2026 local estimate · updated 2026-07-22
Cost to remodel a kitchen in Cleveland, OH
A typical kitchen remodel in the Cleveland, OH area runs $69,853, with most projects landing between $9,979 and $129,727 — about 0% above the national average.
Low
$9,979
Basic materials, simple job
Typical
$69,853
What most people pay
High
$129,727
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 Cleveland is more expensive than average
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Cleveland, OH area earn about 1% 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 ×0.994 local labor factor to the labor portion.
Open the kitchen remodel calculator →Permits for a kitchen remodel in Cleveland
Issuing authority: City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Division of Construction Permitting
The City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Division of Construction Permitting calculates a permit for alterations and repairs to one-, two- and three-family homes at $5.00 per $1,000 of estimated cost, or any fraction of that, with a $30.00 minimum for that calculation and a $50.00 floor for any permit citywide. A 1 percent State of Ohio surcharge is added to the permit fee on top of that. Installing each plumbing fixture — a sink, dishwasher or similar — carries its own $8.00 charge.
Ask your contractor how many fixtures they're listing on the permit application, since the $8.00-per-fixture plumbing charge is counted separately from the construction-cost calculation.
Fees
- “One-Family, Two-Family, or Three-Family Dwelling Houses ... Alterations or Repairs Calculation Method (rate per estimated cost): $5.00 per $1,000 or fraction of estimated cost Minimum Fee: $30.00” — City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Permit Fee Schedule | City of Cleveland Ohio (Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “1, 2, and 3 family dwelling units Surcharge Percentage: 1% State of Ohio surcharge added to the permit fee” — City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Permit Fee Schedule | City of Cleveland Ohio (Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “For the installation of each plumbing fixture, application or device such water closets, urinals, bathtubs or showers sinks, drinking fountains, dishwashers ... $8.00” — City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Permit Fee Schedule | City of Cleveland Ohio (Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “the minimum fee for any permit shall be $50.00” — City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Permit Fee Schedule | City of Cleveland Ohio (Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “For new construction additions, alterations to existing buildings Calculation method: for each 1,000 square feet or part thereof - $50.00” — City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Permit Fee Schedule | City of Cleveland Ohio (Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Also published
- “The following is a user-friendly recreation of the City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014.” — City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, Permit Fee Schedule | City of Cleveland Ohio (Plan Examination and Permit Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2014) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fee source dated 2014; still the linked version — confirm current fees.
Quoted verbatim; not recalculated.
Rules set by the state of Ohio
- Ohio does not license remodeling contractors at state level: Ohio Department of Commerce (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Nearby metros
- Kitchen remodel in Akron, OH — typically $69,290
- Kitchen remodel in Columbus, OH — typically $70,760
- Kitchen remodel in Toledo, OH — typically $68,873
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 Cleveland alone.
Or step up one level: kitchen remodel cost across Ohio — the average of all 6 Ohio metro areas we publish, which is a coarser figure than Cleveland and is meant for comparing states rather than budgeting a job.
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: ×0.994, being the mean annual wage for Carpenters in Cleveland, OH 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 Cleveland, OH?+
A typical project in the Cleveland, OH area runs about $69,853, with most falling between $9,979 and $129,727. Of the typical figure, roughly $24,353 is labor and $45,500 is materials. That puts Cleveland about 0% above the national typical cost of $70,000.
Why is it more expensive to remodel a kitchen in Cleveland, OH than the national average?+
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Cleveland, OH area earn about 1% 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 Cleveland, OH 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.