Kitchen remodel cost in St. George and Southern Utah

How much does a kitchen remodel cost in St. George?

Most kitchen remodels in St. George and the rest of Southern Utah land in one of four planning ranges. A refresh runs roughly $10,000 to $30,000. A full remodel runs roughly $35,000 to $80,000. Changing the layout puts you near $60,000 to $120,000, and a custom kitchen starts around $120,000. They're built from 2025 and 2026 studies, not from quotes.

The ranges are wide on purpose. Room size, cabinet grade and whether pipes or walls move can double a price. Here's what each level usually means, with the published figures behind it:

• Refresh ($10,000 to $30,000): The cabinet boxes and the layout stay. Doors get painted or refaced, and you add new counters, a backsplash, a sink and a faucet. The low end of Fixr's cosmetic tier is $10,000¹, and the median minor kitchen project in Houzz's 2026 study was $20,000².
• Full remodel ($35,000 to $80,000): Every cabinet, counter and appliance is new, along with lights and floors, but the sink and range keep their spots. Houzz puts the median major remodel at $35,000 for kitchens under 200 square feet³ and $55,000 across all sizes².
• New layout ($60,000 to $120,000): The full remodel package and then some. The sink or range moves, an island goes in or a wall comes out. About half of Houzz renovators (52%) change their layout, which makes it the most common big change².
• Custom ($120,000 and up): Custom cabinets, stone counters and built in or professional style appliances. Among the top 10% of spenders in Houzz's study, a major remodel of a larger kitchen ran about $150,000².

Want a number for your own kitchen? Use the estimator above, or read the kitchen remodeling guide to see what the work involves from demo day to the final walk through.

Why the figures come from Las Vegas and Salt Lake City

No national survey publishes kitchen renovation cost figures for St. George or Cedar City. The most widely cited one, the Cost vs Value report from the Journal of Light Construction, covers eight cities in its Mountain region, and the two closest to Southern Utah are Las Vegas and Salt Lake City⁴. So this guide uses the Mountain region average as the middle and treats Las Vegas and Salt Lake City as the low and high bookends.

The report prices each project with Verisk's remodeling cost estimating data. Then more than 6,000 Realtors estimate what that project adds when the home sells⁵.

For kitchens, the bookends barely differ. All four columns sit within about 5% of each other, so the market you pick hardly moves the answer⁶.

What each report project includes

• Minor, midrange: a dated but working kitchen of 200 square feet. The old cabinet boxes stay, but the doors and drawer fronts are swapped for new shaker style ones. It also adds a new range and refrigerator, laminate tops, a midpriced sink and faucet, new flooring and paint⁸.
• Major, midrange: the same size room with semi custom wood cabinets (30 linear feet), an island about 3 by 5 feet, laminate tops, an energy efficient range with a vented hood, a dishwasher and custom lighting⁹.
• Major, upscale: top of the line custom cabinets, stone counters with an imported tile backsplash, a commercial grade cooktop and hood, a wall oven, a built in fridge and water filtration¹⁰.

What about local labor costs?

Labor is one place Southern Utah does differ. In May 2025 the median wage for construction and extraction jobs in the St. George metro area was $23.69 an hour. That compares with $28.92 in Salt Lake City, $29.17 in Las Vegas and $28.63 nationally¹¹. But wages are only one input. Cabinets, appliances and stone sell on a national market, and a contractor's overhead isn't in the wage data. So the ranges here don't assume a local discount, and a real bid can land anywhere inside them.

Where the money goes in a kitchen remodel

Cabinets eat the biggest slice of a kitchen budget, about 29% in a National Kitchen and Bath Association breakdown reprinted in 2019, and installation comes next at 17%¹². Fixr says labor typically makes up 50% to 60% of the total¹.

Two things follow from that split. First, cabinets are where a smart choice saves the most money, so the options below are worth a close look. Second, every extra trade adds labor. Moving a sink brings in a plumber. New lights bring in an electrician. Each one adds to the bill.

The NKBA numbers are a few years old and the original year isn't printed, so use them as a rough guide to where dollars tend to go, not a rule for your kitchen.

What moves the price in a Southern Utah kitchen

The biggest price movers in a Southern Utah kitchen are how much changes, the cabinet grade and the size of the room. Homes here are fairly young: the typical Washington County home was built in 2003, and about 57% went up in 2000 or later¹³. In Iron County, which includes Cedar City, the typical home dates to 1997 and about 23% were built before 1980¹⁴. Whatever the age of your house, watch these:

• How much changes. Keeping the layout is the biggest money saver. Moving a sink, range or wall adds plumbing, wiring, maybe gas work and a permit.
• Cabinet grade. Fixr puts stock cabinets at about $100 to $300 per linear foot, semi custom at $150 to $650 and custom at $500 to $1,200¹⁵.
• Kitchen size. Houzz found a median of $75,000 for a major remodel of a kitchen 250 square feet or larger, against $46,000 for a smaller one².
• Counters and appliances. Stone and pro style ranges add up fast. Appliances and the vent hood take about 14% of a typical budget¹².
• Older homes. If your house was built before 1978, a paid contractor who disturbs painted surfaces has to follow lead safe rules, which Utah runs through its own state program¹⁶. Older homes can also contain asbestos. The EPA says you usually can't tell by looking, so it's smart to have anything suspect tested before a remodel disturbs it¹⁷.
• Surprises. In Houzz's survey of 2025 projects, 37% of renovators went over budget, the most common reason being that products and services cost more than people had planned³. Leave some room in your budget for this.

