2026 local estimate · updated 2026-07-22
Cost to remodel a kitchen in Chicago, IL
A typical kitchen remodel in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area runs $76,517, with most projects landing between $10,931 and $142,103 — about 9% above the national average.
Low
$10,931
Basic materials, simple job
Typical
$76,517
What most people pay
High
$142,103
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 Chicago is more expensive than average
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area earn about 27% more 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 ×1.266 local labor factor to the labor portion.
Open the kitchen remodel calculator →Permits for a kitchen remodel in Chicago
Issuing authority: City of Chicago Department of Buildings
Chicago's Express Permit Program covers nonstructural interior alterations up to 2,000 square feet in floor area, and floor plans for that application can be drawn by the contractor or any other responsible person. An interior alteration within a single dwelling unit that doesn't change occupancy or touch load-bearing elements or means of egress is priced at $500 under the Department of Buildings' schedule, while a Level 2 or Level 3 alteration to a single dwelling unit runs $600.
The department's rules separately name installing cabinets or countertops, or similar finish work, without plumbing or electrical connections. Ask your contractor how your remodel's plumbing and sink connections affect which category it is filed under.
When a permit is needed
- “The Express Permit Program offers a streamlined way to obtain a permit for nonstructural interior alterations affecting up to 2,000 square feet of floor area for many types of spaces, including homes, offices, and stores.” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Interior Alteration (Nonstructural Interior Work) - Express Permit Program (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “installing cabinets or countertops, or performing similar finish work, without plumbing or electrical connections” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Interior Finishes and Furnishings - What types of work do not require a building permit? (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fees
- “The permit fee must be calculated as follows: CF x RF x A ... A= The gross floor area of all construction, demolition or rehabilitation work to be permitted” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Excerpts of the Chicago Construction Codes related to building permit fees (effective Jan 1, 2022), 14A-4-412.2.2.1 (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Group R-3 Group R-4 $0.52 $0.50 $0.49 $0.47 $0.44 Group R-5” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Building Permit Fee Tables Effective January 6, 2026 - Table 14A-12-1204.3(1) Construction Factor (Types I-V) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “0.5 Level 2 or Level 3 alteration to single dwelling unit $600” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Building Permit Fee Tables Effective January 6, 2026 - Table 14A-12-1204.3(4) Scope of Review Factor for Rehabilitation, Group R (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Interior alteration up to 2,000 square feet in floor area within single dwelling unit or tenant space, with no change of occupancy and no change to load-bearing elements or means of egress ... $500” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Excerpts of the Chicago Construction Codes related to building permit fees (effective Jan 1, 2022) - Table 14A-12-1204.2 Stand-Alone Permit Fees (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Also published
- “The floor plans may be drawn by the contractor or any responsible person.” — City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Interior Alteration (Nonstructural Interior Work) - Express Permit Program (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Quoted verbatim; not recalculated.
Nearby metros
- Kitchen remodel in Seattle, WA — typically $76,885
- Kitchen remodel in Boston, MA — typically $75,831
- Kitchen remodel in New York, NY — typically $75,562
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 Chicago 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: ×1.266, being the mean annual wage for Carpenters in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 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 Chicago, IL?+
A typical project in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area runs about $76,517, with most falling between $10,931 and $142,103. Of the typical figure, roughly $31,017 is labor and $45,500 is materials. That puts Chicago about 9% above the national typical cost of $70,000.
Why is it more expensive to remodel a kitchen in Chicago, IL than the national average?+
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area earn about 27% more 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 Chicago, IL 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.