Kitchen Remodel Cost Calculator

How the estimate is built

Kitchens are priced per square foot of floor area, then adjusted for the choices that carry the cost. The full expression is:

Base cost = floor area × scope rate × regional factor × services factor

Each line item then takes its share of that base, and three of those lines — cabinets, countertops and appliances — get multiplied again by the tier you picked:

Line item = base × share × tier factor

The scope rate does the heavy lifting. A cosmetic kitchen — painting or refacing the existing boxes, new hardware, new counters, new sink and faucet, keeping the layout — runs $90 to $180 per square foot. A mid-range remodel with new cabinets, counters, appliances and flooring in the same layout runs $200 to $400. A full gut with a new layout, new drywall, all trades and often a new window or door runs $400 to $750.

Moving the sink, the range or a run of circuits adds about 18% across the whole job, not just to the plumbing line, because it pulls in permits, inspections, drywall, flooring patches and sequencing delays.

Cabinets dominate, and that is normal

Cabinets are about 30% of a kitchen — reliably the largest single line, and usually larger than labour. Stock cabinets, sold in fixed sizes off a shelf, come in around 0.8 of the semi-custom baseline. Semi-custom means standard boxes with a real choice of door style, finish and modifications. Custom is a shop building to your dimensions, at about 1.5, and it earns its money only in a kitchen with awkward walls, unusual ceiling heights or a genuinely non-standard layout.

If the budget is tight, the highest-leverage decision available is keeping sound cabinet boxes and replacing only doors, drawer fronts and hardware. Refacing typically costs a third to half of new cabinetry, and in a kitchen whose layout already works, nobody can tell.

A worked example

A 180 sq ft kitchen, mid-range scope, semi-custom cabinets, quartz counters, mid-tier appliances, nothing moving, national pricing:

• Base low: 180 × $200 × 1.0 × 1.0 = $36,000
• Base high: 180 × $400 = $72,000
• Cabinets at 30% × 1.0: $10,800 – $21,600
• Labor at 20%: $7,200 – $14,400
• Countertops at 14% × 1.1: $5,544 – $11,088
• Appliances at 13% × 1.0: $4,680 – $9,360
• Electrical & plumbing at 10%: $3,600 – $7,200
• Flooring, paint and finishes at 9%: $3,240 – $6,480
• Permits and disposal at 4%: $1,440 – $2,880
• Plus 10% contingency: total roughly $40,000 to $80,000

Move to custom cabinets, marble counters and a professional appliance package in a high-cost metro at 1.35, and the same room clears $70,000 at the low end.

Reading the range and the bids

The low number is what the job costs with restrained selections and no surprises. The high number is what it costs with a few upgrades and one genuine problem behind the drywall — a hidden waste stack, knob-and-tube wiring, or a floor that is an inch out of level across the run.

When you compare bids, compare inclusions. Ask whether cabinets are an allowance or a specified line, whether appliances are in the contract or owner-supplied, who is paying for permits, and what happens to the price if the subfloor needs replacing. A bid that is 20% under the others almost always has one of those items missing rather than a cheaper crew behind it.

What actually returns money

A mid-range kitchen remodel returns roughly 60 to 70 percent of its cost at resale, and an over-improved kitchen returns less. Spend on the things you touch daily — drawer slides, hinges, the faucet, task lighting and the layout of the working triangle — and be moderate about the things that photograph well but wear out fashionably.