Last Updated on June 10, 2026
Rekeying a house costs about $250 to $350 for three doors in Phoenix for a basic rekey when a locksmith comes to you. This includes the service call, removing, rekeying, lubricating, and reinstalling the locks. In-shop rekeying is cheaper, around $20 per cylinder, and a DIY rekey kit runs about $10 to $30. Rekeying is far cheaper than replacing locks and is the right move after a move-in, a breakup, or lost keys. See our rekey service.
Cost Table | Is it Cheaper to Rekey Locks or Replace Locks? | Cost to Rekey Locks in Phoenix? | Why It’s Cheaper at a Locksmith Shop | Detailed Cost Breakdown | Pricing Variable | Cost to Rekey Other Types of Locks | FAQ
Cost to Rekey A Home
Just bought a home? Just tossed out your roommate? Fired your cleaning crew or no longer need that house sitter?
It’s time to rekey your locks!
But how much does it cost to rekey home locks? This post will give you the information you need to understand the rekeying process, and the costs associated with it.
Most homeowners decide to have a locksmith out on site to do the work so that they don’t need to remove and replace the locks themselves.
The cost to rekey a Phoenix home typically ranges from $250-$350 for three doors. This price includes the service call, the removal, rekeying, lubricating and reinstallation of locks. Cost can vary based on the number of cylinders per door and your location, affecting both labor and service fees. To save money, remove the locks yourself and take them to a lock shop, this avoids the service call fee and reduces labor costs to rekey each lock to around $20 per keyhole.
ACME Residential Rekey Service
We don’t just rekey locks. We enhance the entire door.
Every residential rekey includes strike plate adjustments, hinge alignment, and door frame inspection. Your locks won’t bind. Your door won’t stick. Your hinges won’t scream.
ACME then installs 3″ – 3.5″ commercial-grade screws in every hinge and strike plate. Those screws increase forced-entry resistance by up to 300%. Standard 3/4″ screws flies out of door framing when kicked. A 3″ screw anchors into the 2 X 4s behind the door. The difference is real.
That’s why ACME costs more than average. Not because we charge for basics. Because we include what should be basics.
If you are in the Phoenix Arizona market, you can schedule your rekey with ACME online.
For the cost of other common services, see our article, “How Much Does a Locksmith Cost.”
The Cost to Change Home Locks - Summary Table
| Rekey Service Provided | *Typical Rekey Cost Per Cylinder (Keyhole) |
|---|---|
| Cost to Rekey Locks in a Lock Shop | $15-25 |
| Cost to Rekey Locks at Your House | $25-35 |
| Cost of Trip Charge to get Locksmith to Your Location | $100-125 |
| Cost for Mailbox Key Copy in a Lock Shop | $6 |
| Cost for Mailbox Key at Your Home (new lock and key) | $59 |
| Rekey Surcharge if No Current Keys are available | $10 |
| Rekeying Kwikset Smartkey Locks | $0-$30 |
| Cost to Rekey a Padlock in Shop | $15-25 |
The Cost to Change Home Locks – Summary Table
| Rekey Service Provided | *Rekey Cost Per Cylinder (Keyhole) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to Rekey Locks in a Lock Shop | $ 13 | |
| Cost to Rekey Locks at Your House | $ 25 | |
| Cost of Trip Charge | $ 90-125 | |
| Cost for Mailbox Key in a Lock Shop | $ 20 | |
| Cost for Mailbox Key at House | $ 40 | |
| Rekey Surcharge if No Current Keys are available | $ 8 | |
| Rekeying Kwikset Smartkey Locks | $0-$30 | |
| Cost to Rekey Padlock | Same as Lock Rekey | |
The Cost to Rekey Locks Outside of the Phoenix Area
A home rekey in Phoenix, AZ will run about 5% less than the national average. To get a more accurate cost of a rekey for your city compare the cost of living of Phoenix to your city and adjust accordingly.
Is it Cheaper to Rekey or Replace Locks?
When you want to protect your home from anyone who may have an existing key copy, you can rekey the locks so that they work with a new key. You DO NOT need to replace the door hardware. But, how much is a rekey? Is it cheaper to buy new home locks?
It is always cheaper to rekey a lock than to replace it. Depending on the door hardware, you can save up to 10X by rekeying the lock rather than buying a new one. The savings can be substantial as the number of locks increases. You will get the biggest savings when you can bring your locks into a locksmith shop near you.
Save Money By Taking Locks to a Locksmith Shop
When it’s possible, the least expensive rekeying option is to bring the locks into a lock shop.
The main price differences between having a locksmith out to your home to rekey and bringing the locks to a lock shop occur because:
- You’ll save the trip charge (the cost associated with getting a locksmith to your location), and
- The rekey will be a little less expensive because you will be doing the removal and reinstall of the hardware.
Locksmith Pro Tip: When in doubt, take pictures at each step when removing the lock body from the door - this will help you replace the hardware properly!
