custom, or fully custom — moves a kitchen budget further than every appliance choice combined.

Labor at about 25 percent is worth noting for what it is not. Compared with interior painting, where labor is 75 to 95 percent of the bill, a kitchen is a materials-dominated job. Doing your own demolition saves less here than people expect, because demolition is a small slice of a quarter of the total.

Cost by kitchen size, and the curve nobody mentions

Kitchen sizeCost rangeMidpoint per sq ft
75 sq ft$5,600–$17,500$154
100 sq ft$7,500–$25,000$163
150 sq ft$11,250–$37,500$163
200 sq ft$15,000–$50,000$163

Read those midpoints down the column and the striking thing is how flat they are. From 100 to 200 square feet the midpoint holds at exactly $163 per square foot, and the 75-square-foot row comes in lower still at $154. Kitchen cost in this data scales almost perfectly with floor area — there is no economy of scale, and no fixed-cost premium on small rooms either.

That is worth stating because it contradicts the usual intuition, which is borrowed from bathrooms. A small bathroom does cost more per square foot, because a toilet, a fan and waterproofing cost the same at 35 square feet as at 60. A kitchen behaves differently: its dominant costs — cabinet run and countertop — are priced per linear foot, so they grow with the room instead of sitting on top of it.

The practical consequence is that shrinking a kitchen plan by removing a cabinet run saves real money, while shrinking it by choosing a smaller refrigerator saves almost none.

Refacing beats replacingIf the existing boxes are sound and the layout is staying, new doors and drawer fronts deliver most of the visual change at a fraction of the largest line item in the job.
Moving the sink is the forkKeeping plumbing where it is keeps a kitchen a surface project. Moving it adds supply and drain runs, likely permits, and the discovery risk of opening a wall.
Permits are not optional overheadAt $460 to $2,770 they are a real line, and skipping them surfaces later — at resale, during an insurance claim, or when an inspector sees unpermitted gas work.

The three decisions that move the total

Cabinet tier is the first and largest. Stock, semi-custom and custom differ by roughly an order of magnitude per linear foot, and the visual difference at normal viewing distance is far smaller than the price difference. This is where a budget is won or lost.

Whether anything moves is the second. A kitchen where the sink, range and refrigerator stay in place is a surface renovation. Move any of them and the job acquires plumbing runs, possible electrical or gas work, permits, and the risk of what is behind the wall. This single choice separates the $20,000 kitchen from the $65,000 one more reliably than finish level does.

Countertop material is the third and the most overrated. At $1,870 to $4,400 the whole category spans about $2,500 — real money, but roughly one-tenth of the cabinet spread. People agonize over quartz versus granite and then accept the first cabinet quote.

What the estimate leaves out

Permits at $460 to $2,770, which are triggered by exactly the work that makes a kitchen expensive. Disposal of the old kitchen. Temporary cooking arrangements for the weeks the room is unusable, which is a real household cost even though no contractor bills it.

And the category that ruins budgets: what is found once the walls are open. Kitchens sit on exterior walls and carry water, gas and electrical, which is the combination most likely to produce old wiring, a slow leak that has been quietly rotting the subfloor, or a wall that turns out to be load-bearing. No estimate made before demolition can price any of it.

Hold 10 to 20 percent back and treat it as spent. No figure on this page is a quote, and the terms of use explain why that limit is real rather than boilerplate. If it survives to the end of the job, that is a pleasant surprise rather than a plan.

Getting a number for your own kitchen

Start with square footage: the remodel cost calculator turns room size and finish level into a range using the $75 to $250 band above. If the plan involves new flooring, the flooring calculator handles the waste factor, and the tile calculator covers a backsplash, which HomeAdvisor prices separately at $480 to $1,500 installed.

Then price the cabinets specifically, in linear feet, before anything else. That one quote determines what the rest of the budget can be.

If the room is still at the ideas stage, AI interior design apps will show you what finishes look like together — with the caveat, covered in designing a room from a photo, that a render is confident about surfaces and unreliable about whether an island actually fits.

Questions people ask

How much does a kitchen remodel cost in 2026?
HomeAdvisor puts the national average at $26,939 with a typical range of $14,589 to $41,547, read August 14, 2026. By scope, minor remodels run $10,000 to $20,000, major remodels $20,000 to $65,000, and full gut jobs $65,000 to $130,000 and above. Per square foot the band is $75 to $250.
What is the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel?
Cabinetry, at roughly 30 percent of the total budget according to HomeAdvisor. Cabinets are priced per linear foot at $100 to $1,200 and up, which is a twelve-fold spread — the single decision with the largest effect on the final number, larger than countertops and appliances combined.
Is it cheaper to reface cabinets than replace them?
Usually yes, and it is the most effective way to cut a kitchen budget without changing the plan. Refacing keeps the existing boxes and replaces doors and drawer fronts, so it avoids both new casework and the demolition around it. It only works when the existing boxes are sound and the layout is staying.
How much does it cost to move plumbing in a kitchen?
Relocating a sink or appliance is where budgets break, because it converts a surface job into a construction job — new supply and drain runs, possible floor or wall opening, and inspection. HomeAdvisor prices kitchen permits at $460 to $2,770 separately from the work itself, and permits are typically triggered by exactly this kind of change.
Does a bigger kitchen cost proportionally more to remodel?
Yes, almost exactly proportionally, which surprises people expecting economies of scale. Taking midpoints of HomeAdvisor's published size table gives $163 per square foot at 100, 150 and 200 square feet alike. Kitchens are dominated by cabinetry and countertop priced per linear foot, so cost grows with the room.
How much should I hold back for surprises?
Ten to twenty percent of the estimate, treated as spent rather than as savings. Kitchens sit against exterior walls and carry plumbing, gas and electrical, which is the combination most likely to produce something unwelcome once the walls are open. A contingency line is what keeps that discovery from stopping the job.
The RenoPeek deskBuilds the calculators on this site and reads every competitor claim off that company's own live page on a stated date, rather than repeating what other comparison articles say about them.
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