2026 Cost Guide — North Atlanta
How Much Does a Kitchen Remodel Cost in Alpharetta, GA? (2026)
Most full kitchen remodels in Alpharetta run $50,000 to $85,000 in 2026 for a medium kitchen of roughly 150–250 square feet. Smaller kitchens and cosmetic refreshes start around $25,000–$50,000, and large or luxury kitchens — 250+ square feet, custom cabinetry, premium stone — start at $100,000 and climb from there. Expect $150–$300 per square foot, with Atlanta labor running 10–15% above the national average.
Where does the money go? Cabinetry is the biggest line at 25–35% of the budget, followed by labor, countertops, and appliances. This guide itemizes all twelve major cost lines, compares gut renovation against pull-and-replace and cosmetic refresh, and explains what pushes North Atlanta prices above the national numbers — with sources cited at the end, so you can check our math against any bid you receive. Including ours.
The short version
Alpharetta kitchen remodel costs by size and tier, 2026
Three sizes, three finish tiers, nine honest ranges. “Budget” here means a cosmetic refresh or stock materials — not cut corners. “Mid-range” is where most Alpharetta projects land: semi-custom cabinetry, quartz counters, quality appliances. “High-end” means custom cabinetry, natural stone like quartzite, and pro-grade appliances.
| Kitchen size | Budget / refresh | Mid-range | High-end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (under 150 sq ft) | $25,000–$35,000 | $35,000–$50,000 | $50,000–$70,000 |
| Medium (150–250 sq ft) | $35,000–$50,000 | $50,000–$85,000 | $85,000–$120,000 |
| Large (250+ sq ft) | $60,000–$85,000 | $100,000–$150,000 | $150,000+ |
Ranges synthesized from published 2026 Atlanta-market cost guides and national Houzz medians, adjusted for the local labor premium — see sources & methodology. A “budget” number on a large kitchen assumes the layout stays put; move walls or plumbing and you are in the next column.
FREE GUIDE
Want this whole guide as a PDF?
Every range on this page — kitchens and bathrooms — in one printable 2026 guide you can keep next to the bids you collect.
One email with the guide, then a short monthly note on costs and planning. Unsubscribe anytime. We never share your information.
Where the money goes
The 12 line items in an Alpharetta kitchen remodel
A one-line bid hides all twelve of these. Here is each line, its typical 2026 range on a medium Alpharetta kitchen, and what moves the number up or down.
1. Cabinetry — 25–35% of the budget
Typical range: $12,000–$30,000 semi-custom · custom higher
Cabinetry is the single most expensive line in almost every kitchen. Stock boxes, semi-custom, or full custom is the biggest fork in your budget: semi-custom painted shaker on a medium kitchen runs $12,000–$30,000 installed, while custom inset cabinetry can double that. Door style, paint versus stain, and interior fittings — pots-and-pans drawers, sheet-pan slots, pullout waste — move the number more than brand names do.
2. Countertops — quartz, quartzite, granite
Typical range: $3,000–$10,000+ for 45–60 sq ft installed
Installed 2026 pricing runs roughly $55–$120 per square foot for quartz, $40–$100 for granite, and $80–$200+ for quartzite — the Taj Mahal quartzite on every Alpharetta Pinterest board sits at the top of that band. Slab choice, edge profile, and waterfall ends move the number; an island waterfall alone can add a full slab. Quartzite is the stone that takes lemon juice without a panic attack, and you pay for that.
3. Labor and installation — 20–35% of the total
Typical range: $13,000–$30,000 on a full medium remodel
Skilled-trade labor in metro Atlanta runs 10–15% above the national average, and North Fulton is the expensive end of the metro. Labor scales with scope: keeping the layout keeps labor near the bottom of the range, while wall removals, slab-floor plumbing moves, and ceiling work push it up fast. The cheapest way to buy labor is a settled plan — change orders are labor at its most expensive.
