New Jersey · Cost guide · Updated September 29, 2026

What a kitchen remodel costs in New Jersey in 2026

About $31,400 for a minor midrange remodel and $90,300 for a major one in the New York City market, and about $183,200 for an upscale kitchen, by the 2025 Cost vs Value Report, the newest edition. It prices no New Jersey city, so we show New York for North Jersey and Philadelphia for South Jersey. Below: where the money goes, a worked example at a Belleville contractor's published prices, and New Jersey's tax, permit and contract rules.

Price your kitchen with AB: 908-331-0796 Send AB your kitchen

AB Contracting & Design is a paid partner of LA Trusted Partners. You're always free to choose whether to hire them. The market figures on this page come from the linked sources; only the worked example uses AB's prices. Read the disclosure.

Finished kitchen with white shaker cabinets, butcher-block counters, a farmhouse sink and a range hood — A kitchen remodeled by AB Contracting & Design, from AB's website.

Minor, midrange, New York market: $31,419
Major, midrange, New York market: $90,252
Major, upscale, New York market: $183,172
US median, all kitchen remodels in 2025: $24,000

The numbers

What a kitchen remodel costs, by the published data

The Cost vs Value Report prices the same three kitchens in 119 markets from building-cost data and asks more than 6,000 real estate agents what each adds at resale. All three are a 200 sq ft kitchen with 30 linear feet of cabinets. The Middle Atlantic region includes New Jersey but lists no New Jersey city, so the closest markets are New York for North Jersey and Philadelphia for South Jersey.

Kitchen remodel job cost by market, Remodeling 2025 Cost vs Value Report
Job	What the job includes	National	Middle Atlantic	New York	Philadelphia	Back at resale (New York)
Minor remodel, midrange	Keep the cabinet boxes, new shaker doors and drawer fronts, new range and refrigerator, laminate counters, sink and faucet, resilient floor, paint.	$28,458	$31,212	$31,419	$28,130	103.1%
Major remodel, midrange	New layout with semi-custom wood cabinets and a 3×5 ft island, laminate counters, new appliances and hood, custom lighting, resilient floor, paint.	$82,793	$89,679	$90,252	$81,121	46.9%
Major remodel, upscale	Custom cabinets, stone counters, glass or imported tile backsplash, built-in refrigerator, commercial-grade cooktop, wall oven, undercabinet lights, tile floor.	$164,104	$181,994	$183,172	$165,721	33.8%

What homeowners actually spent

The Cost vs Value figures are what a contractor would charge for a set job. Houzz's 2026 study asks 10,176 homeowners what they spent on the renovations they did in 2025. Its medians include do-it-yourself work and are not adjusted for inflation, which is why they run lower. A major remodel, in Houzz's terms, replaces at least all the cabinets and appliances.

Plan for the overrun: in the same study, nearly 2 in 5 renovating homeowners (37%) went over budget, most often because products or services cost more than expected. And plan for the sale: the resale column above shows only the minor remodel earns back its cost.

Median and top-10% kitchen spend in 2025, 2026 U.S. Houzz & Home study
Kitchen project, US, 2025	Median spend	Top 10% spent
All kitchen remodels	$24,000	$100,000
Major remodel, kitchen under 200 sq ft	$35,000	$93,000 or more
Major remodel, kitchen 200 sq ft or more	$55,000	$150,000 or more

2026 U.S. Houzz & Home Renovation Trends Study.

The budget

Where the money goes

Cabinets come first

In the National Kitchen & Bath Association's market report, cabinetry was 26% of all kitchen remodeling spending in 2017, and cabinets and appliances were the two biggest categories, ahead of countertops and flooring. Custom cabinets push the share higher: the NKBA has written that they can take 50 to 60 percent of the budget. In Houzz's kitchen study, 68% of renovating homeowners replaced every cabinet.

The layout decides the trades

Keeping the sink, range and refrigerator where they are keeps the plumbing, gas and wiring simple. Moving them is often worth it, AB says, but it means new pipe and wire inside the walls, licensed trades and, in most cases, a permit. Ask for the move priced as its own line.

Tax and paperwork are small, if handled

A signed Form ST-8 takes sales tax off the cabinets and fixtures, but not off the floor installation or the painting. Permit fees are set by each town, so ask your construction office for its schedule. Both are covered below.

Worked example

The trade labor in a 200 sq ft kitchen, at a Belleville contractor's prices

Most contractors will not publish a kitchen price. AB Contracting & Design publishes its per-item prices on its cost guide, so here they are applied to the same 200 sq ft kitchen the Cost vs Value Report prices. The quantities are our assumptions. This is not a quote: AB's prices are minimums, and your written proposal is the number that counts.

