Kitchen Remodel Cost 2026: Small, Mid-Range & Major Prices

Kitchen remodel prices in the US are too wide for a single average to be honest. A small refresh — paint, hardware, and finishes on a kitchen that already works — often lands around $8,000–$25,000. A mid-range remodel that keeps the sink, the range, and the refrigerator where they are, on a kitchen of about 200 square feet, often clusters around $30,000–$55,000. A 10×10 kitchen is 100 square feet, and the same kind of layout-stays remodel there is often $15,000–$28,000, which is why a 10×10 quote sits under this page’s mid-range band. A major remodel that moves walls, the sink, or the gas line is commonly $70,000–$150,000 or more. The national spread on this page, $8,000–$150,000, is that whole ladder. These are typical planning ranges, not a survey and not a quote.

The mid-range figure assumes that 200 square foot kitchen. It is a room larger than a 10×10, with cabinets along the walls you already have. A 150 square foot kitchen that keeps the layout often lands between the 10×10 row and that band. A kitchen of 250 square feet or more, layout kept, starts near the top of the band and leaves it as the room and the cabinet run grow.

If you remember one distinction, make it this: keeping the layout is one project, and moving water, gas, or a wall is another. Most of the shock in kitchen budgets is a layout change described as “while we’re at it.” The same lesson shows up in a bathroom remodel, where moving the toilet or the shower does the same thing to the price.

The tier table is the ladder. The size table is the mid-range job at different floor areas, layout kept. The line-item table is one way to read a single mid-range budget. Do not add the three tables together.

Tier	Scope	Typical planning range
Small refresh	Paint, hardware, and finishes on solid boxes; appliances that fit the old openings	$8,000–$25,000
Mid-range	Stock or semi-custom cabinets, mid-tier counters and appliances, layout stays, about 200 sq ft	$30,000–$55,000
Major	Gut that moves a wall, the sink, or the range, or custom cabinets throughout	$70,000–$150,000

Kitchen size	Typical range, layout stays
10×10 (100 sq ft)	$15,000–$28,000
About 150 sq ft	$22,000–$42,000
About 200 sq ft	$30,000–$55,000
250 sq ft and up	$40,000–$75,000

The 200 square foot row is the typical band on this page. The 10×10 row is a full remodel of a small kitchen, not a partial one, and it sits under that band because the room is half the size. A 10×10 refresh, paint and hardware on boxes that stay, can land in the lower part of the small tier, about $8,000–$18,000. The 250 square foot row is still a layout that stays. A layout change on a kitchen that size is the major tier.

The lines below split a mid-range budget. The low end of a line is how a 10×10 or a careful stock package stays under $30,000. The middle is the 200 square foot job. Adding every high end together clears $55,000, because a bid does not hit the top of every line at once. Labor is sometimes already inside the cabinet and counter quotes. Ask which way the bid is written so you do not count labor twice.

Line	Typical planning range
Cabinets, stock or semi-custom	$8,000–$18,000
Labor and installation	$7,000–$15,000
Countertops	$2,000–$6,000
Appliances, mid-tier	$3,000–$8,000
Flooring, kitchen only	$1,200–$3,500
Backsplash, sink, faucet, and lighting	$1,500–$4,000
Electrical and plumbing, layout stays	$1,000–$3,500

Cabinets and labor are usually the largest pieces. A stock box package on a 10×10 can sit near $8,000. Semi-custom runs on a 200 square foot kitchen sit higher in that cabinet row. Inset or fully custom cabinets can exceed the rest of a mid-range budget by themselves, and that is how a project leaves the mid-range tier. A modest slab on a simple run is the counter row. A waterfall edge, a long island overhang, and several seams climb out of it.

What the mid-range includes

The typical $30,000–$55,000 band assumes an existing kitchen of about 200 square feet, cabinets along the walls you already have, stock or semi-custom boxes, laminate or a modest quartz or granite, mid-tier appliances that fit the old openings or a same-size replacement, a new sink and faucet, lighting that does not require a new circuit for every can, new flooring in the kitchen only, and professional installation. Paint and a tile backsplash are in. That paint is part of the remodel. A crew that only paints, in the kitchen or through the house, is the interior painting guide. A structural wall, an island with a new drain, and a relocated range are out.

