2026 local estimate · updated 2026-07-22
Cost to remodel a kitchen in Richmond, VA
A typical kitchen remodel in the Richmond, VA area runs $65,468, with most projects landing between $9,353 and $121,583 — about 6% below the national average.
Low
$9,353
Basic materials, simple job
Typical
$65,468
What most people pay
High
$121,583
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 Richmond is cheaper than average
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Richmond, VA area earn about 19% 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 ×0.815 local labor factor to the labor portion.
Open the kitchen remodel calculator →Permits for a kitchen remodel in Richmond
Issuing authority: City of Richmond Dept. of Planning & Development Review, Bureau of Permits and Inspections
Richmond's Bureau of Permits and Inspections charges $63 for a residential building permit on work valued up to $2,000, then $63 with $6.07 added per thousand or fraction thereof for residential construction — and the city adds a 2.0% state surcharge on top of the final calculated fee. Value is set at whichever is higher, your contractor's estimate or the RS Means price for the job.
The city's permit guidance lists installation or replacement of cabinetry or trim, and it requires construction documents for alterations — floor plans of each affected level with the rooms labeled. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and gas work can't ride on that building permit; each of those trades needs its own separate application, so if your sink or fixtures need any of that work, expect a second application beyond the building permit itself. Have your contractor confirm which trades they're pulling permits for so you know how many separate applications, and fees, the job involves.
When a permit is needed
- “Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Gas piping work cannot be included on a residential building permit. Each trade requires a separate application.” — City of Richmond Department of Planning & Development Review, Bureau of Permits and Inspections, Homeowner's Permit Guide - January 2025 (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Construction documents are required for alterations. Floor plans of each level impacted by the proposed work with all rooms labeled must be submitted.” — City of Richmond Department of Planning & Development Review, Bureau of Permits and Inspections, Homeowner's Permit Guide - January 2025 (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Installation or replacement of cabinetry or trim.” — City of Richmond Department of Planning & Development Review, Bureau of Permits and Inspections, Planning & Development Review FAQ (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fees
- “Residential only – 1 & 2 Family Value of Work Permit Fee $0 – $2,000 $63.00 Over $2,000 $63.00* * Add $6.07 per thousand or fraction thereof for residential construction.” — City of Richmond Department of Planning & Development Review, Bureau of Permits and Inspections, City of Richmond Fee Schedule, Effective 07/01/2024 (Revision 07-01-2024) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “NOTE: For all permits, a 2.0% state surcharge is added to the final calculated fee. Value of work equals the higher of either the Contractor estimate or RS Means price.” — City of Richmond Department of Planning & Development Review, Bureau of Permits and Inspections, City of Richmond Fee Schedule, Effective 07/01/2024 (Revision 07-01-2024) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Quoted verbatim; not recalculated.
Rules set by the state of Virginia
- Virginia licenses remodeling contractors at state level: Virginia General Assembly (Virginia Law / Administrative Code) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Nearby metros
- Kitchen remodel in Virginia Beach, VA — typically $65,786
- Kitchen remodel in Knoxville, TN — typically $65,468
- Kitchen remodel in Charlotte, NC — typically $65,443
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 Richmond 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: ×0.815, being the mean annual wage for Carpenters in Richmond, VA 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 Richmond, VA?+
A typical project in the Richmond, VA area runs about $65,468, with most falling between $9,353 and $121,583. Of the typical figure, roughly $19,968 is labor and $45,500 is materials. That puts Richmond about 6% below the national typical cost of $70,000.
Why is it cheaper to remodel a kitchen in Richmond, VA than the national average?+
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Richmond, VA area earn about 19% 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 Richmond, VA 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.