Permits and licenses

Utah builds to a statewide code based on the 2021 International Residential Code¹⁸. Your city's building office decides which parts of a remodel need a permit, and the licensed remodeler pulls them as part of the job. Ask about permits when you get your estimate.

Utah's handyman rule caps unlicensed remodeling at jobs under $7,000, with labor and materials both counted, and any work on plumbing or electrical systems has to go to a contractor licensed in that trade¹⁹. Almost every kitchen remodel is over that line. You can check any license on the state's free lookup²⁰.

Kitchen cabinet and countertop costs

Updating cabinets in Southern Utah can cost anywhere from about $2,500 to paint the ones you have to $14,000 or more for new ones, going by national Fixr data²¹¹⁵. Counters for a typical kitchen run about $2,500 to $5,000 in quartz or granite²²²³.

Most people go all in. In Houzz's 2026 study, 68% of renovators replaced every cabinet, 27% upgraded only some, and shaker doors led all styles at 58%². The kitchen cabinets page walks through painting, refacing and new boxes.

Engineered quartz is still the top pick at 32% of Houzz renovators. Granite came second at 15%, and quartzite third at 10%². See the countertops page for more on each material.

What a bathroom remodel costs in Southern Utah

A full bathroom remodel in Southern Utah usually plans out at about $18,000 to $45,000. A refresh runs about $5,000 to $15,000, and a walk in shower or tub to shower conversion about $3,000 to $15,000. Like the kitchen ranges, they're planning figures built from the studies below, not quotes.

Bathrooms are where the two bookend markets split. According to the 2025 Cost vs Value report, a midrange bath remodel averaged $23,733 in Las Vegas, $24,920 across the Mountain region and $27,526 in Salt Lake City⁶⁷. Houzz's 2025 median for a major bath remodel (one where the shower gets upgraded, at minimum) was $25,000²⁶.

Walk in showers come up a lot here. More than 1 in 5 Washington County residents is 65 or older¹³, and Fixr puts a typical walk in shower at $5,000 to $11,000²⁷. The bathroom remodel cost guide breaks it all down, the walk in showers page explains the options, and the bathroom remodeling guide covers the whole process.

How long a kitchen remodel takes

Once work starts, a full kitchen remodel tends to run 6 to 12 weeks of active work, and a big custom or structural job can stretch to 3 to 8 months all told²⁸. Ordering cabinets early helps keep a Southern Utah schedule on track.

• Cosmetic refresh: often just a week or two of work²⁸.
• Permits: can take a week or two on their own²⁸.
• Cabinets: Stock cabinets show up in 1 to 2 weeks. Semi custom takes 4 to 8 weeks. Custom can take 3 to 6 months, sometimes longer²⁸.
• Counters: usually follow the cabinets by 2 days to a week²⁸.

Planning takes longer than most people expect. Houzz users reported spending 9.5 months planning a kitchen on average, then 5.8 months building it³. Those are self reported averages, and they include do it yourself jobs. In NAR's survey of homeowners, 37% finished on the schedule they expected, 31% ran long and 31% wrapped up early²⁹.

Many homes here are part time homes. About 1 in 10 Washington County homes is held for seasonal or occasional use¹³. If you'll be away during the work, ask the remodeler how they'll share updates, photos and inspection dates.

How Southern Utah homeowners pay for a remodel

Most homeowners pay mainly from savings. In Houzz's survey of 2025 projects, 84% used savings and 13% used a loan backed by their home, and people could pick more than one answer³. In a smaller survey by the National Association of Realtors, 54% tapped their home equity with a loan or credit line²⁹. Surveys differ, so don't read too much into either number.

If you borrow, these are the usual choices. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains each one in plain words:

• Home equity loan: you get the whole amount at once, usually at a fixed rate, and it's a second loan on top of your mortgage³⁰³¹.
• HELOC (home equity line of credit): you draw money as you need it up to a limit. Rates are usually variable, and if you can't repay, you could lose your home³².
• Cash out refinance: you swap your mortgage for a larger one and pocket the difference. It can stretch out your payoff time³¹.
• Personal installment loan: you borrow a set amount and pay it back in fixed amounts³³.

If you're retired or close to it, the CFPB's guide to using home equity, written for older homeowners, is worth a read before you sign anything³¹.

Does a kitchen remodel pay off when you sell in Southern Utah?

A modest kitchen update earns back most or all of its cost: about 97% in Las Vegas and about 110% in Salt Lake City, according to the 2025 Cost vs Value report. A full midrange remodel earned back about half in both cities⁶⁷.

The National Association of Realtors put a complete kitchen renovation at about 60% of its cost recovered. Owners still loved the results and gave a kitchen upgrade a perfect 10 on NAR's Joy Score²⁹.

Resale isn't the only reason to remodel. In an AARP survey, 75% of adults 50 and older said they want to stay in their current home as long as they can³⁴. If you plan to stay, build the kitchen you want to live with.

From a planning range to a real price

Southern Utah Kitchen Remodel doesn't do remodeling. It's a free referral service: send your request and it goes to one independent remodeler near you whose Utah contractor license is active, anywhere from St. George to Cedar City. That remodeler visits, measures and gives you a written estimate. There's no cost and no obligation. You can see how the referral works or browse the remodeling FAQ first.