Kitchen and bath
Dishwasher replacement cost
A mid-range dishwasher swapped like for like is about $1,055 through the shop's installer — the one job its $180 covers — $1,178 with a plumber, $850 yourself. If the old one was hardwired or there is no shut-off valve it is about $1,483; a kitchen that never had one is $2,112 with a new circuit. This sorts out which job yours is, prices it four ways, catches the raised floor that traps the old machine, and says whether the old one is worth repairing instead.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-23 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Dishwasher replacement cost calculator
What is under the counter now
The shop’s installation price covers one job of three. Whether yours is that one depends on the connections already there.
A receptacle in the next cabinet, a shut-off under the sink, a drain into the disposer or an air gap already there. The old one out, the new one in, levelled and screwed to the counter. This is the job the shop's installation price covers.
The one to buy. Stainless tub, a sound rating you cannot hear over a conversation, a third rack on many, and condensation drying that works.
The connections
Open the cabinet under the sink and the one beside the dishwasher. Each of these is what the retail installer calls additional.
A cord and a receptacle already.
A quarter-turn valve on the supply.
A high loop under the counter does it where the code allows.
33.5–34.5 in clear under the counter.
Covers this job: a swap on existing connections.
Or repair the old one?
Over half the price of a new one, or over eight years old: replace.
The next failure is close behind this one.
Water left in the bottom after a cycle. The commonest failure and the one worth doing on a unit under eight years.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
Like-for-like swap
$1,055
mid unit · the shop's installer · about $106 a year over 10 years
The same dishwasher, four ways to get it in
the shop's installer $1,055 · a plumber $1,178 · a handyman $1,048 · yourself $850
Repair or replace
Replace it.
A $240 drain pump is a fair repair on a young machine, but at 9 years the next failure is close behind it. Replace.
Measure first
33.5 to 34.5 in under the counter.
A standard dishwasher adjusts from 33.5 to 34.5 in. Tile laid over the old floor after the last one went in takes an inch, and the old unit will not come out — or the new one go in — without lifting the countertop or cutting the floor. It is the one measurement the shop does not take, and the one that turns a swap into a trapped machine.
One dishwasher, three jobs
The unit does not change. The connections under the counter do.
What to buy, and what the day costs
- Mid — stainless tub, 44 dB
The one to buy. Stainless tub, a sound rating you cannot hear over a conversation, a third rack on many, and condensation drying that works.$800 - Installation kit
Power cord, braided 3/8 in supply line and the 90-degree elbow. Not in the box, ever, and the sink is apart when you find out.$32 - Drain fittings
A tailpiece with a branch, or the disposer inlet with its knock-out removed, and the clamps.$18 - The shop's installation
The shop's installation price covers a like-for-like swap on existing connections, with the kit sold separately. Anything else is additional on the day, and if the installer decides it is out of scope, the dishwasher is left in the kitchen in its box.$180 - The old one away
Eighty pounds, and the racks come out first.$25
What it costs
National average. A mid dishwasher, like-for-like swap. Not included: a cabinet modified for a different width, a countertop lifted for anything but a trapped unit, or a panel-ready front.
The drain usually goes through the disposer, whose knock-out plug is the commonest reason a new dishwasher will not drain; and the film on the glasses is hard water, not the machine.
Worth knowing
- A like-for-like swap: an hour on the kitchen floor, and the shop's installer does it for $180 flat, which beats a plumber's trip charge — $1,178 against $1,055 here. The kit — cord, supply line, elbow — is $32 and not in the box.
- Replace, not repair: A $240 drain pump is a fair repair on a young machine, but at 9 years the next failure is close behind it. Replace. A new mid unit fitted is $1,055.
On this page — 5 sections
The shop's price covers one job of three
The short version
- Swap $1,055. Connections updated $1,483. First install $2,112. The unit is $800 in each.
- The shop’s $180 covers the swap — receptacle, shut-off and drain already there — and nothing else.
- Measure 33.5–34.5 in under the counter. A new floor traps the old machine.
- The kit is not in the box. Cord, supply line, elbow: $32.
