2026 local estimate · updated 2026-07-22
Cost to remodel a kitchen in Charleston, SC
A typical kitchen remodel in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC area runs $65,933, with most projects landing between $9,419 and $122,447 — about 6% below the national average.
Low
$9,419
Basic materials, simple job
Typical
$65,933
What most people pay
High
$122,447
Premium materials or complex job
What's priced: Mid-range remodel of a typical kitchen — new cabinets, countertops, sink and fixtures — without moving walls or relocating plumbing. Excludes permits, structural repairs found mid-job, and premium upgrades.
Why Charleston is cheaper than average
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC area earn about 17% less than the national mean for the same occupation, per Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. Because kitchen remodel is roughly 35% labor, that difference flows straight into the total.
Cabinets and countertops are the largest line items in a kitchen remodel and are bought rather than built on site, so materials carry most of the cost. Labor share rises on gut renovations that move plumbing or electrical, and falls on cabinet-and-counter refreshes.
Get a number for your own job
The figures above are for a standard project. Your size, materials, and access will move them. Run your own specification through the calculator, then apply the ×0.834 local labor factor to the labor portion.
Open the kitchen remodel calculator →Permits for a kitchen remodel in Charleston
Issuing authority: City of Charleston Permit Center / Building Inspections Division
Charleston's Permit Center treats kitchen cabinets and countertops as exempt from a permit only when no plumbing, fuel gas or electrical work is bundled with them — since a sink and fixture swap is part of this job, that exemption doesn't apply here. The building permit fee runs $15 for the first $1,000 of construction valuation plus $5 for each additional thousand or fraction up to $50,000, then $260 for the first $50,000 plus $4 per additional thousand up to $100,000, and a $40 non-refundable application fee is added to that for every building and trade permit.
On top of the building permit, expect a separate electrical permit with its own $40 application fee, and a $3.50 charge for each plumbing fixture connected. Once your valuation passes $1,000 and plans are required, a plan review fee equal to half the building permit fee also applies. Starting the work before the permit is issued doubles every fee the code lists, so pull the permits from the Permit Center before the crew begins.
When a permit is needed
- “Kitchen and bathroom cabinets and counter tops are exempt only when no associated plumbing, fuel gas and/or electrical work is included.” — City of Charleston Permit Center, Benefits of Building Permits (permit handout) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fees
- “$15.00 for the first $1,000 construction valuation, plus $5.00 for each additional thousand or fraction thereof, to and including $50,000” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2019) - Residential Alterations & Repairs table (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “$260.00 for the first $50,000 construction valuation, plus $4.00 for each additional thousand or fraction thereof, to and including $100,000” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2019) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “A non-refundable permit application of $40.00 is required for all building and trade permits. The application fee is in addition to any applicable permit fees.” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2019) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “When the valuation of the proposed construction exceeds $1,000 and building plans are required to be submitted for review and approval, a plan review fee shall be paid. The plan review fee shall be equal to one-half of the building permit fee.” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2019) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Each Plumbing Fixture $3.50” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule - Plumbing Permit Fee Table (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “ELECTRICAL PERMITS APPLICATION FEE $40.00 (The application fee is in addition to the Electrical Permit Fee)” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule - Electrical Permits (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Where work for which a permit is required by this code is started or proceeded prior to obtaining said permit, the fees herein specified shall be doubled” — City of Charleston, City of Charleston Building and Trade Permit Fee Schedule - Penalties (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fee source dated 2019; still the linked version — confirm current fees.
Quoted verbatim; not recalculated.
Rules set by the state of South Carolina
- South Carolina licenses remodeling contractors at state level: South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation - Residential Builders Commission (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Nearby metros
- Kitchen remodel in Greenville, SC — typically $66,129
- Kitchen remodel in Columbia, SC — typically $65,394
- Kitchen remodel in Baton Rouge, LA — typically $65,884
Compare kitchen remodel cost across every US metro we cover — the same labor-adjusted model as this page, ranked from most to least expensive, if you want the national picture rather than Charleston alone.
How we calculate this
We take a national installed-cost range, split it into labor and materials, and scale only the labor half by this metro's actual wage data. That is the whole model — no black box, and reproducible from the figures on this page.
- National range: $10,000–$130,000, from our kitchen remodel cost data (last verified 2026-07-13).
- Labor share: 35%. An industry rule of thumb, not a measured value — the softest assumption here, which is why we state it rather than bury it.
- Metro labor factor: ×0.834, being the mean annual wage for Carpenters in Charleston-North Charleston, SC divided by the national mean for the same occupation.
- Materials: held at the national level. We vary labor by metro and hold materials at the national level. That is deliberate: shingles, copper, HVAC equipment, and cabinets are nationally traded and priced, and what actually varies locally is freight and sales tax — both small next to the labor spread. We have no metro-level materials index we can defend, so rather than invent one, we vary only what we can source.
Wage source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), metropolitan area estimates, May 2025. A U.S. Government work, in the public domain and free to reuse. Where BLS suppresses wage data for a metro, we publish no page for it rather than fill the gap with an estimate.
Educational estimate only. A real quote for your specific property beats any model, including ours — get at least three.
Related
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to remodel a kitchen in Charleston, SC?+
A typical project in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC area runs about $65,933, with most falling between $9,419 and $122,447. Of the typical figure, roughly $20,433 is labor and $45,500 is materials. That puts Charleston about 6% below the national typical cost of $70,000.
Why is it cheaper to remodel a kitchen in Charleston, SC than the national average?+
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC area earn about 17% less than the national average for the same occupation, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. Because kitchen remodel is roughly 35% labor, that wage difference flows through to the total. Materials are priced nationally and barely move between metros.
What's included in these Charleston, SC estimates?+
Installed cost — materials plus labor for a standard project of this type. It does not include permits, which vary by municipality, structural repairs discovered mid-job, or premium upgrades. The range reflects genuine variation in scope and material grade, not uncertainty about the metro. Always get at least three local quotes before budgeting; a real quote for your specific property will beat any estimate, including ours.
How is this different from a national average with the city name swapped in?+
We split the national installed cost into labor and materials, then scale only the labor half using the actual mean wage for Carpenters in this specific metro area, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Materials stay at the national level because we have no defensible metro-level materials index — shingles and HVAC equipment are nationally traded, and only freight and sales tax really vary. Where BLS suppresses wage data for a metro, we do not publish a page for it at all rather than fill the gap with a guess.