A 10×10 with stock cabinets and a laminate counter is the $15,000–$28,000 size row, not the bottom of the 200 square foot band. A larger kitchen with semi-custom cabinets, a full quartz package, and a new appliance set sits at the top of $55,000, and it leaves the band if the cabinets are custom or the appliances are a panel-ready column set.

A refresh at the low end of the wider spread is paint, hardware, a refinish or a reface of cabinets that are still square, a countertop if the boxes can hold it, and appliances that fit the old openings. It is the small tier. A major remodel adds demolition, layout changes, permits, possible electrical panel work, and plumbing that has to be rerouted and inspected.

None of the bands include a room addition, high-end custom cabinetry throughout, a professional-style appliance package as a set, or repairing rot that appears when the dishwasher comes out. Ask every bidder what happens if the subfloor is soft. A unit price for subfloor repair belongs on the proposal. A tankless water heater added “while the walls are open” is the tankless guide, and it often pulls in the panel guide as well. A main sewer line under the yard is the sewer line replacement guide. A new window over the sink is the window replacement guide. The trim around it can be part of the kitchen. The window unit should stay its own line.

Cost per square foot

Per square foot is a way to read the tiers, once you know the floor area. It is a cross-check. A small kitchen still has one sink, one range, and one trip for the crew, so the rate on a 10×10 is often higher than the rate on a 250 square foot kitchen even when the total is lower.

Tier	Typical cost per sq ft
Small refresh	$80–$200
Mid-range, layout stays	$150–$275
Major, layout changes	$350–$700

The mid-range rate is the $30,000–$55,000 band divided by about 200 square feet: $150–$275 a square foot. One hundred square feet at that same rate is about $15,000–$28,000, which is the 10×10 row. A refresh at $80–$200 a square foot is how paint, hardware, and a counter on solid boxes stay in the $8,000–$25,000 tier on an ordinary kitchen. A major remodel at $350–$700 a square foot is how a 200 square foot gut lands in the $70,000–$150,000 tier. A very large major kitchen can clear the top of that tier. The rate does not include a room addition.

Use the size table for the total, and use this table to see whether a per-foot number you were quoted is a refresh, a layout that stays, or a gut. A “$200 a square foot” quote on a 10×10 is about $20,000, a small-kitchen remodel. The same rate on 200 square feet is about $40,000, the middle of the typical band. The same words are two different budgets.

What $25,000 or $50,000 gets you

$25,000 is the top of a small refresh or the middle of a 10×10 remodel that keeps the layout. At that number you can typically paint or reface solid cabinet boxes, swap hardware, set a modest counter, replace appliances that fit the old openings, and put flooring in the kitchen only. Stock cabinets on a 10×10 fit this budget when the sink and the range stay. A 200 square foot semi-custom package is the next tier up. $25,000 does not move the sink, remove a wall, or buy a panel-ready appliance set.

$50,000 sits inside the typical mid-range band. On a kitchen of about 200 square feet that keeps the layout, it covers stock or semi-custom cabinets, a real mid-tier counter, a mid-tier appliance set, kitchen-only flooring, a backsplash, and professional labor. It can also be a smaller kitchen with better cabinets. It is usually not a gut that moves the sink, opens a wall, and specifies custom inset cabinets together. That scope is the $70,000–$150,000 tier. Fifty thousand dollars can be the start of that conversation. It is the whole job only when the drawing keeps the pipes and the walls where they are.

Ask each bidder to mark which of those two numbers they are pricing, and to name the cabinet line, the counter material, and the appliance list. An allowance that is silent about those choices is a change order waiting to happen.

