Kitchen Remodel Cost Breakdown: Cabinets vs. Countertops vs. Labor

Written by the AMG Proline Team | Chicago kitchen and bathroom remodeling, serving Crestwood and the surrounding suburbs for more than 25 years.

You are standing in your kitchen right now, probably looking at a drawer that sticks, a counter with a chip in it, or cabinets in a color you stopped liking about nine years ago. You have thought about fixing it. You have maybe even Googled it once and closed the tab, because every number you saw was somewhere between fifteen thousand dollars and a small mortgage.

That reaction is normal. It is also the reason most people put this off for years.

Here is what actually helps: understanding where the money goes. Not the total. The total is scary and useless on its own. What you want to know is which parts of a kitchen eat the budget, which parts do not, and where a decision you make today changes the final number by five thousand dollars or fifty thousand.

This guide walks through the three biggest pieces of any kitchen remodel: cabinets, countertops, and labor. Real percentages, real 2026 pricing, and honest notes on what pushes those numbers around in the Chicago area.

You Are Not the Only One Doing This

Kitchen remodeling is not a niche activity. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies projects that total homeowner spending on improvements will reach roughly $518 billion by the end of 2026. harvard

And the reasons people remodel are less about magazine photos than you might think. In the 2026 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, the top motivator was dissatisfaction with an outdated style at 41 percent, but deterioration or a kitchen that simply no longer works was right behind it at 38 percent, up from 35 percent the year before. Houzz also found the median age of a U.S. home is 40 years, and noted that with aging housing stock and people staying in their homes longer, more owners are choosing to fix the kitchen they have instead of moving. floordailyyahoo

If your kitchen is 30 or 40 years old and you are tired of working around it, you are in the majority. Chicago and the surrounding suburbs are full of bungalows, ranches, and older homes with kitchens that were laid out for a very different way of living.

What People Actually Spend

Before we break the budget into pieces, here is the size of the pie.

The 2026 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, based on a survey of roughly 1,780 homeowners, put the median spend for a major kitchen remodel at $55,000 and a minor remodel at $20,000. Kitchen size moves that a lot. Homeowners spent a median of $75,000 on a major remodel of a kitchen 250 square feet or larger, versus $46,000 for a smaller one. Among the top 10 percent of spenders, major remodels reached a median of $150,000 for larger kitchens and $120,000 for smaller ones. houzzhouzz

Two things to understand about those numbers.

First, “major” and “minor” are doing heavy lifting. In the Houzz study, a major remodel means all cabinets and appliances get replaced, while a minor one means only some of them do. That single distinction is worth tens of thousands of dollars. houzz

Second, these are national medians. Chicago runs higher. Local labor rates and the realities of working in older homes, city buildings, and tight condo schedules all add cost. One 2026 labor cost index puts kitchen remodel labor in Chicago at roughly 22 percent above the national average. Most Chicago-area contractors quote full kitchen remodels somewhere in the range of $175 to $450 per square foot depending on scope, with luxury custom work going past $500. renovcostpegasusbuilds

So if you are in Naperville or Hinsdale looking at a 180 square foot kitchen and someone quotes you $22,000 for a full gut with custom cabinetry, that is not a bargain. That is a red flag.

The Standard Budget Breakdown

The National Kitchen and Bath Association publishes a budget breakdown that has been the industry reference point for years. It allocates 29 percent to cabinetry and hardware, 17 percent to installation, 14 percent to appliances and ventilation, 10 percent to countertops, 7 percent to flooring, 5 percent to lighting, 5 percent to walls and ceilings, 4 percent to design fees, 4 percent to doors and windows, 4 percent to faucets and plumbing, and 1 percent to everything else. hgtv

Here is what that looks like on real budgets:

Use this as a sanity check, not a rule. If a quote you receive puts cabinets at 55 percent of the total, that is not automatically wrong, it just means you are buying custom cabinetry and you should know that is the choice you are making.