Taking your locks into a locksmith shop for rekeying is a great low-cost option available to you if you:
- Only have one or 2 locks on a single door and
- Can have someone who can watch the home while you’re at the locksmith having the work done and
- Feel comfortable with removing and replacing the hardware yourself.
A ‘cylinder’ is where a key goes into a lock - so each keyhole you have will need to be changed and incur this cost. Some locks have 2 cylinders - a key on each side, and some instead have a thumb turn and only one cylinder. Rekeying is priced by cylinder, and not by locks, so keep this in mind – just count the number of keyholes.
If you don’t have the existing key, the locks can still be rekeyed but it will cost slightly more as it will take longer to perform the rekey. Expect around $10 additional.
Is It Cheaper to Rekey or Replace Locks?
Taking your locks into a lock shop to rekey them will always be less than the cost of replacing them.
For larger jobs with more doors and cylinders to be changed (or if you just aren’t comfortable or willing to do a little of the work), it will be worth your time and money to hire a locksmith to come out to your location.
If you have a locksmith come out to your home, you start to save money at roughly 4 locks. That is, you will need to have at least 4 locks rekeyed before it is cheaper to rekey than to replace. However, you do have the added value of having a local locksmith take care of everything and ensure everything is functioning properly even if the price is comparable. After 4 locks, it’s less expensive to rekey the home.
Rekey Cost Variables
You may also have specialty hardware if you live in an upscale home; things like profile cylinders (which take a longer time to rekey due to how they are built) or some homes have complex 3 - point lock systems that are a bit more time consuming in getting the cylinders out for a rekey.
You may have a high-security lock system in place. If you have high-security locks in the home, you will know it. The keys won’t look like any other you have ever had. These lock systems often have more internal moving parts which are retooled in the rekey, and the keys themselves are usually more expensive. These are great for security, but the trade-off is a higher price for the key blanks.
Each of these scenarios will add a moderate cost increase to your rekey, but most homes we go out to have the most common brands (Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, Baldwin are all popular), and these are fairly standard at the basic prices we’ve listed above.
Rekeying a Kwikset SmartKey Lock - Special Case
One other note - newer Kwikset residential products (and, by licensing agreement, some newer Baldwin products) have a different kind of cylinder system using wafer technology instead of pins, called a ‘SmartKey’. You can recognize this by the addition of a second small hole next to the keyhole.
One of the added benefits to this system is that the homeowner can rekey their own Smartkey locks for $0 (so long as you still have the current working key and a small tool provided by Kwikset).
Instructions for how to rekey SmartKey locks and Smartkey Rekey Kits are available on our website.
However, if you have a Kwikset Smartkey lock without the existing key it is very labor intensive to rekey the lock. It requires a special reset cradle and a lot of time. In some cases, it’s less to just replace this lock if you don’t have the keys. To rekey a Kwikset Smartkey lock rekeyed without the existing key, you can expect to pay about $30.
The Cost to Rekey Other Common Locks Around the Home
Rekeying Padlocks:
Padlocks by several manufacturers like Master Lock, American Lock, and ABUS can also come in rekeyable keyways. If you buy, or have the right product, these can be rekeyed to match your house key. These are great when you don’t want to track additional keys, such as with a side gate or shed.
You can pick up a rekeyable ABUS padlock on Amazon for a great price. Just order the keyway that matches your house key. Take it into your local locksmith shop and they will rekey it to match your house key. Or, even better, support your local locksmith and they will get you all set with a padlock that works with your home key in one stop.
The cost to rekey padlocks is usually the same as any other lock cylinder. Your local locksmith shop can help you get the right padlock or rekey an existing one.
The Cost to Rekey Mailbox Locks:
If You’ve Just Moved In, Have the Mailbox Rekeyed Too
Many community mailbox banks have locks that are the responsibility of the homeowner (you can verify if this is the case with your local post office). These locks typically aren’t made to be rekeyed, but they can be replaced easily enough.
While a locksmith is at your house performing a rekey, have them rekey the mailbox too. The cost (lock and labor) to rekey/replace the mailbox lock is around $40. Plus the trip charge if the locksmith is not already out onsite.
For this price, the locksmith will drill out the mailbox lock (when you don’t have a key) and replace the lock with a new lock. If you can get the postman to open the box for you, just remove the lock and take it to a local locksmith shop. They will have the replacement lock on hand. It is best to bring them the lock because there are a few types and the locksmith will want to match it.
In some communities, however, there may be proprietary locks that may not be able to be addressed with a locksmith (you would go instead to a home or community association or the post office to address these).
FAQ
Can I rekey my own locks?
Yes, in some cases. The Kwikset SmartKey product can be rekeyed by anyone with the existing key and a SmartKey tool, no disassembly. Most other locks need to be taken apart and re-pinned, which is where a locksmith or a DIY rekey kit comes in.
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