Painting kitchen cabinets: what it costs and what to check before you hire
Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team
How much does it cost to have kitchen cabinets painted?
The published surveys disagree sharply. Angi reports a national range of $425 to $1,467, with most homeowners paying about $943, based on 13,847 projects. Fixr puts the typical job at $2,500 to $6,500, with an average of $4,000. Neither publishes a Pennsylvania figure.
| Source | Range it gives | Average it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Angi, headline figure | $425 to $1,467 | $943 |
| Angi, by kitchen size | $900 to $1,500 small, $2,800 to $5,000 or more large | none |
| Fixr | $2,500 to $6,500 | $4,000 |
| Fixr, extremes | as low as $1,000, up to $10,000 | none |
Angi's own page does not agree with itself: alongside the headline range, its tables put stock cabinets at $900 to $2,000 and a small galley kitchen at $900 to $1,500, ranges that start at more than twice its headline low and end above its headline high. Angi says its figures can run as low as $180 for a small do-it-yourself effort and as high as $3,200 for a large professional job. Read the headline number as one estimate among several, not as a benchmark.
How do painters price cabinet work?
Three ways, according to the surveys.
- By the door or drawer. Fixr gives $70 to $125 a door and $30 to $110 a drawer front. Angi gives $100 to $250 a door. HomeGuide gives $50 to $100 a door.
- By the linear foot. Angi gives $30 to $60 per linear foot of cabinetry and Fixr $30 to $70.
- By the square foot. Fixr and HomeGuide both give $3 to $10 per square foot of cabinet surface.
Angi says labor makes up 70% to 80% of the cost. Count your doors and drawer fronts and measure the run of upper and lower cabinets before you ask for quotes; it lets you compare a per-door quote with a per-foot one.
How does painting compare with replacing the cabinets?
On the surveys' own numbers, painting is usually the smaller bill. Angi's interior painting guide lists the cost to replace kitchen cabinets at $2,000 to $11,000, which overlaps the top of Fixr's painting range but sits well above Angi's. Painting keeps the existing cabinets, so the question is whether they are worth keeping. If a painter tells you some doors are past painting, ask to see which ones and why.
Why does the age of the kitchen matter?
Because cabinets are one of the places lead paint wears into dust. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists windows, doors, floors, porches, stairways and cabinets as places lead dust is common, since painted surfaces that rub produce it.
If the cabinets were painted before 1978, sanding or scraping them for pay is painting preparation under the Environmental Protection Agency's lead rule, and the painter must be a certified firm working lead-safe unless the paint has been documented as not lead-based. The small-job exception, six square feet of disturbed paint per room, will rarely cover a set of cabinet doors, and the EPA's frequent questions say the six square feet counts all work in the room over 30 days. If a door has to be trimmed, the EPA counts the painted surface of the part cut away: a 1-inch strip off a 36-inch door is 36 square inches.
Cabinets installed in 1978 or later are outside the rule, though older cabinets in a newer house, or newer cabinets in an older house, are worth asking about.
Do you need a permit?
Generally not. Philadelphia, for example, lists cabinets and countertops among interior finish work that often needs no building permit unless the property is on the historic register. Elsewhere, ask your municipality if the job includes more than painting.
What about fumes in the kitchen?
Cabinet work concentrates paint in the room where you prepare food. The EPA's general advice for products that release volatile organic compounds is to increase ventilation, meet or exceed the label's precautions, and, where the label calls for a well-ventilated area, use an exhaust fan or open windows. It also says levels can remain elevated after the work stops. Ask the painter where doors and drawers will be finished, in the kitchen, elsewhere in the house or off site, and how long the room should be kept aired.
What should the contract say?
Painting is a home improvement under Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, so a cabinet job over $500 needs a written contract with, among other things, a description of the work and materials and the total price. For cabinets, make the description specific: which cabinets and faces (outside only, or inside too), the number of doors and drawer fronts, whether hardware is removed and refitted, the preparation, the primer and the number of coats.
The Federal Trade Commission's advice applies here too: get more than one written estimate, do not automatically choose the lowest, and ask about big differences between bids. With survey ranges this far apart, the differences between bids may be just as large.
The cost guide covers whole-room and whole-house prices, the lead rule for older homes explains what a certified firm must do, and painters who take on cabinet work are among those on the painters directory page.
Sources
- How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets? [2026 Data], Angi
- How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets? [2026 Data], Fixr
- How Much Does It Cost to Paint the Interior of a House? [2026 Data], Angi
- How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Painter? (2026), HomeGuide
- About Lead in Paint, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Contractors, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Frequent Questions About Renovations Covered by the RRP Rule, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 2008 Act 132 (Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act), Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Get a Building Permit, City of Philadelphia
- How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam, Federal Trade Commission