What moves the price

Driver	How it changes the bid
Size	A 10×10 that keeps the layout is often $15,000–$28,000. About 200 square feet is the $30,000–$55,000 band. At 250 square feet and up, a layout that stays is often $40,000–$75,000.
Layout	Moving the sink even a few feet means a new drain, vent, and supply lines. An island sink is harder than a sink that stays on an exterior wall. Moving the range can mean gas and a new circuit. That is the major tier.
Walls	Opening the kitchen to another room is framing, a beam or a header, and finishes on both sides. It is a different project from a cabinet option.
Cabinets	Stock boxes are the lower part of the $8,000–$18,000 cabinet line. Semi-custom is the typical 200 square foot story. Inset or fully custom cabinets can exceed the rest of a mid-range budget. Refacing solid boxes is the cabinet refacing guide, and it costs less than new boxes.
Counters	Material price matters, and so do seams, a sink cutout, an overhang for stools, and a waterfall edge. A modest slab on a simple run is the $2,000–$6,000 line.
Appliances	A standard slide-in range and a dishwasher that fits the old opening are the $3,000–$8,000 line. A panel-ready column set leaves it.
Electrical and plumbing	Dedicated circuits and GFCI protection for the new work are the layout-stays line, often $1,000–$3,500. A full service upgrade is the panel project, priced on its own.
Flooring and finishes	New floor in the kitchen only is in the typical band. Running that floor through the dining room is extra. Solid hardwood that continues outside the kitchen is the hardwood floor guide. New hardwood priced on its own is the hardwood flooring installation guide. Vinyl plank priced on its own is the vinyl plank flooring guide. Laminate priced on its own is the laminate flooring guide. Wall-to-wall carpet in the bedrooms and the hall is the carpet installation guide.
Hidden conditions	Wet subfloor, amateur wiring, plaster, and out-of-level walls turn a week of labor into three.

Cabinet refacing and new doors on square boxes can look like a new kitchen from the doorway. They cannot fix a layout that makes two people collide, and they cannot hold a stone counter if the boxes are already sagging. Say which one you are buying.

DIY or hire

DIY is realistic for painting cabinets that are already well built, swapping hardware, installing a simple tile or a peel-and-stick backsplash on a flat wall, and swapping a faucet if the shutoff valves work and the sink stays put. Those are the kinds of tasks that keep a refresh inside $8,000–$25,000. Cabinet installation is a poor place to learn. Boxes that are out of level make every countertop and every appliance harder, and the counter shop will not template a run that moves when you lean on it.

Hire for new circuits, for gas, and for any drain you are relocating. Hire the countertop fabrication even if you are tempted by a remnant slab. Templating, the cutout, and the seam are the job. If you want to be your own general contractor, you still need a written sequence: demolition, rough plumbing and electrical, inspection, cabinets, template, counters, then appliances. Decide before anyone orders whether the boxes sit on the finished floor or on the subfloor. That choice sets whether the floor goes in before the cabinets.

A bathroom that is open the same month needs its own sequence. The two rooms can share a plumber and an electrician. They should have two scopes.

Repair or replace

Repair and refinish when the layout works and the cabinet boxes are solid. New doors, paint, hardware, and a countertop on square boxes can look like a remodel and stay in the small tier. Replace a failing appliance, and replace a dishwasher that has been leaking, after the floor is dried and the subfloor is checked. A soft spot under the dishwasher is a repair you price before you order cabinets.

Remodel, in the mid-range sense, when you want new boxes and new finishes and the sink and the range can stay. That is $15,000–$28,000 on a 10×10 and $30,000–$55,000 on about 200 square feet. Remodel in the major sense when the layout makes the room hard to use, the boxes are swollen or the particleboard has failed, or you have decided the sink or the range must move. Dated paint on square boxes is a refresh. A soft floor under the dishwasher is a repair you do first.

Get the electrical and plumbing looked at before you fall in love with a plan. A kitchen that needs a service upgrade is a kitchen plus the project in the panel guide. A kitchen that needs a new hot-water strategy is a kitchen plus the water heater.

How to use this number

Pick the tier and the size before you collect bids. A 10×10 that keeps the layout is $15,000–$28,000. About 200 square feet that keeps the layout is $30,000–$55,000. A gut that moves water or a wall is $70,000–$150,000. Ask each contractor to price the same layout, the same cabinet line or the same reface scope, and the same appliance list, and to show the line items for cabinets, labor, counters, appliances, flooring, and the backsplash. Write down whether the sink and the range stay.

Then see which tier your number sits in. A bid of about $25,000 is a refresh or a small kitchen. A bid of about $50,000 is the mid-range band for about 200 square feet with the layout kept. A “mid-range” bid at the top of the major tier is either a layout change or a material list that left the mid tier. Two or three local bids, with the same drawings, are the price. The methodology page describes how these bands were set.