Granite Countertops Cost Calculator
Granite Countertops costs $2,850 to $4,325 for a typical 40 sq ft job in 2026, against a national benchmark of $3,475. Labor runs 7 crew hours at $34.37 an hour. Enter a ZIP code to apply that area's measured wages for this work and its regional price level.
What makes up the price
Cost by size
National averages, before any local adjustment. Computed from the same model as the calculator above, so the two always agree.
| How much counter | Sq ft of counter | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 sq ft | 22 | $2,075 | $1,700 to $2,575 |
| 32 sq ft | 32 | $2,850 | $2,350 to $3,550 |
| 40 sq ft | 40 | $3,475 | $2,850 to $4,325 |
| 54 sq ft | 54 | $4,575 | $3,750 to $5,675 |
| 68 sq ft | 68 | $5,675 | $4,650 to $7,025 |
The grade is the price
Granite is quarried, and what it costs depends on how rare and how far away the quarry is rather than on how good the stone is.
| Grade | Slab, wholesale | Roughly, installed |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 and 2 — common colors | $10–$25 / sq ft | $40–$90 / sq ft |
| Level 3 and 4 | $25–$45 / sq ft | $90–$140 / sq ft |
| Exotic and premium | $45–$60+ / sq ft | $140–$250+ / sq ft |
The figures on this page assume a level 1 or 2 granite, which is where most kitchens land: $3,475 for a 40 square foot kitchen, or $87 a square foot.
The thing to understand is that the fabrication and the installation are identical across that whole table. The same shop cuts it, the same two people carry it in, the same seven hours go into a 40 square foot kitchen. So when two granite quotes differ by half, the difference is almost always the slab — and when a quote is cheap, the honest question is not "what are they skipping" but "which stone is it".
Level 1 is not inferior stone. It is the commonly quarried colors: the ubiquitous speckled grays, browns and blacks. A level 1 granite is as hard, as heat-proof and as long-lived as an exotic. It is just less unusual.
Granite or quartz, decided properly
They cost within a third of each other — $3,475 against $4,125 for the same 40 square feet — and install identically. The differences that actually matter:
| Granite | Quartz | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Quarried; every slab different | Manufactured; consistent |
| Heat | Put a pan straight on it | Resin scorches around 300°F |
| Porosity | May need sealing; test it | Non-porous, never sealed |
| Repair | Chips can be filled | Chips can be filled |
| Choosing | You pick a specific slab | You pick a sample and get it |
Granite's real advantages are heat and uniqueness. A hot pan off the stove goes straight onto granite and does nothing; on quartz it can scorch the resin binder and leave a permanent pale mark. And a granite slab is a one-off piece of rock, which some people care about a great deal and others not at all.
Quartz's real advantages are consistency and the end of the sealing question. If you want to know exactly what your counter will look like before it arrives, quartz is the one that promises that.
Everything else you will read about the pair — hardness, staining, bacteria — is close enough between them not to be the reason to choose either.
The sealing myth, and the test that settles it
What you will read: seal your granite every year.
What is actually true: some granites need sealing and some barely absorb anything at all, and you can tell which you have in ten minutes.
The water test. Put a tablespoon of water on the counter and leave it for twenty minutes. Wipe it off:
- No dark patch — the stone is dense or the sealer is working. Do nothing.
- A dark patch that fades in a few minutes — it is absorbing slowly. Seal it when convenient.
- A dark patch that takes longer, or does not fade — seal it now.
Dense granites may want sealing once every few years. Porous, light-colored and coarse-grained ones genuinely want it annually. Doing the test twice a year tells you which kind you have, and a bottle of impregnating sealer is $25 and takes twenty minutes to apply to a whole kitchen.
Where sealing matters most is the area around the sink and behind the cooktop, which is where oil and water actually land. If you only seal part of a counter, seal that part.
Polished, honed or leathered
Three finishes off the same slab, at essentially the same price from most fabricators.
- Polished is the default: reflective, shows the color at its deepest, and shows fingerprints and water spots on dark stone more than anything else.
- Honed is matte. It hides superficial scratches in the texture rather than catching light on them, and it shows oil and water marks more readily until it is sealed. The stone is no softer — the finish does not change the hardness.
