How Much Does a Home Renovation Cost in Montana in 2026
The Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com) puts its defined midrange minor kitchen remodel at $28,490 in a Mountain-division sample with no Montana city. Montana carpenters averaged $28.68 an hour in May 2025, against $31.55 nationally (BLS). Since January 1, 2026, remodeling for others takes a state license, exemptions aside.
Kitchen and bath benchmarks from eight markets outside Montana
Zonda builds its Mountain-division results from two Idaho markets (Boise, Idaho Falls), two in Nevada (Las Vegas, Reno), Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque; Billings, Bozeman, Missoula and Helena are absent. For those eight markets the report puts the midrange minor kitchen job at $28,490, with a resale value of $31,417 and 110.3% of cost recouped. Its national average for the same project is $28,458, resale $32,141, 113% recouped.
The midrange bath remodel returned less: a $24,920 Mountain job cost against $17,300 of resale value, 69.4% recouped; nationally, $26,138, $20,915 and 80%. The report defines each project’s scope; neither figure is a Montana price.
© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation. Complete data from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.
For May 2025 the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 4,030 carpenters employed in the state, at a mean of $28.68 an hour ($59,640 a year) against $31.55 ($65,630) for the country; medians were $28.28 here and $29.12 nationally. The estimate covers wage-and-salary workers in all industries, not carpenters who work for themselves. That is pay to the worker, and it sets no price on a remodeler’s bid.
HB 239 made Montana remodelers state licensees
House Bill 239 (Ch. 644, Laws of 2025) turned Montana’s contractor registration into a Department of Labor & Industry license under Title 37, chapter 45, effective January 1, 2026. The definition in 37-45-102 covers a person who, “in the pursuit of an independent business,” offers or undertakes “to construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve” a structure for another, floor covering included. Section 37-45-201 states the rule: “An individual or business entity may not engage in business as a construction contractor without a current license from the department.”
Section 37-45-104 lists 24 exemptions, several with conditions. Read the full section before taking a bidder’s word that one applies. To check a license, pick the Construction Contractor Program in the state’s license search and enter the holder’s or business’s name.
Who issues a remodeling permit in Montana
For a house, the building permit is a local question. Section 50-60-102(1)(a) keeps the state building code off “residential buildings containing less than five dwelling units” unless the local legislative body adopts it for them; subsection (5) brings the energy-conservation provisions back in. The Building Codes Program’s FAQ puts it this way: “A building permit is not required for a single family residence, unless you live inside a local government’s jurisdiction, which requires the permit by ordinance or resolution.”
Electrical work runs on a separate, statewide track: “State electrical permits are required on all electrical work performed in Montana, except in cities, counties and towns certified to issue electrical permits and conduct inspections.” The exceptions in 50-60-602 include, among others, low-voltage signal and communications equipment and plugging an appliance into an approved outlet already in place (full list: 50-60-602).
Pre-1978 paint: EPA enforces the lead-safe rule in Montana
Montana is not on EPA’s list of states authorized to run their own renovation, repair and painting program (page updated June 17, 2026), so the federal rule, 40 CFR part 745, subpart E, governs. It applies to renovations “performed for compensation” in target housing, meaning housing built before 1978, except housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities and 0-bedroom dwellings, unless a child under 6 lives or is expected to live there (745.103). Under 745.81, a firm may not do that work without EPA certification under 745.89, and a certified renovator must direct it.
Section 745.82(a) exempts a job only when the affected components are shown to be free of lead paint at the rule’s thresholds by one of three routes: a written determination by a certified inspector or risk assessor, a copy of which the firm has obtained; an EPA-recognized test kit used by a certified renovator on each affected component according to the kit maker’s instructions; or paint-chip samples a certified renovator collected from each affected painted component and an EPA-recognized laboratory analyzed. Minor repair and maintenance falls outside the definition of renovation in 745.83: 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, 20 square feet or less outside, no window replacement, no demolition of painted surface areas and none of the practices restricted by 745.85(a)(3), with jobs other than emergency renovations in the same room within the same 30 days counted as one. Emergency renovations are partly exempt under 745.82(b).
Questions Montana owners ask before remodeling
Can I remodel my own house without the new license?
Yes. Section 37-45-104(13) exempts “an owner working on the owner’s property, whether occupied by the owner or not.” The exemption does not reach an owner otherwise covered by the chapter who builds an improvement “with the intention and for the purpose of promptly selling the improved property, unless the owner has continuously occupied the property as the owner’s primary residence for at least the last 12 months.”
Can I wire a new kitchen circuit myself?
Section 37-68-103(3) lets you do electrical work without a license on your own property or residence “maintained for the individual’s own use,” except work on a grid-tied generator. In the state’s jurisdiction the permit is still required: “A homeowner may wire his/her own home, garage and premises using a State homeowner’s electrical permit.” Certified cities, counties and towns issue their own (50-60-604).
Does a painter sanding trim in my 1962 house need EPA certification?
Yes, the painter’s firm does, if the house is target housing, no 745.82(a) lead-free determination exists and the job is not minor repair and maintenance under 745.83; it is not when the sanding disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface in a room, or when it uses a high-speed sanding machine or another practice prohibited or restricted by 745.85(a)(3).