4. Appliances
Typical range: $5,000–$15,000 mid-tier · $20,000–$50,000+ pro-grade
A quality mid-tier package — range, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, hood — lands between $5,000 and $15,000. Step to a 48-inch pro range, panel-ready refrigeration, and a second dishwasher and the line quadruples. The hood deserves early attention: duct size and CFM requirements are the classic 8 a.m. jobsite surprise, and undersized ductwork adds thousands after the fact.
5. Flooring
Typical range: $2,000–$7,000 installed
Site-finished hardwood, engineered wood, luxury vinyl plank, and tile span roughly $6–$25 per square foot installed. The hidden variable in North Atlanta homes is what is under the old floor: lacing new hardwood into existing rooms, leveling a slab, or replacing water-damaged subfloor near the old sink can add four figures nobody sees in the photos.
6. Plumbing
Typical range: $2,000–$7,500
Keeping the sink where it is keeps this line small: new supply lines, shutoffs, faucet, disposal, and dishwasher hookups. Moving the sink to an island, adding a prep sink or pot filler, or running a gas line for a new range pushes toward the top — and if the kitchen sits on a slab, relocating drains means cutting concrete. Homes from the late 1980s and 1990s in this area sometimes still hide polybutylene supply lines, which are worth replacing while the walls are open.
7. Electrical and lighting
Typical range: $2,500–$8,000
Code-required GFCI and small-appliance circuits, under-cabinet lighting, recessed cans, island pendants, and switching add up quickly, and inspections in both Fulton and Forsyth county jurisdictions hold this work to current code. The budget-mover in older North Atlanta homes is the panel: a 1990s 150-amp panel that is already full may need an upgrade before it can feed a modern kitchen’s induction range and double ovens.
8. Backsplash and tile
Typical range: $1,000–$4,500
A ceramic subway backsplash sits at the bottom of the range. Handmade zellige — the irregular, light-catching tile on half the saved folders in Alpharetta — costs more per square foot and more to install, because its irregularity demands a patient setter. Full-height stone slab backsplashes behave like a second countertop line and are priced accordingly.
9. Permits and inspections — Fulton and Forsyth counties
Typical range: a few hundred dollars to roughly $2,000
Most full kitchen remodels here require permits for plumbing, electrical, and any structural change. Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, and Johns Creek each issue permits through their own community development departments; unincorporated Forsyth County projects around Cumming go through the county. Fees scale with project valuation, so confirm the current schedule with your jurisdiction. A contractor who suggests skipping permits is telling you something important about everything else in the bid.
10. Design fees and 3D visualization
Typical range: $2,000–$8,000, or 4–10% of project cost
Design is the cheapest insurance in the budget: every decision made on paper is a decision not made at 8 a.m. on demo day. Fees vary by model — flat-fee design packages, hourly designers, or design-build firms that fold design into the project. What you are buying is a settled plan, and a settled plan is what keeps line items 1 through 9 from growing mid-project.
11. Demolition and disposal
Typical range: $1,500–$5,000
Tearing out cabinets, counters, flooring, and soffits, plus dumpster and haul-off, is the unglamorous line every bid needs. Wall removal moves this number: opening a load-bearing wall between kitchen and family room — the most common structural request in 1990s North Atlanta floor plans — adds engineering, a beam, and inspections that can push demolition-and-structure past $10,000 on its own.
12. Contingency — plan on 20%
Typical allowance: 15–20% of the project budget
The advice homeowners give each other after living through a remodel is remarkably consistent: take your top-end budget, knock off 20%, and plan the project to that number — you will almost certainly need the buffer. Hidden water damage, undersized ducts, out-of-code wiring behind 30-year-old drywall: contingency is not pessimism, it is how projects finish without financial panic.
Local specifics
What makes kitchen remodels cost more in North Atlanta
National cost guides quote national medians — Houzz puts the 2026 median major kitchen remodel at $55,000, rising to $75,000 for large kitchens. North Atlanta runs above those numbers, for three concrete reasons.
Labor. Skilled trades in metro Atlanta price 10–15% above the national average, and the north-metro corridor — Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek, Roswell, and the fast-growing Cumming side of Forsyth County — is the busy end of the market. Median household incomes here run $146,000 to $160,000, home values commonly sit between $600,000 and $1.2 million, and the trades price to the neighborhood’s expectations of finish quality.