Cabinets: The Biggest Line Item, Every Time

Cabinets take the largest share of nearly every kitchen budget. Better Homes and Gardens, citing the NKBA, puts cabinetry at 25 to 40 percent of a kitchen renovation. Cabinets also happen to be the thing almost nobody skips. In the 2026 Houzz study, cabinet upgrades were nearly universal at 84 percent, with 68 percent of renovating homeowners replacing all their cabinets and 27 percent doing partial replacements. bossdesigncenterkbbonline

There is a reason for that. Cabinets set your layout, your storage, and how the room looks the second you walk in. They are also the single largest physical object in the room.

What You Will Pay

Installed cost per linear foot in 2026 breaks down roughly like this:

• Stock cabinets: about $100 to $400 per linear foot. Fixed sizes, limited finishes, standard configurations. avrelahome
• Semi-custom cabinets: about $150 to $700 per linear foot. More sizes, more finishes, selected modifications. avrelahome
• Custom cabinets: about $500 to $1,200 or more per linear foot. Built for your room, your appliance plan, and your storage needs. avrelahome

A typical kitchen has 20 to 25 linear feet of cabinetry. Do that math and you can see why cabinet tier is the single biggest lever in your whole budget. The same kitchen can cost $5,000 in cabinets or $25,000 depending on which of those three rows you pick.

What Drives the Number Up

Tier. Stock to semi-custom to custom is the main jump.

Materials and finish. Solid hardwood costs more than plywood boxes with veneer fronts. Painted finishes usually cost more than stained ones because of the extra prep and cure time.

Linear footage. More cabinets, more money. An island with storage on both sides is effectively another cabinet run.

Interior storage. This one adds up quietly. Houzz found that 94 percent of homeowners integrate specialty storage into their new cabinetry, including pull-out waste or recycling bins at 64 percent, tray and cookie sheet dividers at 55 percent, spice storage at 41 percent, and cutlery organizers at 38 percent. Each of those is a small line item. Ten of them is not. kbbonline

Built-in features. More than three quarters of homeowners (76 percent) add specialty built-ins, most commonly pantry cabinets at 47 percent, walk-in pantries at 16 percent, and beverage stations at 24 percent. kbbonline

Where to Save and Where to Spend

If your kitchen has a standard rectangular layout with normal ceiling heights, semi-custom cabinets will serve you well and save real money over custom. This is where most homeowners land.

If your kitchen has an angled wall, a soffit, a radiator in the corner, or a nine inch gap that stock sizes cannot fill, custom cabinetry usually pays for itself. Chicago bungalows and older suburban homes are full of exactly these situations. Filler panels covering dead space are not just ugly, they are storage you paid for and cannot use.

A middle path a lot of people take: semi-custom for the perimeter runs, custom for the island or one feature wall.

If you want to see how the tiers compare in person, our custom kitchen cabinets page covers construction, finishes, and storage options in more detail, and you can look at door samples in our Crestwood showroom.

Countertops: 10 Percent of the Budget, 90 Percent of the First Impression

Countertops usually take about a tenth of the total budget, but they carry an outsized share of how the finished kitchen feels. They are the surface you touch every day and the first thing a guest notices.

They are also close to universal in a remodel. Houzz found 91 percent of homeowners upgrade their countertops and 85 percent upgrade backsplashes and sinks. culturemap

2026 Installed Pricing by Material

Installed cost per square foot, national ranges:

• Laminate: roughly $20 to $50, with a typical midpoint near $35. slabwise
• Granite: roughly $40 to $140, typical midpoint near $80. slabwise
• Quartz: roughly $50 to $150, typical midpoint near $85. slabwise
• Quartzite: roughly $60 to $200, typical midpoint near $110. slabwise
• Marble: roughly $75 to $250, typical midpoint near $130.For quartz specifically, the national average lands around $75 to $95 per square foot installed, which puts a typical 40 square foot kitchen counter at roughly $3,000 to $6,000 including material, fabrication, and installation. slabwiseslabwise

In the Chicago area, quartz commonly quotes a bit higher than national averages because of local fabrication and labor rates.

What Moves the Price

Material grade within the same stone. Two quartz slabs can be $50 and $130 per square foot. The brand, the thickness, and how dramatic the veining is all matter.