Worked example: AB Contracting & Design published labor prices applied to a 200 sq ft kitchen
Line	Assumed quantity	AB's published price	Comes to
Sink and dishwasher hookup	2 plumbing fixtures, left where they are	$950+ per fixture, labor	$1,900+
Lights	6 light fixtures	$300+ per fixture, labor	$1,800+
Backsplash tile	30 sq ft	$10–$20+ per sq ft, labor	$300–$600+
Vinyl or laminate floor	140 sq ft, the open floor of a 200 sq ft kitchen	$5+ per sq ft, labor	$700+
Drywall, hung and finished	6 sheets after the plumbing and wiring	$220 per sheet, labor and material	$1,320
These trade lines together			$6,020–$6,320+

Not in that total

The cabinets, countertops, appliances, sink and faucet; the tile and flooring material; demolition; cabinet and counter installation; painting; the permit fee; and sales tax where it applies. AB's drywall price has a minimum job size.

What it tells you

The plumbing, electrical, tile, floor and drywall labor is about a quarter of the $24,000 national median. The rest of a kitchen budget is what you choose: the cabinets, the counters and the appliances. That is where to spend time comparing, and where two quotes for the “same” kitchen usually differ.

Sales tax

Do you pay sales tax on a kitchen remodel in New Jersey?

On some lines. New Jersey's sales tax is 6.625%, and on a kitchen bill it depends on the line, not the room. The rules are in the Division of Taxation's bulletin S&U-2, Sales Tax and Home Improvements.

Cabinets and fixtures: no tax, with the form. New kitchen cabinets and fixtures are exempt capital improvements. Give the contractor a completed Certificate of Exempt Capital Improvement (Form ST-8) and it may not charge you sales tax on the materials or the labor for that work. The contractor pays tax on the materials it buys, and may not pass it to you as tax.
Flooring and painting: taxed. Installing flooring is a taxable capital improvement, and interior painting is a taxable maintenance service. Floor covering bought from a dealer is always taxed, and when a dealer sells and installs it, both are taxed.
Ask for an itemized bill. When a lump sum mixes taxable work without separating material from labor, the tax applies to the whole bill.
Doing it yourself: you pay sales tax on the materials you buy.

Only the owner signs the ST-8

The form can be issued only by the owner of the property, every field has to be filled in, and it cannot be used to buy materials tax-free. Hand it to the contractor before the first invoice.

Permits

When a New Jersey kitchen needs a permit

Every New Jersey town enforces the same construction code, and it sorts kitchen work into three tiers (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2, current through August 17, 2026). Your town's construction office takes the notice or the permit, sets the fee and sends the inspector.

No permit, no notice

Ordinary maintenance, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7

Replacing cabinets
New flooring, painting, wallpaper and trim
Drywall on less than 25% of the wall area, in a one- or two-family home
A new faucet, or a sink or other fixture swapped like for like with no change to the piping
A replacement dishwasher
Switches, outlets and light fixtures swapped like for like
A replacement range hood no stronger than the old one, or 400 cfm or less, that vents outside or recirculates on its own
A stove or oven with no change in fuel, pipe size, location or electrical supply

Tell the town first, permit within 5 business days

Minor work, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.17A

Renovation in a one- or two-family home that does not alter primary structural members
New fixtures where the water service and drain do not need to get bigger
Five or fewer new outlets on circuits that can carry the load
Wiring for a new range or oven in a one- or two-family home

Permit before work starts

N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14

Cutting into a loadbearing wall or removing a beam
Any work that affects structural or fire safety
Moving the sink, the gas line or wiring is not ordinary maintenance: ask the construction office whether your job is minor work or needs the permit first

Licensed trades. Plumbing and electrical work has to be done by licensed contractors, except by a homeowner on their own single-family home, and the licensed contractor's seal and signature go on the permit application (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.15). Ask any kitchen contractor who holds those licenses on your job.

Countertops are not named in the ordinary-maintenance list. Counters set on existing cabinets are usually handled like the cabinets, but confirm with your construction office.

The contract

What New Jersey requires in a kitchen contract, and how payments should run

The law

Any home improvement contract over $500 has to be in writing, with the contractor's legal name, business address and registration number, a start and completion date, the work and the total price, plus a copy of its liability insurance certificate (N.J.S.A. 56:8-151 and the Division of Consumer Affairs brief).
You can cancel for any reason before midnight of the third business day after you get your copy, in writing, and every dollar paid comes back within 30 days.
A contractor cannot demand the final payment before the work is done, and the Division of Consumer Affairs says final inspections come before the final payment. It lists asking for more than a third of the price before work begins as a warning sign, and says to ask for a lien waiver before you sign.
Check the contractor's registration on the State lookup, or read how to check a contractor in New Jersey.

How AB is paid

AB publishes its schedule: a deposit of 25% to 50% when the contract is signed, 25% at an agreed milestone and 25% at completion, with any change orders. On large projects it offers a retainer and a smaller deposit, with payments tied to completed work. Financing is available, and proposals hold for 30 days.

A deposit above a third is one the State's guide tells you to question, so ask AB where yours will fall. AB's registration, 13VH11431800, was active when LA Trusted checked it on September 27, 2026.

AB as a general contractor in Essex County

Price your kitchen

Call AB, or send us the kitchen and we pass it on

AB Contracting & Design works from its office in Belleville across Essex, Union and Passaic counties, and says it runs kitchens with its own builders, plumbers and electricians. Call and ask for Andrew: 908-331-0796. Phone estimates are free; an in-person estimate is $50 and comes off the contract when you sign.

