A kitchen remodel in the Sacramento region costs $20,000 to $75,000 for most of the homes we work in. Swap the surfaces and keep the layout and you start near $12,000; add an island, move a wall and specify stone throughout and you pass $100,000. Three things decide where you land: how big the room is, how far you go, and which city you are in — the same kitchen is a different price in El Dorado Hills than in Citrus Heights. Below are the real numbers for all three, and a calculator that puts them together.
These are 2026 contract values from our own jobs — materials, labor, permits and project management for a mid-size kitchen of 100–200 square feet. A small galley runs about 20% less; a large open-plan kitchen about 35% more.
| Scope | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Refresh — keep the layout, new surfaces | $12,000 – $20,000 |
| Mid-range — new cabinets, counters, lighting | $20,000 – $38,000 |
| Upscale — layout changes, custom cabinets | $40,000 – $75,000 |
| Luxury — island, structural work, premium finishes | $65,000 – $110,000 |
Permit fees, subcontractor rates and what a finished kitchen is expected to look like all follow local home values. The index below is what we see across our own contracts, with the City of Sacramento as the baseline:
| City | Cost index | Mid-range remodel lands at |
|---|---|---|
| El Dorado Hills | 115% | $23,000 – $43,700 |
| Granite Bay | 115% | $23,000 – $43,700 |
| Folsom | 110% | $22,000 – $41,800 |
| Davis | 108% | $21,600 – $41,040 |
| Roseville | 105% | $21,000 – $39,900 |
| Rocklin | 105% | $21,000 – $39,900 |
| Fair Oaks | 102% | $20,400 – $38,760 |
| Sacramento | 100% | $20,000 – $38,000 |
| Elk Grove | 100% | $20,000 – $38,000 |
| Carmichael | 98% | $19,600 – $37,240 |
| Citrus Heights | 95% | $19,000 – $36,100 |
| Rancho Cordova | 95% | $19,000 – $36,100 |
Each city below has its own page — neighborhoods we work in, how that permit desk behaves, and reviews from people who live there:
| Line item | Share of budget | On a $35,000 remodel |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinets | 30% | $10,500 |
| Labor & installation | 25% | $8,750 |
| Countertops | 12% | $4,200 |
| Appliances | 12% | $4,200 |
| Flooring | 6% | $2,100 |
| Plumbing & electrical | 8% | $2,800 |
| Permits & design | 4% | $1,400 |
| Contingency | 3% | $1,050 |
Cabinets plus labor are more than half the budget. That is why cabinets built to your actual layout — rather than a bigger room — are usually the change that makes the kitchen work, and why leaving the plumbing where it is saves more money than any material substitution.
Across our jobs: general carpentry runs $70–105 an hour, licensed electricians and plumbers $110–165, tile setters $60–95. Foothill towns — Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay — sit at the top of those ranges because crews travel further and the houses are bigger. On a design-build contract like ours you are not buying hours: the quote is fixed line items and a finished kitchen at a written price.
1) Keep the sink and the range where they are — relocating either one adds $2,500–7,000 of trade work before anything looks better. 2) Split the wish list into "now" and "next year" — floors and counters can follow cabinets. 3) See the design before you commit: mid-project changes of mind are the most expensive line item in remodeling, and looking at your own kitchen in the new finish prevents most of them. Ask about financing at the free in-home estimate.
Most Greater Sacramento kitchens we finish land between $20,000 and $75,000. Keeping the layout and replacing surfaces starts near $12,000; new cabinets, counters and lighting run $20,000–38,000; moving walls and adding custom cabinetry runs $40,000–75,000. Island kitchens with structural work go past $100,000.
Yes, and by a wide margin. The same scope that prices at $60,000 in Palo Alto or San Francisco typically comes in around $42,000–48,000 in Sacramento County, because labor rates, permit fees and subcontractor pricing all track local housing costs.
Finish expectations, house size and permit review times differ by city. In our work the same scope prices roughly 15–20% higher in El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay or Folsom than in Citrus Heights or Rancho Cordova — bigger kitchens, taller ceilings, more stone.
Whether the sink, range and refrigerator stay where they are. Keeping plumbing and gas in place removes trades, permit scope and a week of schedule. After that it is cabinets — they are close to a third of the total on every project.
No. It is a planning range built from our finished projects in these cities. A fixed written price comes after the free in-home measure, when we can see the walls, the subfloor and what is behind them.
Yes — we pull permits with the City of Sacramento, Sacramento County, Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, El Dorado County and the City of Davis, and we schedule the inspections. Straight cosmetic work usually needs no permit at all.
A surface refresh takes 2–3 weeks on site, a mid-range remodel 4–6 weeks, and a layout change 6–9 weeks plus cabinet lead time. Custom cabinets are the long pole: order them first, demolish later.
Free in-home measure across Greater Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties. Fixed written quote.