The housing stock. A huge share of local kitchens live in homes built between 1985 and 2005 — Windward, Medlock Bridge, St Ives, Horseshoe Bend, and the swim-tennis subdivisions off Bethelview and Vickery in Cumming. Those homes are old enough for surprises: polybutylene supply lines, full electrical panels, undersized hood ducts, and builder-grade framing quirks behind the drywall. Older cottages near Downtown Alpharetta, historic Roswell, and Crabapple add another layer — charming, and rarely square. This is exactly why the 20% contingency is not optional here.
The finish bar. In neighborhoods like White Columns, The Manor, and Country Club of the South, and in newer luxury builds around the Avalon area, “mid-range” means something different than it does nationally — quartzite over laminate, inset doors over overlay, appliance panels over stainless boxes. Buyers in Suwanee, Duluth, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody see the same finished kitchens on the same feeds, and expectations travel. When the default finish level is higher, the median project cost is too.
None of this means you should overpay — it means an Alpharetta bid priced like a national median is probably missing something, and the place it is usually missing from is labor quality, permits, or the contingency.
Choose your scope
Gut renovation vs. pull-and-replace vs. cosmetic refresh
Most budget confusion is really scope confusion — three very different projects all get called “a kitchen remodel.” Here is how they compare in Alpharetta in 2026.
| Scope | What it includes | Typical cost | Timeline | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | Cabinet repainting or refacing, new counters and backsplash, lighting, hardware, paint. Layout and boxes stay. | $15,000–$40,000 | 2–4 weeks | The layout works, the cabinet boxes are sound, and the room just looks like 2004. |
| Pull-and-replace | New cabinetry, counters, appliances, flooring, and lighting — in the existing footprint. Sink and range stay put. | $50,000–$85,000 | 6–9 weeks | Everything is dated but the kitchen is in the right place. This is most Alpharetta projects. |
| Gut renovation | Walls opened or removed, plumbing and electrical relocated, new island, structural work, full rebuild. | $85,000–$150,000+ | 10–16 weeks | The closed-off 1990s floor plan is the problem — you are buying a new layout, not just new finishes. |
Timelines are construction time once materials are on site; design and ordering add several weeks before demolition.
The investment question
What a kitchen remodel returns in this market
The honest number first: kitchen remodels recoup roughly 54–81% of their cost at resale, per 2026 ROI analyses of Cost vs. Value data. The pattern inside that range has held for years — smaller, cosmetic projects recoup the most, and upscale renovations recoup the least as a percentage. Nobody should promise you a kitchen that “pays for itself” at closing, and we won’t.
But resale percentage is the wrong lens for most Alpharetta homeowners, because most aren’t selling. In 2026, 65% of renovating homeowners upgraded their current home instead of moving, and roughly 80% of mortgaged owners hold a rate below today’s market — trading houses means trading away that rate. For a family in a $700,000 Johns Creek or Milton home with a builder-grade kitchen, the realistic comparison isn’t “remodel vs. keep the cash.” It’s “$70,000 remodel vs. the transaction costs, moving costs, and new mortgage of a $900,000 house that still might need work.”
What the data says actually matters after the dust settles: homeowners rank functionality and livability first, durability second, beauty third. Only 25% of kitchen remodelers cite resale value as a motivation at all. The return most people are actually buying is a room that works — and if you’re weighing which room returns more, kitchens and primary baths trade the top spot depending on the house. Our 2026 Alpharetta bathroom remodel cost guide covers the other side of that comparison with the same line-item honesty.
Protect your number
How to budget for a kitchen remodel without getting burned
The best budgeting advice in circulation doesn’t come from contractors — it comes from homeowners who have been through it. Four rules keep repeating across hundreds of their post-remodel debriefs, and we’d rather you hold us to them too.
- Build the 20% buffer in from day one. Take your true top-end number, knock off 20%, and plan the project to what’s left. If your ceiling is $85,000, design an $68,000–$70,000 kitchen. You will almost certainly need the buffer — and if you don’t, you’ve funded the landscaping.