Rather write it down? Send the kitchen here. LA Trusted passes it to AB, and AB calls you back about the layout and a price.

AB's Trusted Partner page AB's kitchen remodeling page

Questions

Kitchen remodel cost in New Jersey: common questions

How much does a kitchen remodel cost in New Jersey?

About $31,400 for a minor midrange remodel and $90,300 for a major midrange remodel in the New York City market, and about $183,200 for an upscale one, according to the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs Value Report, the newest edition. The report prices no New Jersey city; New York is the closest market to North Jersey and Philadelphia to South Jersey, where the same jobs run about $28,100, $81,100 and $165,700. Nationally, the median homeowner who remodeled a kitchen in 2025 spent $24,000 (Houzz).

What is the most expensive part of redoing a kitchen?

The cabinets. In the National Kitchen & Bath Association's market report, cabinetry was 26% of all spending on kitchen remodeling in 2017, and cabinets and appliances were the two biggest categories, ahead of countertops and flooring. With custom cabinets the share climbs: the NKBA has written that higher-priced custom cabinetry can take 50 to 60 percent of the budget. Moving the sink, range or refrigerator is the other big cost, because it moves plumbing, gas and wiring and brings in a permit.

What is the 30% rule in remodeling?

A rule of thumb, not a law or an industry standard: do not spend more than 30% of your home's value on renovations. Yahoo Finance's example (March 9, 2026) is a $400,000 home with no more than $120,000 in renovation spending, and it calls the rule a guideline, not a hard-and-fast rule. Sources disagree on whether the 30% is per project or for all your projects combined, so use it as a ceiling check, not a budget.

Is $30,000 enough for a kitchen remodel?

For a minor remodel, about. The Cost vs Value Report prices a minor midrange remodel at $31,419 in the New York market and $28,458 nationally: new cabinet doors on the old boxes, a new range and refrigerator, laminate counters, a sink and faucet, a new floor and paint. It is not enough for a major remodel with new cabinets and a new layout, which the report prices at $90,252 in the New York market; the national median for a major remodel of even a small kitchen was $35,000 in 2025 (Houzz).

Is $10,000 enough for a kitchen remodel?

For a partial update, yes; for a remodel, no. Houzz's 2026 Kitchen Trends study puts the median minor remodel at $20,000 in a kitchen under 250 sq ft. $10,000 covers pieces: at AB Contracting & Design's published labor prices, a new vinyl or laminate floor in a 140 sq ft kitchen is $700 and up and a 30 sq ft tile backsplash is $300 to $600 and up, before material. Paint, hardware and a new faucet stretch it further.

How much does a kitchen remodel cost per square foot?

No source publishes a sourced New Jersey figure per square foot. Dividing the Cost vs Value Report's New York market prices by its 200 sq ft kitchen gives about $157 a square foot for a minor midrange remodel, $451 for a major midrange remodel and $916 for an upscale one. Size moves the total less than it moves the per-foot price: Houzz's 2025 medians are $35,000 for a major remodel under 200 sq ft and $55,000 for 200 sq ft or more, because a small kitchen still needs a sink, a range, a refrigerator and the trades to hook them up.

Do you need a permit to remodel a kitchen in New Jersey?

Not for a like-for-like update. Under the State's construction code, replacing cabinets, flooring, paint, trim, a faucet, a dishwasher, a stove on the same fuel, and switches or light fixtures swapped like for like is ordinary maintenance with no permit and no notice. Adding fixtures the existing plumbing can carry, or up to five outlets on circuits that can carry them, is minor work: tell the construction office first and file the permit within five business days. Cutting a loadbearing wall or removing a beam needs a permit before work starts, and moving the sink, gas or wiring is not ordinary maintenance. Plumbing and electrical work has to be done by licensed contractors, except by a homeowner on their own single-family home.

Do you pay sales tax on a kitchen remodel in New Jersey?

Partly. New kitchen cabinets and fixtures are an exempt capital improvement: give the contractor a completed Form ST-8 and it may not charge you the 6.625% sales tax on the materials or labor for that work. Installing flooring is taxable, interior painting is taxable, and floor covering bought from a dealer is always taxed. A lump-sum bill that mixes taxable work without separating material from labor is taxed on the whole amount, so ask for an itemized invoice.

How long does a kitchen remodel take?

Longer than most people plan for. In Houzz's 2026 study of 2025 renovations, kitchen projects had the longest timeline of any room: an average of 9.5 months of planning and 5.8 months of construction. Nearly 2 in 5 renovating homeowners (37%) also went over budget, most often because products or services cost more than expected.

How do I get a price for my kitchen from AB Contracting & Design?

Call AB at 908-331-0796 and ask for Andrew, or send the kitchen with the form on this page and LA Trusted passes it to AB. Phone estimates are free; an in-person estimate is $50 and comes off the contract when you sign. AB prices each kitchen line by line from its own costs, and the proposal holds for 30 days.

Sources used on this page

All sources read on September 29, 2026.

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