How Much Does a Home Renovation Cost in Mississippi in 2026

The Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com) puts its midrange minor kitchen remodel at $28,458, a national average across 119 markets. Mississippi carpenters averaged $23.69 an hour in May 2025, against $31.55 nationally (BLS). Past $10,000, a paid remodeler needs a state license unless exempt.

Two national benchmarks, neither of them a Mississippi quote

Zonda Media’s report prices defined projects and estimates how much of each cost comes back at resale. Its 2025 national averages: the midrange minor kitchen remodel at $28,458, with a $32,141 resale value (113% recouped), and the midrange bath remodel at $26,138, with $20,915 at resale (80%). The report sets each project’s scope; the pages we captured don’t spell it out, so these are the report’s defined kitchen and bath jobs, not your plan. Resale value is the report’s estimate, not an appraisal. Line-by-line budgets live in our kitchen remodel budget guide and bathroom remodel cost breakdown.

© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation. Complete data from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.

Carpenter pay in Mississippi

The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025 counts 2,950 carpenters on Mississippi payrolls, self-employed not included. Mean pay: $23.69 an hour ($49,280 a year); median $23.39 ($48,650). Across the U.S. the mean was $31.55 ($65,630) and the median $29.12 ($60,580). A bid also carries materials, subcontracted trades, insurance, permits and margin, so lower pay is one lower input, not a discount you can compute.

Mississippi’s remodeler license starts above $10,000

A “remodeler” is anyone who, for pay, “undertakes or offers to undertake the construction, or superintending of the construction, of improvements to an existing residence when the total cost of the improvements exceeds Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00)” (Miss. Code §73-59-1(c)).

Section 73-59-3(1) requires a yearly State Board of Contractors license “Except as otherwise provided in Section 73-59-15 or Section 33-1-39.” It names residential builders, remodelers, construction managers, residential solar contractors, and subcontractors doing electrical, plumbing, mechanical or HVAC work on a residential construction or improvement project “no matter the dollar amount of the construction or improvements.” This text comes from House Bill 1163, in force since July 1, 2022; the Legislature’s code-section index shows no amendment enacted in the 2023–2026 regular sessions.

Section 73-59-15(1) takes these out of the chapter:

• agricultural buildings, buildings used for agricultural purposes, buildings constructed as a community effort, or tenant houses;
• anyone working on, or acting as general contractor on, “his own residence”;
• anyone doing the work, acting as general contractor, or working “under supervision of the owner-occupant,” when the owner is related to that person “by consanguinity or direct affinity,” and the property “will not be for sale, rent, public use or public assembly”;
• owners who take charge of work on their property “for use by such owner” that will not be for sale, rent, public use or public assembly;
• a contractor with a valid license or certificate of responsibility for general construction from the board;
• a nonresident contractor with a valid license or certificate of responsibility for building construction;
• anyone building two single residences or fewer in a year where no building permit or local certification is required, if not “for sale, profit or remuneration.”

Under §73-59-15(2), someone using the own-home or family exemption may not apply for more than one single-residence permit, or build more than one single residence, in a year; doing either raises a rebuttable presumption of building “for the purpose of sale, lease, rent or any similar purpose.” Check any number in the MSBOC license search.

What an unlicensed remodeler risks

Contracting without a required license is a misdemeanor: a $100 to $5,000 fine, 30 to 60 days in county jail, or both (§73-59-9(1)). That contractor “may not bring any action, either at law or in equity, to enforce any contract” for the work and recovers only “actual documented expenses for labor, materials or both,” shown “by clear and convincing evidence” (§73-59-9(2)).

Permits and the insurance line above your signature

Every municipality must “require permitting as a condition to construction within the municipality’s jurisdiction” (§21-19-25(6)); counties must do so “within the unincorporated areas of the county” (§19-5-9(11)). The building official “shall refuse to issue a permit” for builder or remodeler work unless the applicant shows a license or an exemption (§73-59-17).

At signing, a licensed contractor must disclose in writing “whether the holder carries general liability insurance” (§73-59-11), placed “immediately before the space reserved in the contract for the signature of the purchaser” in bold type larger than the rest of the contract. No such line? Ask why.

The heating and cooling side of a remodel is on our Mississippi HVAC installation cost page; coastal owners can pair storm work with our Mississippi hurricane preparedness guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I be my own general contractor on my Mississippi house?

Yes. Section 73-59-15(1)(b) exempts a person acting as his own general contractor on his own residence. The board’s “Owner Risks” page asks whether you are “willing to call for inspections” and to provide “direct, onsite supervision,” and recommends that only homeowners “with significant experience and skill renovating or building homes and up to date knowledge of building codes” pull their own permits.

My house was built before 1978. Whose lead-safe certification counts?

Mississippi’s. EPA lists Mississippi among states running their own Renovation, Repair and Painting program and says EPA firm certification does not apply here. The Department of Environmental Quality says it was authorized to enforce the renovation rules in March 2010, and it posts a list of licensed individuals for lead-based paint abatement and renovation.

Is $28,458 what a kitchen costs in Mississippi?

No. It is the report’s 2025 national average for one defined project. Your number depends on scope and materials; if you are borrowing against the house, run payments through our HELOC calculator.