The shop sells the dishwasher and offers to install it for about $180, and for most kitchens that is the best price there is: one flat fee, no trip charge, the old one taken away. What the fee covers is a like-for-like swap — a receptacle in the next cabinet, a shut-off valve under the sink, a drain into the disposer or an air gap, all already there.
Any one of those missing is a different job. The old unit hardwired, no shut-off, a state that wants an air gap and a counter with no hole for it, a floor that has come up since the last dishwasher went in: each is half an hour and a part for a plumber, and each is what the retail installer calls additional on the day — at a rate nobody compared — or reason to leave the dishwasher in its box in the kitchen. And a kitchen that never had a dishwasher is a third job again: a cabinet out, water and drain brought to it, and a dedicated circuit from the panel before the plumber can start.
| The shop's installer | A plumber | |
|---|---|---|
| Like-for-like swap | $1,055 | $1,178 |
| Hardwired, no shut-off | Additional on the day | $1,483 |
| Air gap needed | Additional on the day | $1,402 |
| Floor raised — trapped unit | Usually declined | $1,513 |
| First installation, new circuit | Not offered | $2,112 |
MaterialsEstimator, Dishwasher replacement and installation price survey · checked 2026-09-23
Measure first: the floor that traps the machine
A dishwasher stands on adjustable legs and wants 33.5 to 34.5 in from the floor to the underside of the counter. Kitchens get new floors, and a floor laid over the old one — tile on tile, a floating floor over vinyl — takes an inch the dishwasher had. The old unit, screwed to the counter and standing on the old floor, is now trapped: it cannot come out under the counter, and the new one cannot go in.
Freeing it is cutting the new floor back under the opening or lifting the countertop enough to slide the unit out — about $220, and the one thing the shop’s installer will not do. It is the first measurement to take, before the dishwasher is bought, and almost nobody takes it.
33.5–34.5 in
Under the counter
Floor to underside
$220
Freeing a trapped unit
Floor cut or counter lifted
$32
The kit
Cord, line, elbow
$180
The shop's installation
For a swap
Bosch / Whirlpool / GE, Built-in dishwasher installation instructions · checked 2026-09-23
The three connections
Power: a receptacle in the cabinet beside the dishwasher, on its own breaker, and a cord from the kit. An old unit wired direct gets a receptacle box on the same circuit, about $110, so this dishwasher plugs in and the next one does too. A kitchen with no circuit at all gets one from the panel — an electrician’s morning, about $480.
Water: a tee off the hot supply under the sink with a quarter-turn shut-off, and a braided line to the inlet elbow. Old houses have no shut-off; it is $22 and it means the kitchen tap still works while the dishwasher is out.
Drain: a hose into the disposer inlet — knock-out plug removed — or a tailpiece on the sink drain, and either an air gap on the counter or a high loop under it, depending on which plumbing code the state has adopted. The air gap is the one that needs a hole in the counter, and the one a swap in an air-gap state gets done without.
IAPMO / International Code Council, UPC 807.3 and IPC 802.1.6 — Dishwasher drain protection: air gap or high loop (2021) · checked 2026-09-23
Repair or replace
Two rules, and the calculator applies both: a repair over half the price of a new unit is a replacement, and a machine over eight years old is a replacement whatever the part. The drain pump is the commonest failure — water left in the bottom — and at $240 on a nine-year-old machine it is the moment to replace; a door latch at $160 on a four-year-old one is worth doing without a second thought.
| Fault | Repair | Share of a new mid-range | Under 8 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drain pump | $240 | 30% | Repair |
| Control board | $320 | 40% | Repair |
| Door latch or gasket | $160 | 20% | Repair |
| Circulation pump or motor | $380 | 48% | Repair |
| Water inlet valve | $190 | 24% | Repair |
Over eight years old, every row is a replacement. A door latch or gasket on a four-year-old machine: repair.
What goes wrong
01Booking the shop's installation for a job it does not cover
Hardwired, no shut-off, air gap, raised floor: each is additional on the day at a rate you did not compare, or the dishwasher stays in its box.
