2026 local estimate · updated 2026-07-22
Cost to remodel a kitchen in San Antonio, TX
A typical kitchen remodel in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area runs $63,973, with most projects landing between $9,139 and $118,807 — about 9% below the national average.
Low
$9,139
Basic materials, simple job
Typical
$63,973
What most people pay
High
$118,807
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 San Antonio is cheaper than average
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area earn about 25% 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 ×0.754 local labor factor to the labor portion.
Open the kitchen remodel calculator →Permits for a kitchen remodel in San Antonio
Issuing authority: City of San Antonio Development Services Department (DSD)
Cabinets, countertops, carpeting, and wood or laminate flooring don't need a permit in San Antonio — much of what a kitchen remodel touches cosmetically. The Development Services Department's flat-fee list includes a "General Repairs – Full Remodel" fee of $210.
Plan review and permit fees for existing residential buildings are otherwise based on the project's valuation, but DSD does not assess a plan review fee for remodels and additions under 1,000 square feet. Ask DSD whether your kitchen job falls under the $210 flat fee or the valuation-based schedule.
When a permit is needed
- “You DON'T need a permit to... Install cabinets, counter tops, carpeting, wood or laminate flooring” — City of San Antonio Development Services Department, Home Remodeling FAQ (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fees
- “General Repairs – Full Remodel $210.00” — City of San Antonio Development Services Department, FY 2026 Development Fee Schedule (Rev. October 2025) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Commercial and existing residential building plan review and permit fees are based upon valuation.” — City of San Antonio Development Services Department, FY 2026 Development Fee Schedule (Rev. October 2025) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “*** Remodels and additions are not assessed a plan review fee for projects under 1,000 square feet.” — City of San Antonio Development Services Department, FY 2026 Development Fee Schedule (Rev. October 2025) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Quoted verbatim; not recalculated.
Nearby metros
- Kitchen remodel in Dallas, TX — typically $64,267
- Kitchen remodel in Houston, TX — typically $65,296
- Kitchen remodel in Austin, TX — typically $65,615
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 San Antonio alone.
Or step up one level: kitchen remodel cost across Texas — the average of all 6 Texas metro areas we publish, which is a coarser figure than San Antonio 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: ×0.754, being the mean annual wage for Carpenters in San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 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 San Antonio, TX?+
A typical project in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area runs about $63,973, with most falling between $9,139 and $118,807. Of the typical figure, roughly $18,473 is labor and $45,500 is materials. That puts San Antonio about 9% below the national typical cost of $70,000.
Why is it cheaper to remodel a kitchen in San Antonio, TX than the national average?+
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area earn about 25% 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 San Antonio, TX 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.