- Leathered is textured, hides everything, and is the practical choice for a dark granite in a house with children.
The received wisdom that honed granite needs sealing every few months is overstated. On most stones the difference is sealing every 12 to 18 months rather than every 18 to 24, which is not a reason to choose a finish.
Go and see the slab
The single most useful thing on this page after the grade table.
A 4-inch sample tells you the color and nothing about the slab. Granite is a rock: the figure wanders, there are darker regions and lighter ones, sometimes a fissure or a vein that reads as a crack and is not. On a dramatic stone, two slabs with the same name can look like different materials.
So:
- Visit the yard and look at the actual slab your kitchen will be cut from, in daylight, standing back from it.
- Ask which slabs are reserved for your job and get the numbers written on the quote.
- Ask where the figure will land on the island, which is the piece people look at.
- If the kitchen needs two slabs, ask whether they are from the same bundle — consecutive slabs off the same block match, and two slabs with the same name from different bundles often do not.
None of this costs anything and all of it is the difference between the counter you expected and a surprise on install day.
What changes the price
| 40 sq ft in granite | ||
|---|---|---|
| Baseline — eased edge, laminate coming out | $3,475 | |
| Nothing to remove, new cabinets | $3,350 | −4% |
| Removing an existing stone or tile top | $3,725 | +7% |
| Ogee, bevel or dupont edge | $3,700 | +6% |
| Mitered apron edge | $4,125 | +18% |
Per square foot it gets slightly cheaper with size — $93 at 25 square feet, $84 at 60 — because the template visit, the delivery and the sink cutout happen once.
Remnants are the exception worth knowing. A bathroom vanity top is 6 to 10 square feet, which is nothing out of a slab, and every fabricator has a rack of offcuts from kitchen jobs. A remnant vanity in a stone that would cost $140 a square foot new is often $40 to $60 installed. Ask to see the remnant rack before anybody quotes you a new slab for a small job.
What you are paying for
A 40 square foot kitchen in a level 1 or 2 granite, at $3,475:
| Granite, fabricated, 40 sq ft | $1,920 |
| Sink cutout and polish | $150 |
| Seam kit, supports and sealant | $100 |
| Labor, about 7 hours | around $340 |
| Template visit and delivery | $75 |
| Overhead and margin | the balance |
The fabricated material price is the slab plus the shop work — cutting to the template, profiling and polishing the edge, cutting and polishing the sink hole. On granite that is roughly $20 of slab and $28 of fabrication per square foot, and it is why the installation labor looks so small: by the time the crew arrives, the counter is finished.
Questions worth asking
- Which granite, and what level?
- Can I see the actual slab before it is cut?
- Which slab numbers are reserved for my job, and are they from the same bundle?
- Where will the seams fall, and where will the figure land on the island?
- Polished, honed or leathered, and is there a price difference?
- Has it been sealed, with what, and when should I test it?
- 2cm or 3cm, and is there a plywood deck?
- Is removal and disposal of the old top included?
- Who handles the plumbing at both ends?
- Is there a remnant that would do for the bathroom while you are here?
Common questions
How much do granite countertops cost?
About $3,475 for a 40 square foot kitchen on a level 1 or 2 color, which is $87 a square foot installed. The grade is the whole question: common colors run $40 to $90 a square foot installed, level 3 and 4 run $90 to $140, and exotics go past $250. The fabrication and the install are identical across that entire range, so when two granite quotes differ by half the difference is the slab.
What is the difference between granite grades or levels?
Rarity and shipping, not quality. Level 1 and 2 are the commonly quarried colors — the speckled grays, browns and blacks — at $10 to $25 a square foot wholesale. Exotics come from smaller quarries further away and run $45 to $60 and beyond. A level 1 granite is as hard, as heat-proof and as long-lived as an exotic; it is simply less unusual. If a quote looks cheap, ask which stone it is rather than assuming something is being skipped.
Is granite or quartz better?