Instead — Open the cabinets first. If any connection is missing, a plumber booked as one is the same price with no surprises.
02Not measuring under the counter
A floor laid since the last dishwasher takes the inch it needs, and the old one is trapped.
Instead — 33.5 to 34.5 in, floor to underside of counter, before buying anything.
03Buying the dishwasher without the kit
The cord, supply line and elbow are never in the box, and the old one is out when you find out.
Instead — The $32 kit in the same basket.
04Leaving the disposer knock-out in
The new dishwasher has nowhere to drain, and the first cycle ends on the floor.
Instead — Screwdriver, one tap, fish the plug out — before the hose goes on.
05Skipping the air gap in an air-gap state
The sink drain backs up into the dishwasher, which is exactly what the rule exists to stop.
Instead — An air gap, $28 and a hole in the counter; or a high loop where the code allows it.
06Hardwiring the new one because the old one was
Allowed, and it makes the next swap 'additional' too.
Instead — A receptacle box on the circuit, $110, and every future dishwasher plugs in.
07Repairing a nine-year-old pump
$240 on a machine whose next failure is close behind, against $1,055 for a new one fitted.
Instead — Over half the price of new, or over eight years: replace.
08The basic unit to save on the unit
$320 less, for a plastic tub, 50 dB and two fewer years.
Instead — Mid-range: $106 a year against $92.
- 01Measure the openingWidth, and height from the floor to the underside of the counter. It has to be 33.5 to 34.5 in, and if a floor has gone down since the last dishwasher, it is not.
- 02Find the connectionsA receptacle in the next cabinet or a cable straight in; a shut-off on the supply; where the drain goes and whether there is an air gap.
- 03Decide which job it isAll three connections in place is a swap, and the shop's price covers it. Any one missing is a swap with updates, and it does not.
- 04Buy the kit with the dishwasherCord, supply line, elbow. Not in the box.
- 05Price the four waysThe shop for a swap; a handyman or plumber for updates; a plumber and an electrician for a first installation.
- 06Check the old one is worth replacingOver half the price of a new one to repair, or over eight years old, and it is.
The dishwasher drains through the disposer, and the two are worth doing on the same visit — the disposer page prices it by the same three-jobs logic.
The other thing under the sink- Like-for-like swap
- A new dishwasher into the opening the old one left, onto a receptacle, a shut-off and a drain that are already there. The job the retail installation price covers.
- Installation kit
- The power cord, the braided supply line and the 90-degree elbow at the inlet. Sold beside the dishwasher and never in the box.
- Air gap
- The chrome cylinder beside the tap that keeps the sink drain from backing up into the dishwasher. Required under the Uniform Plumbing Code, in most of the West.
- High loop
- The drain hose looped up to the underside of the counter before it drops to the drain. Does the air gap's job where the International code allows it.
- Hardwired
- The circuit cable runs straight into the dishwasher's junction box. Older installations; new units come cord-ready and want a receptacle.
- Dedicated circuit
- A 15 or 20 A breaker serving only the dishwasher. What a kitchen that never had one does not have.
- Shut-off valve
- A quarter-turn valve on the dishwasher's hot supply under the sink, so it can be isolated without shutting off the kitchen.
- Knock-out plug
- The plastic plug in a disposer's dishwasher inlet, removed before the hose goes on. Left in, the new dishwasher cannot drain.
- Tall tub
- The stainless-tub design most dishwashers use now, which wants the full 34 in of height. The reason a raised floor traps the old one.
- Trapped unit
- A dishwasher that cannot come out because a floor laid after it went in took the inch it needs. Freed by cutting the floor back or lifting the counter.
- Sound rating
- Decibels: 50 is audible from the next room, 44 is conversation-proof, 39 needs a light to tell you it is on.
- Panel-ready
- A dishwasher built to take a cabinet door front so it disappears. The front is a joiner's job, not the installer's.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to replace a dishwasher?
- About $1,055 for a mid-range unit swapped like for like through the shop's installer — $800 of dishwasher, a $32 kit, $180 of installation and the old one taken away. A plumber does the same swap for about $1,178, a handyman $1,048, and yourself it is $850. If the old one was hardwired or there is no shut-off valve, it is about $1,483; if there was never a dishwasher, about $2,112 with a new circuit.