Square footage and seams. Bigger tops cost more, obviously. But fewer visible seams can also cost more, because it takes a larger slab or careful slab matching.

Edge profile. A simple eased edge is included in most quotes. A mitered waterfall edge on an island is a separate conversation and a meaningful add.

Cutouts. Sink, cooktop, faucet holes, and outlets each take fabrication time.

Maintenance you are signing up for. Quartz does not need sealing. Granite does. Marble stains and etches. None of that shows up on the invoice, but it shows up in your life.

The Move Most People Make

Quartz or granite on the perimeter runs, and marble reserved for the island if you want that look. You get the material you love in the spot everyone looks at, without paying marble prices for 40 feet of counter and without babysitting a porous stone next to the stove.

Our countertop installation page goes deeper on quartz, granite, and marble side by side, including durability and upkeep for each. If you are pairing counters with tile, the backsplash installation page is worth a look too, since the two decisions are usually made together.

Labor: The Part Everyone Underestimates

Here is the category that surprises people.

The NKBA breakdown puts installation at 17 percent of the budget. That sounds modest until you realize it is often the second largest line item on the whole project, and it is the one you cannot look at in a showroom. hgtv

Labor is not one thing. It is a general contractor, carpenters, a plumber, an electrician, a countertop fabrication crew, a tile setter, a drywall and paint crew, and someone coordinating all of them so the countertop template does not get scheduled before the cabinets are hung.

This is also why almost nobody does a serious kitchen alone. Among homeowners spending $50,000 or more, 98 percent hired at least one professional, with general contractors leading at 60 percent, building specialists at 53 percent, and cabinetmakers at 43 percent. houzz

What Drives Labor Cost

Whether you move plumbing or gas. Keeping the sink where it is costs almost nothing. Moving it to an island means new supply lines, new drain, and possibly a vent. Same story for a gas range.

Electrical scope. Modern kitchens need more circuits than old ones. Adding an island with outlets, under-cabinet lighting, and a dedicated circuit for a new appliance is real electrical work by a licensed electrician.

Demolition and what is behind the wall. This is the honest one. In a 40 year old home, opening a wall can turn up knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized pipe, water damage under the sink, or a subfloor that is not level. None of that is optional once you find it.

Structural changes. Removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room means confirming whether it is load bearing, and if it is, a beam and a permit.

Permits and inspections. Any project touching plumbing, electrical, or structure typically requires permits and inspections. In Chicago and most suburbs this adds both cost and calendar time.

Building access. Condo and high-rise projects add cost that single family homes do not have, because of elevator scheduling, restricted work hours, and building rules on material delivery.

Where to Save

The single biggest labor saving decision is keeping your existing footprint. New cabinets, new counters, new backsplash, new flooring, and new lighting in the same layout will transform a kitchen completely and skip most of the plumbing and structural labor.

If your layout genuinely does not work, and for a lot of older Chicago kitchens it genuinely does not, then move it. Just go in knowing that the layout change, not the finishes, is where the labor budget goes.

Does It Pay You Back?

This is worth knowing before you decide how far to go.

The annual Cost vs. Value Report tracks what remodeling projects return at resale, and the pattern is consistent: the less you spend, the higher the percentage you get back.

A minor kitchen remodel, which keeps the existing cabinet boxes and replaces fronts, counters, sink, flooring, and appliances, has averaged about $28,458 nationally with an estimated $32,141 in added resale value, or roughly 113 percent of cost recouped. A midrange major remodel averaged about $82,793 with roughly $42,156 recouped, near 51 percent. An upscale major remodel averaged about $164,104 with roughly $58,592 recouped, near 36 percent. kitchencabinetkings

Read that carefully, because it is easy to draw the wrong conclusion.

It does not mean you should never do a full remodel. It means resale value and personal value are two different things. If you are selling in eighteen months, a minor remodel is almost certainly the smarter financial move. If you are staying in this house for fifteen years and you cook every night in a kitchen that frustrates you, the return you care about is not measured in resale percentages.