- Treat the cheapest bid as information, not luck. A bid far below its competitors is usually missing permits, qualified labor, or cleanup — the three places corner-cutting hides. Quality work costs money; the expensive remodel is the one you pay for twice.
- Demand line items, not one line. “Kitchen remodel — $68,000” tells you nothing and binds nobody. Every portion of the job should be priced separately, with allowances named, so a cheaper tile choice comes back to you instead of quietly padding someone’s margin.
- Never let payments outrun the work. Tie every payment to a completed, inspectable milestone and keep a meaningful share for the punch list. A contractor holding 85% of your money at 60% completion has little reason left to hustle to the finish line.
Pick your finishes early — all of them — before demolition. Late selections are how allowances blow up, how lead times stall a torn-out kitchen, and how 8 a.m. jobsite decisions get made that you live with for twenty years.
Answers first
Alpharetta kitchen remodel costs — your questions, answered
How much does a kitchen remodel cost per square foot in Alpharetta?
Plan on $150 to $300 per square foot for a full kitchen remodel in Alpharetta in 2026. On a typical 200-square-foot kitchen, that math gives $30,000 to $60,000 — and most full remodels here finish in the $50,000–$85,000 range once cabinetry, stone, and labor are real selections rather than allowances.
Per-square-foot math is a sanity check, not a quote. Fixed costs — demolition, permits, plumbing, electrical, design — don’t shrink much with the room, so small kitchens run higher per foot, and premium materials push large kitchens well past $300. Two kitchens with identical footprints can differ by $30,000 on cabinetry choices alone, which is why we’d rather price your actual kitchen than quote a formula.
For a range built on your real square footage and finishes, sit down with the owner for a design consultation.
Can you remodel a kitchen in Alpharetta for under $30,000?
Honestly: yes as a cosmetic refresh, no as a full remodel. If your layout works and your cabinet boxes are sound, $30,000 in Alpharetta can cover cabinet refacing or repainting, new quartz counters, a tile backsplash, updated lighting, hardware, and paint — and the room will look dramatically different.
A full remodel is another animal. New cabinetry alone typically consumes 25–35% of the budget, and once you add counters, flooring, appliances, labor at Atlanta rates, and permits, full remodels here rarely land under $40,000. Be careful with any bid that promises a complete kitchen for $30,000 — the homeowner research on cheap bids is consistent: the savings usually come out of permits, qualified labor, or cleanup. Quality work costs money; corner-cutting costs more.
Not sure which lane your kitchen is in? Bring your photos to a consultation and you’ll get a plain answer.
How long does a kitchen remodel take?
Construction on a full kitchen remodel typically takes 6 to 12 weeks once materials are on site, after a design-and-ordering phase that adds several weeks up front. Demolition takes days; it’s the rebuild that takes weeks — plumbing and electrical rough-in with inspections, drywall, flooring, cabinet installation, then countertops, which are templated only after the cabinets are in.
The variable that stretches timelines isn’t labor — it’s material lead times. Semi-custom cabinetry commonly takes 4–8 weeks to arrive and custom lines longer, which is why an honest schedule counts ordering time, not just construction time. Scope matters too: a gut renovation that moves walls or plumbing runs longer, roughly 10–16 weeks, while a cosmetic refresh can wrap in 2–4.
Ask for a week-by-week picture of your kitchen at your design consultation.
What is the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel?
Cabinetry — it typically consumes 25–35% of a kitchen remodel budget, more than any other line. On a $65,000 Alpharetta kitchen, that is roughly $16,000 to $23,000 before a single countertop is templated. Stock, semi-custom, or custom is the single biggest fork in your budget, and it’s why two kitchens the same size can differ by $30,000.
Labor is usually second at 20–35% of the total, with Atlanta trades running 10–15% above the national average. Countertops and appliances trade third place depending on your taste: quartzite at $80–$200+ per square foot installed or a pro-grade range can each swing the total by five figures. If you have to cut somewhere, cut appliance tier before cabinet quality — the boxes and drawers are what you touch every day for the next twenty years.
