How Much Does Kitchen Cabinet Installation Cost?
Kitchen cabinet installation costs between 486 and 736 dollars per cabinet for professional labor, according to current Homewyse estimates. Installers who price by the hour charge 50 to 250 dollars, and those who price by length charge roughly 100 to 300 dollars per linear foot. For a full kitchen, Angi puts the average installation bill at 6,193 dollars, with most homeowners paying between 1,935 and 10,767 dollars.
Those numbers cover labor only. The cabinets themselves are a separate line, and you can see what the boxes cost in our kitchen cabinet pricing guide. This post covers the labor side, meaning what installers charge, what pushes the bill up, and the honest math on doing it yourself with RTA cabinets instead.
Key Takeaways
- Professional installation runs 486 to 736 dollars per cabinet, or 100 to 300 dollars per linear foot
- Labor makes up 30 to 50 percent of a total cabinet project
- A standard 10 by 10 kitchen has about 20 linear feet of cabinets, so labor alone runs 2,000 to 6,000 dollars
- Removing old cabinets adds 300 to 800 dollars before the first new box goes on the wall
- DIY installation cuts 30 to 50 percent off the project, and RTA cabinets are built for it
What Installers Charge, Three Ways
Cabinet installers price jobs by the cabinet, by the hour, or by the linear foot, and knowing all three helps you compare quotes that look nothing alike on paper.
| Pricing Method | Typical Range | Best For Comparing |
|---|---|---|
| Per cabinet | 486 to 736 dollars | Small jobs, single runs |
| Per hour | 50 to 250 dollars | Complex or older kitchens |
| Per linear foot | 100 to 300 dollars | Full kitchen quotes |
A typical kitchen holds 25 to 30 linear feet of cabinetry, and the classic 10 by 10 layout has about 20. Run the numbers and a straightforward full kitchen install lands between 2,000 and 6,000 dollars in labor. Data from Fixr shows labor eating 30 to 50 percent of the total cabinet budget, which surprises people who assumed the boxes were the whole bill. A quote that seems high on labor is not always padded. Sometimes the installer just saw your walls.
What Pushes the Labor Bill Up
Installers charge more when the job holds surprises, and older homes hold plenty. Walls that are not plumb and floors that are not level mean every cabinet needs shimming and scribing to sit straight, which turns a two day job into four. Corner cabinets, ceiling height uppers, and crown molding all add hours. So does carrying cabinets up flights of stairs or working around plumbing that needs to move.
Then there is the work that happens before installation starts. Tearing out the old cabinets costs 300 to 800 dollars depending on how they were attached and who hauls them away. If a general contractor supervises the whole project rather than a single installer, expect another 13 to 22 percent on top of everything, per Homewyse.
None of these are scams. They are the difference between the low end and the high end of every range in this post, and asking an installer which ones apply to your kitchen is the fastest way to make a quote make sense.
Cost to Replace Kitchen Cabinets
Replacement is the full package, meaning demolition, new cabinets, and installation labor combined. Stack the pieces and a real budget takes shape. Demo runs 300 to 800 dollars. A 10 by 10 set of cabinets costs anywhere from about 1,600 dollars in a solid RTA line to 24,000 dollars in full custom. Installation labor adds the 2,000 to 6,000 dollars from above if a pro hangs everything.
So a complete cabinet replacement in an average kitchen spans roughly 4,000 dollars on the tightest budget to over 30,000 dollars at the custom end. The spread is enormous, and the two levers that move it most are the cabinet tier you pick and who does the hanging. The cabinet tier question has its own guide. The hanging question is next.
Labor Cost vs Doing It Yourself
Data from Angi shows DIY installation saves 30 to 50 percent of the total project cost, which tracks with labor being that same share of the bill. On a 12,000 dollar project, that is potentially 6,000 dollars staying in your pocket. The honest question is what that savings costs you in time and risk.
Hanging cabinets is intermediate DIY work. The tools required are ordinary, meaning a drill, a level, a stud finder, clamps, and a helper for the uppers. The skills matter more than the tools. Cabinets must land on studs, sit dead level across the whole run, and line up door to door. A pro finishes a kitchen in one to three days. A first timer should budget a full week and expect to redo at least one cabinet. Our step by step installation guide walks through the whole sequence, including the layout line trick that prevents the most common mistake, which is starting from the floor instead of from level.
The people who should not DIY are the ones with badly out of level floors, stone countertops already in place, or no patience for measuring twice. Everyone else can do this, and thousands do every year.
How RTA Cabinets Change the Math
Ready to assemble cabinets were designed around exactly this labor problem. The boxes arrive flat, pre-cut and pre-drilled, and each cabinet goes together in 15 to 20 minutes with a screwdriver and a mallet. Assembly is separate from hanging, so even hiring an installer costs less with RTA, because the flat packed delivery skips the freight premium assembled cabinets carry and some installers charge less when boxes arrive on site ready to place.
Go full DIY with RTA and the labor line disappears entirely. A 10 by 10 kitchen that quotes at 3,500 dollars in cabinets plus 4,000 dollars in labor becomes a 3,500 dollar project and two weekends. That gap is the whole argument for the format, and it is why RTA keeps taking share from stock cabinets that cost more and offer less plywood. For anyone unsure how their layout translates into a cabinet list, the free design service turns measurements into an itemized plan with no labor markup hiding anywhere in it.
Where to Save Without Regret
Three moves cut installation cost without touching quality.
- Do the demolition yourself, since tearing out old cabinets takes muscle rather than skill and saves the full 300 to 800 dollars
- Assemble RTA boxes yourself even if a pro hangs them, which trims hours off the labor bill
- Schedule the install for the contractor slow season in late fall or winter, when hourly rates soften and calendars open up
The one place not to save is on the level and the layout line. Every crooked kitchen started with someone rushing that step.
Cabinet Installation Cost Questions, Answered
How much does it cost to install cabinets in a 10 by 10 kitchen?
Labor alone runs 2,000 to 6,000 dollars for a standard 10 by 10 layout, which holds about 20 linear feet of cabinets. The total with cabinets included depends on the tier you buy, from around 4,000 dollars with RTA cabinets and DIY install to 30,000 dollars or more with custom cabinetry and pro labor.
How long does it take to install kitchen cabinets?
A professional crew finishes a full kitchen in one to three days. A first time DIY installer should plan on a week, spread across evenings and a weekend. Assembly of RTA cabinets adds 15 to 20 minutes per box before hanging starts.
Do cabinet installers charge by the hour or by the job?
Both are common. Hourly rates run 50 to 250 dollars, per cabinet pricing runs 486 to 736 dollars, and linear foot pricing runs 100 to 300 dollars. Most full kitchen quotes come as one flat bid, so ask the installer to break out the labor line so you can compare it against these ranges.
Is it hard to install kitchen cabinets yourself?
It is intermediate level work, not expert work. The job needs a drill, a level, a stud finder, and a helper for the upper cabinets. The skill that matters most is patience with measuring, since every cabinet has to land on studs and sit level with its neighbors.
How much does it cost to remove old kitchen cabinets?
Professional removal runs 300 to 800 dollars depending on the kitchen size and disposal. It is also the easiest part of the project to do yourself, since tearing out cabinets takes muscle and a pry bar rather than any real skill, and doing it saves that full amount.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris is Director of Product & Design here at CabinetSelect.com. He's certified as a Florida State Building Contractor (CBC1256670) with many years of construction experience. Most important, Chris is passionate about kitchen design – Whether you're building a new home or remodeling an old one, he has plenty of experience and the right tools, ideas and solutions to help create a beautiful kitchen in any space, large or small.