Houzz found that 25 percent of renovating homeowners cited resale value as a motivator, while 41 percent cited style and 38 percent cited a kitchen that had deteriorated or stopped working. Most people are remodeling to live in it, not to sell it. floordaily

How to Read a Quote Without Getting Burned

A few things worth checking on any bid you receive:

Is it itemized? A single number with no breakdown tells you nothing and makes comparing two bids impossible. Ask for cabinets, countertops, labor, appliances, flooring, and permits as separate lines.

What cabinet tier is quoted? Stock, semi-custom, or custom should be written down, along with the manufacturer and door style.

Is countertop fabrication included? Templating, cutouts, edge work, delivery, and removal of the old tops should all be spelled out. “Countertops: $4,000” is not enough detail.

Who pulls the permits? The answer should be the contractor, and the permit cost should appear in the quote.

What happens if something is found behind the wall? Every honest contractor has a process for change orders. Ask what it is before you sign, not after.

Is there a written timeline? Most kitchen remodels run 4 to 8 weeks of construction, longer if cabinets have a long lead time or if structural work is involved.

Build In a Buffer

Set aside 10 to 15 percent of your total budget as a contingency and do not touch it for upgrades.

This is the most common piece of advice in the industry and the most commonly ignored. Older homes hide things. When demolition opens up a wall in a home built in 1955 and there is a surprise inside, the contingency is what keeps your project moving instead of stalling while you figure out financing.

If you never need it, you have a bonus at the end. If you do need it, you will be very glad it was there.

A Practical Way to Start

1. Decide your total comfortable number first, before you shop for anything.
2. Walk your kitchen and write down what actually bothers you. Not what looks nice online, what annoys you daily.
3. Decide if the layout stays or changes. That one decision splits your budget more than any material choice.
4. Rank cabinets, countertops, and appliances in order of what matters most to you. When something has to give, you will already know what.
5. Get an itemized quote from a contractor who will walk your space in person.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel?

Cabinets. They typically take 25 to 40 percent of the total budget, more than any other single category. Installed cost runs about $100 to $400 per linear foot for stock cabinets, $150 to $700 for semi-custom, and $500 to $1,200 or more for fully custom.

What percentage of a kitchen remodel is labor?

The NKBA budget breakdown puts installation at 17 percent of the total. In practice it can run higher on smaller kitchens, where fixed labor costs do not scale down, and on projects that move plumbing, gas, or electrical.

How much do countertops cost in a kitchen remodel?

Countertops usually account for about 10 percent of the budget. Installed 2026 pricing runs roughly $20 to $50 per square foot for laminate, $40 to $140 for granite, $50 to $150 for quartz, and $75 to $250 for marble.

How much does a kitchen remodel cost in the Chicago area?

Chicago area kitchen remodels commonly run $175 to $450 per square foot depending on scope, with luxury custom work going higher. Local labor rates run above the national average, so national medians are usually a low starting point for Chicagoland.

Is a minor kitchen remodel worth more than a full remodel?

Financially at resale, yes. Cost vs. Value data shows a minor kitchen remodel recouping around 113 percent of its cost nationally, versus roughly 51 percent for a midrange major remodel and about 36 percent for an upscale one. If you are staying in the home long term, personal use value matters more than the resale percentage.

How much should I set aside for surprises?

Plan on 10 to 15 percent of your total budget as a contingency. Older homes frequently turn up outdated wiring, old plumbing, or subfloor issues once demolition starts.

Get a Real Number for Your Kitchen

Percentages and national medians are good for planning. They are not a quote.

The only way to know what your kitchen will cost is to have someone walk it, measure it, look at what is behind the sink, and price the specific cabinets and counters you actually want.

That is free with us and there is no obligation attached. Come see the showroom at 4711 W 135th St in Crestwood, or call (708) 979-3298 and we will come to you. You can also request a free quote online, or look through our recent projects to see what different budgets actually produce.

We work throughout Chicago and the suburbs, including Naperville, Oak Brook, and Hinsdale. If you are not sure whether you are in our service area, just call and ask.