They cost within a third of each other and install identically, so it comes down to two real differences. Granite takes a hot pan straight off the stove; quartz has a resin binder that can scorch around 300°F and leave a permanent pale mark. And granite is quarried, so every slab is a one-off, where quartz is manufactured and consistent — which means with quartz you know exactly what you are getting before it arrives. Everything else written about the pair is too close to be the deciding factor.
Do granite countertops need to be sealed every year?
No — that is the most repeated piece of bad advice about granite. Some granites are dense enough to need sealing once every few years and some genuinely want it annually, and you can find out which you have with a glass of water. Leave a tablespoon of water on the counter for twenty minutes and wipe it off: no dark patch means do nothing, a patch that fades in minutes means seal it when convenient, and a patch that lingers means seal it now. Sealer is about $25 a bottle and twenty minutes of work.
How do I know if my granite needs sealing?
The water test. Put a tablespoon of water on the surface, leave it twenty minutes and wipe it off. A dark patch that stays is absorption and means it is time to seal. Do the test twice a year, and do it near the sink and behind the cooktop rather than in the middle of an unused run — those are the areas where oil and water actually land, and if you only seal part of a counter they are the part to seal.
Should I choose polished, honed or leathered granite?
Most fabricators charge about the same for all three. Polished is reflective and shows the color at its deepest, and on dark stone it shows every fingerprint and water spot. Honed is matte and hides superficial scratches in its texture, though it shows oil marks more readily until sealed. Leathered is textured, hides everything, and is the practical answer for a dark granite in a house with children. The finish does not change the hardness of the stone.
Should I see the granite slab before it is cut?
Yes, and it is the most useful free thing you can do. A four-inch sample tells you the color and nothing about the slab — granite is a rock, so the figure wanders, there are darker and lighter regions, and two slabs with the same name can look like different materials. Visit the yard, look at the actual slab in daylight from a distance, get the reserved slab numbers written on the quote, and ask where the figure will fall on the island.
Can granite countertops be repaired if they chip?
Yes. A chip at an edge or a sink cutout is filled with a color-matched epoxy and polished back, which a stone restoration company will do for a modest call-out and is nearly invisible on a busy stone. Deeper damage can sometimes be addressed by refinishing a whole section. What cannot be fixed easily is a crack across a narrow span — in front of a sink, for instance — which is why unsupported runs and overhangs matter at installation.
Is granite cheaper than quartz?
Usually, at comparable grades: $3,475 against $4,125 for the same 40 square foot kitchen in the figures here. The reason is that a quartz slab is manufactured to a specification while a common granite comes out of a quarry, so the cheap end of granite is cheaper than the cheap end of quartz. At the top the comparison reverses — an exotic granite costs more than almost any quartz.
Can I use a granite remnant for a bathroom vanity?
Yes, and it is the best-value trick in the trade. A vanity top is 6 to 10 square feet, which is an offcut rather than a slab, and every fabricator has a rack of them left over from kitchen jobs. A remnant in a stone that would cost $140 a square foot new is often $40 to $60 a square foot installed. Ask to see the remnant rack before letting anybody quote a new slab for a small top.
How long do granite countertops last?
Longer than the kitchen around them. Granite does not wear out — the practical failure modes are a chip at an edge, a stain in an unsealed porous stone, or a crack across an unsupported span, and the first two are repairable. People replace granite because they are tired of the color, which is worth bearing in mind when choosing between a dramatic exotic and a quieter stone you will still like in fifteen years.
Does granite add value to a home?
It is better understood as something buyers notice the absence of. In most of the US market stone counters are an expectation rather than an upgrade, so a dated laminate kitchen reads as needing work while a level 1 granite reads as done. That argues for spending the money on the common colors rather than an exotic slab: the return comes from having stone, not from having unusual stone.
Where these numbers come from
Nothing here is copied from a contractor directory. Labor is priced from what the trades are actually paid, materials from published producer prices, and both are adjusted to your area using federal cost-of-living data.
- Finish carpentry contractors, United States: $34.37/hour, August 2026 (BLS CES CES2023835003)
- Granite countertop, fabricated: $48.00 per sq ft (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)
- Seam kit, supports and sealant: $2.50 per sq ft (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)
- Sink cutout and polish: $150.00 per cutout (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)