- How much is dishwasher installation at Home Depot or Lowe's?
- About $180, plus the kit and haul-away — and it covers a like-for-like swap on existing connections: a receptacle, a shut-off valve and a drain already in place. If the old one was hardwired, there is no shut-off, the code wants an air gap, or a new floor has trapped the old unit, that is additional on the day, at a rate you did not compare — or the installer leaves the dishwasher in its box. For a swap it is the cheapest way there is; for anything else, book a plumber as one.
- What is the labour cost to install a dishwasher?
- $180 flat through the shop for a swap. A plumber is 1.2 hours plus a trip charge — about $298 — for the same swap, $470 when connections are brought up to date, and $735 for a first installation, before the electrician's $480 for the circuit.
- How much does it cost to install a dishwasher where there was none?
- About $2,112 with a mid-range unit: a 24 in base cabinet out, the hot supply teed with a shut-off, a drain into the disposer or a tailpiece, a dedicated circuit run from the panel by an electrician, and the unit fitted. With a circuit already there — rare in a kitchen that never had a dishwasher — about $1,632. It is a day between two trades, and the cabinet does not go back.
- Why won't the new dishwasher fit under the counter?
- Because the floor went up. A dishwasher needs 33.5 to 34.5 in from the floor to the underside of the counter; tile laid over the old floor after the last one went in takes an inch, and the old unit is trapped — it cannot come out — while the new one cannot go in. Freeing it is cutting the floor back under the opening or lifting the countertop, about $220, and it is the one measurement to take before buying anything.
- Do I need an air gap for a dishwasher?
- Where the Uniform Plumbing Code applies — most of the West — yes: the chrome cylinder beside the tap, with a hole in the counter if there is not one, about $28 and half an hour. Where the International Plumbing Code applies, a high loop of the drain hose under the counter does the same job. Either way the point is that the sink drain cannot back up into the dishwasher, and a swap done without one is why it does. An air gap added to a swap is about $224 extra.
- What if the old dishwasher was hardwired?
- New dishwashers come cord-ready. The honest fix is a receptacle box on the existing circuit, about $110, so this one plugs in and the next one does too. Wiring the new one direct is allowed, and it is the reason the next swap is also 'additional'. Either way it is outside the shop's installation offer.
- Should I repair or replace my dishwasher?
- Two rules: over half the price of a new one, or over eight years old, and it is replaced. A drain pump at $240 on a nine-year-old machine is a replacement; a door latch at $160 on a four-year-old one is a repair — the calculator applies both. Drain pump about $240; Control board about $320; Door latch or gasket about $160; Circulation pump or motor about $380; Water inlet valve about $190.
- Which dishwasher is worth buying?
- The mid-range: a stainless tub, a sound rating you cannot hear over a conversation, drying that works — $800 against $480 for a plastic-tub basic unit, and on a $1,055 job the difference is small while the difference in noise and years is not. Per year it is $106 against $92 for the basic and $138 for a premium unit.
- Can I replace a dishwasher myself?
- It is one of the more forgiving appliance jobs: $850 of unit, kit and fittings and an hour on the kitchen floor. Breaker off, water off, the old one unscrewed from the counter and walked out on cardboard; the elbow and cord fitted to the new one before it goes in, because there is no room after; the drain hose looped high or to the air gap; legs adjusted level, brackets screwed to the counter, and a full cycle watched with the doors open. A new circuit is an electrician.
- Why won't my new dishwasher drain?
- If it drains through a disposer, the knock-out plug: every disposer ships with a plastic plug in the dishwasher inlet, and it has to be knocked out before the hose goes on. Left in, the first cycle ends on the floor. Otherwise the drain hose is kinked behind the unit, or it drops without a high loop and siphons.
- How long does a dishwasher last?
- 8 years for a basic unit, 10 for a mid-range, 12 for a premium — and the pump is what goes. At eight years a failed pump is a replacement; the door latch and the inlet valve are cheap at any age.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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