Kitchen remodel return on investment
A minor kitchen remodel returns 70 to 85% at resale. A major upscale one returns 40 to 55%. The cheaper project returns a higher share, every year, in every survey.
National average
$27,500
per project
On this page
- What the returns look like
- Why the small project wins
- What buyers actually notice
- If you are staying
- Frequently asked questions
- What is the single highest-return kitchen project?
- Should I remodel before selling?
- Does a kitchen remodel help a house sell faster?
- What about return on a bathroom?
- How much should a kitchen cost relative to the house?
A minor kitchen remodel returns about 70 to 85% of its cost at resale. A major upscale one returns about 40 to 55%. That gap is the most useful fact in this whole subject: the cheaper project returns a higher share, every year, in every survey.
If the question is what to spend to sell, the answer is less than you think. If the question is what to spend to live there for ten years, resale return is the wrong measure.
What the returns look like
| Project | Typical cost | Typical return |
|---|---|---|
| Minor kitchen remodel, midrange | $14,500 to $28,500 | 70 to 85% |
| Major kitchen remodel, midrange | $45,000 to $80,000 | 45 to 60% |
| Major kitchen remodel, upscale | $80,000 to $160,000 | 35 to 50% |
| Bathroom remodel, midrange | $9,000 to $25,000 | 55 to 70% |
| Bathroom addition | $25,000 to $60,000 | 50 to 60% |
| Cabinet refacing or painting | $1,500 to $6,000 | often above 100% |
| New countertops alone | $2,500 to $6,000 | 60 to 80% |
| Appliance replacement | $4,000 to $10,000 | 40 to 60% |
Return figures are national averages from industry cost-versus-value surveys, and they move with the market. In a rising market they look better; in a flat one they look worse. Treat them as a ranking rather than a promise.
Why the small project wins
A kitchen has a floor and a ceiling in a buyer's mind.
The floor is "this kitchen needs work", which is a deduction. Buyers subtract more than the work costs, because they are pricing in the disruption and the risk. Getting above that line is what the first $15,000 buys.
The ceiling is what the neighbourhood supports. A $90,000 kitchen in a house whose comparable sales are $400,000 does not produce a $490,000 house. The market prices the street, and above a certain point the kitchen stops adding and starts being a reason the house is overpriced.
So the return curve is steep at the bottom and flat at the top. Everything below the floor returns strongly; everything above the ceiling returns almost nothing.
What buyers actually notice
In rough order of what moves an offer:
- It does not look dated. Cabinet colour and style, handles, and light fixtures do most of this work and cost the least.
- The countertop. A visible laminate worktop in a house above a certain price reads as unrenovated regardless of everything else.
- The appliances match and work. Mismatched appliances read as deferred maintenance.
- The layout is not stupid. A fridge blocking a walkway or no counter beside the hob is noticed immediately.
- The floor is continuous and sound.
- Light. Under-cabinet lighting and a decent ceiling fixture cost $600 to $2,000 and change how a kitchen photographs, which is where most buyers see it first.
What buyers largely do not pay extra for: premium appliance brands, a pot filler, custom cabinet interiors, expensive tile, and anything that reads as a personal taste.
If you are staying
Then the resale calculation is mostly irrelevant and the right question is different: how many years of use, and what is it worth to you annually.
A $30,000 kitchen over fifteen years is $2,000 a year for a room you stand in every day. That is a defensible way to think about it, and it is a completely different frame from "will I get it back".
The one thing worth keeping in view even when staying: do not create something so specific to your taste that it becomes a deduction later. Neutral boxes with personality in the paint, the handles and the lighting is the durable compromise, because those are the cheap things to change.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single highest-return kitchen project?
Painting or refacing sound cabinets, new handles, and better lighting. It is under $5,000 in most kitchens and it moves the kitchen from "dated" to "fine", which is the step that carries the deduction.
Should I remodel before selling?
Usually not a full remodel. Buyers rarely pay for someone else's finished choices, and you carry the cost and the risk. A refresh at the level above is different, and is frequently worth doing.
Does a kitchen remodel help a house sell faster?
More reliably than it raises the price. Time on market and negotiating position are where a good kitchen shows up, and that is real money even when the appraisal does not move.
What about return on a bathroom?
Lower than a minor kitchen and higher than a major one. Adding a bathroom to a house with only one is the strongest bathroom project there is, because it changes the category the house is listed in.
How much should a kitchen cost relative to the house?
A common guide is 5 to 15% of the home's value, and above that the return falls away quickly. It is a blunt rule and it is roughly where the ceiling described above sits.
Read next
Kitchen cabinet painting cost$40 to $120per linear ftPainting cabinets costs $40 to $120 a linear foot, putting a 25 foot kitchen at $1,000 to $3,000. It is the cheapest way to change a kitchen, and the preparation is the entire job.
Kitchen cabinet refacing cost$75 to $250per linear ftRefacing costs $75 to $250 a linear foot against $100 to $650 to replace, so it saves roughly half. It is right in one situation: the boxes are sound and the layout works.
Countertop cost$20 to $175per sq ftCountertops cost $20 to $175 per square foot installed. Quartz averages $75 to $95. For stone, fabrication and installation are 35% to 55% of the total, so a slab price is not a quote.
Kitchen remodel cost by size$8,500 to $106,500per projectA medium kitchen costs $12,500 to $58,500 to remodel, typically $25,500. Floor area is the wrong measurement: kitchens are priced by the cabinet run in linear feet.
How to pay for a remodel$20,000 to $40,000per projectA $27,500 kitchen is the largest discretionary purchase most households make outside a car, and it has no financing attached. The spread between the cheapest and dearest option is over $15,000.