Kitchen Remodel Cost (2026): Per Square Foot & by Scope

Enter your kitchen area and scope level. The calculator splits the estimate into materials and labor, then adjusts only the labor side for your state.

What a kitchen remodel actually costs

Published 2026 cost data puts a typical kitchen remodel at $27,000, with most homeowners landing between $15,000 and $45,000. The spread is not about kitchen size. It is about scope.

A cosmetic refresh — painting or refacing cabinets, new hardware, stock countertops, a new faucet and backsplash — runs $10,000 to $25,000. A mid-range remodel that replaces cabinets, counters, flooring and appliances runs $25,000 to $60,000. A high-end gut renovation with custom cabinetry and professional-grade appliances starts around $60,000 and can pass $130,000.

Notice that the cheapest full kitchen still costs more than the most expensive cosmetic refresh. Scope is not a modifier on this project; it is the project.

Cost per square foot, and why it is a blunt tool

Published rates run about $150 per square foot for a mid-range kitchen, from $75 at the cosmetic end to $250 at the upper-mid, and up to $600 for luxury. A typical U.S. kitchen is 160 to 180 square feet, which is where the $24,000 to $27,000 averages come from.

The per-square-foot figure is useful for a sanity check and misleading for anything else. Two 170 sq ft kitchens can be $18,000 and $95,000 apart because of cabinets alone. Use the rate to spot a wildly low bid, then get the real number from line items.

Where the money actually goes

Published breakdowns for a kitchen remodel put cabinetry at roughly 40% of the budget, flooring 18%, countertops 14%, utilities and fixtures 11%, appliances 6%, lighting 5%, backsplash 4% and paint 2%. Cabinets and countertops together are over half the job.

This matters when you read a bid. A quote with cabinets at 20% of the total is either using builder-grade stock boxes or has under-priced them and will find the difference later. A quote with utilities at 2% probably assumes nothing is moving — which is fine until you want the sink somewhere else.

Ask every contractor to break their quote into these eight lines. The percentages do not need to match exactly, but a line that is wildly off tells you where the change order will come from.

Labor is 50–60% — what that means for your bid

Published data puts kitchen labor at 50% to 60% of the total, or roughly $13,500 to $16,200 on an average remodel. That share rises toward 70% when you use inexpensive materials that still take time to install, and drops when you spend heavily on materials like stone counters.

The calculator above splits every estimate into materials and labor and adjusts only the labor side for your state. That is deliberate: a marble countertop costs the same in Alabama and Illinois, but the tile setter does not.

If a bid's labor share comes in well under 40%, ask what is not included — permits, demo, disposal and finish carpentry are the usual omissions.

The contingency nobody budgets

Published guidance recommends holding 5% to 10% of the total budget for surprises — $1,350 to $2,700 on an average kitchen. In practice the surprises are specific: water damage under the sink, a subfloor that flexes, knob-and-tube wiring behind the wall, or a gas line that has to move.

Permits are a separate line, typically $450 to $2,500, higher for structural or utility changes. Design fees run $825 to $2,475 if you use a designer. Neither is usually in the contractor's number unless you ask.

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