See the full line-item breakdown in this guide, or get one built for your own kitchen at a design consultation.
Is 2026 a good time to remodel a kitchen in Atlanta?
If you plan to stay in your home, 2026 is a reasonable year to remodel — and waiting rarely makes a kitchen cheaper. Remodeling demand in this market is steady: 91% of homeowners who planned projects this year intend to proceed (Houzz), which keeps good trade crews booked and lead times real.
The bigger 2026 dynamic is that 65% of renovating homeowners are upgrading their current home instead of moving, largely because so many hold mortgage rates they don’t want to give up. For a rate-locked household in a $600,000+ Alpharetta home with a builder-grade 2005 kitchen, remodeling is usually far cheaper than trading houses. The honest caveat: a remodel only pencils out financially if you stay long enough to live in it — resale alone recoups roughly 54–81% of cost.
Weigh your own timing at a consultation — if waiting serves you better, you’ll hear it straight.
How should I pay for a kitchen remodel?
However you fund it, protect two things: your contingency and your payment schedule. Alpharetta homeowners typically pay for kitchen remodels with some mix of savings, home equity, or a renovation loan; which mix makes sense depends on your rate, your equity, and how long you plan to stay — a question for your own financial adviser, not your remodeler.
What we will say firmly: keep your 20% contingency liquid rather than spending to the top of whatever you are approved for, and never let payments run ahead of completed work. Payments should be tied to finished, inspectable milestones, with a meaningful share reserved for the punch list — that structure protects you no matter how the project is financed.
Ask for the payment schedule in writing at your consultation — from us and from anyone else you interview.
What your kitchen would actually cost Every trade in these line items — plumbing, electrical, paint, flooring repairs — is run by one company on one schedule, so none of these numbers hides a subcontractor you would have to find yourself.
Get a range for your kitchen — before you commit to anything
Published ranges are where a budget starts, not where it ends. An hour at your kitchen table with the owner gets you an honest early range for your specific kitchen — the layout, the finishes on your saved board, the surprises your house’s age suggests — plus straight answers to the payment-schedule and permit questions you should be asking everyone who bids.
It’s a design consultation, not a sales call. You’ll leave knowing what your project would realistically cost, whether we’re the right fit or not.
Schedule a Design ConsultationPrefer to talk first? Call 404-640-2361 or email [email protected].
Related guides
Keep planning
Sources & methodology
How these numbers were built. Ranges in this guide are synthesized from published 2026 national and Atlanta-market data, adjusted for metro Atlanta’s documented 10–15% skilled-labor premium, and rounded to honest brackets rather than false-precision figures. They describe typical projects, not your project: your kitchen’s size, age, and finish selections will move every line. Permit fees scale with project valuation — confirm current schedules with your city or county. This page is a planning tool, not a quote, and it was last reviewed on July 6, 2026.
- Houzz 2026 U.S. Kitchen Trends Study — national median spend ($55,000 major remodel; $75,000 for large kitchens), storage and style data, renovation-plans figures.
- Kitchen Cabinet Kings 2026 Kitchen ROI Report — resale recoup range (54–81%) and the minor-beats-upscale ROI pattern from Cost vs. Value data.
- Redfin (2026): homeowners remodeling instead of relocating and the Citizens Bank 2026 renovation survey — 65% renovate-instead-of-move and rate-lock figures.
- HomeGuide 2026 countertop cost comparison — installed per-square-foot ranges for quartz, granite, and quartzite.
- Published 2026 Atlanta kitchen cost guides (including Sweeten’s Atlanta guide and local remodeler cost pages) — Atlanta small/medium/large brackets, $150–$300 per square foot, and the local labor premium.
- FTC guidance on avoiding home improvement scams — payment-schedule and contractor-verification practices referenced in the budgeting section.
Market facts above are attributed to their sources; statements about how Alpharetta Kitchen & Bath works describe our intended process and carry no unverifiable claims about years in business, project counts, or credentials.