Rekey Cost in NYC: Per Cylinder, Per Door, Per Building

Rekeying a lock in NYC starts at $85 for a standard apartment door, and a typical door with a knob and a deadbolt runs $85 to $150 all in. A building rekeyed unit by unit prices the same way, door by door, with the service call spread across the visit.

That per-door range is the number to hold on to, because every quote that sounds higher is either adding a late-hour service call, adding hardware, or rekeying something that should have been replaced.

What rekeying is, in one paragraph

A lock is a cylinder of spring-loaded pins, and a key lifts each pin to exactly the right height. Rekeying swaps the pins for a new set cut to a different key. The cylinder, the deadbolt body and the door stay as they are. Old keys stop working the moment the technician finishes, and the new keys open the same lock.

Most standard pin-tumbler cylinders can be rekeyed. Rekeying changes which key works. It does not make a weak lock stronger, so a worn or builder-grade lock is still a worn or builder-grade lock afterward.

What it costs, door by door

Pricing is per door because a standard apartment door is one job: pull the cylinders, re-pin them, cut keys, test them. A door with more locks, or with high-security cylinders, is quoted by what is on it.

What you have	Locks	Rough all-in cost
One standard apartment door, knob and deadbolt	2	$85 to $150
Front door plus back door of a house	3 or 4	Quoted per door, one visit
Whole unit with mailbox and a gate lock	Varies	Quoted on site
High-security cylinders	Varies	Priced as a high-security job

The service call is the part that depends on the clock: $65 during business hours (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.), $125 after hours (6 p.m. to 2 a.m.), and $195 late night (2 a.m. to 7 a.m.). Booking a daytime slot is the one lever you control, and it is worth pulling if nothing about the situation is urgent. The same job at 3 a.m. costs more for the visit, never more for the work.

One key for every lock

Two keys to open one door is the part of apartment life people dislike most, and rekeying fixes it for free. When the knob and deadbolt are re-pinned together, they can be keyed alike, so one key runs both.

The same trick works across the door, the mailbox cylinder where that lock is yours to change, and a gate or basement lock if the brands match. Our post on keyed-alike setups for NYC apartments lists what combines and what cannot. Ask for it when you book, because it changes how many keys get cut and can change the price slightly.

When rekeying is not enough

Rekey when the hardware is sound and the only problem is a key you cannot account for: a lost set, an ex-roommate, a previous tenant, a contractor who held a copy.

Replace instead when the cylinder is worn, the deadbolt was forced, the hardware is the cheapest grade sold, or you want a restricted keyway. The cost comparison is laid out in rekey or replace your locks in NYC, and the short rule is this: rekeying protects you against the old keys, and only new hardware protects you against the lock.

High-security cylinders are a special case. Their keys are restricted, so new keys are ordered through the dealer under the same authorization rules as copies, and the work is priced as a high-security job. If you are on Medeco or Mul-T-Lock, tell the technician before the visit.

Rekeying a whole building

Property managers pay the same per door, and the economics come from doing every unit in one visit. A turnover rekey on 20 standard apartment doors runs $1,700 to $3,000 at $85 to $150 a door, quoted on site once the real lock count and brands are known.

Two things change the math at building scale. Master-key systems let one key open many doors while each tenant keeps a key that opens only their own, and those plans are quoted on site because they depend on the design. And a rekey policy at turnover costs less over a year than reacting to each incident, which is the argument made in the post on landlord lock changes between tenants.

For commercial doors, the same logic applies after staff turnover, and our commercial locksmith service quotes the cylinder count and key structure together.

What makes a rekey cost more than expected

A few things move the number up, and all of them are fair to ask about before the work starts.

Cylinder count is the first. A door with three locks is not a two-lock job. Brand and condition come next, since some cylinders need parts the technician has to source and a stiff, corroded cylinder takes longer. Mortise cylinders on pre-war doors are their own category, covered in pre-war mortise lock repair, and the cylinder can often be rekeyed without replacing the whole case. Extra keys are the last. Each additional key is a small line item, and asking for the count up front keeps it from becoming a surprise.

How long it takes, and what to have ready

A single cylinder is minutes. A typical apartment door with a knob and a deadbolt is well under an hour, including cutting and testing the keys.

Have the building door unlocked or someone present, know whether you have any keys left, and have the landlord's permission if you rent and the lock is the owner's. A lock you added yourself under Multiple Dwelling Law §51-c is yours to rekey, with a duplicate for the landlord on request.

Three jobs, worked out

A studio with one door: a knob and a deadbolt, rekeyed together. That is $85 to $150 all in, one visit, keyed alike so one key runs both.

A two-story house: a front door, a back door and a side gate, say three doors. At $85 to $150 a door that is $255 to $450, and one visit covers all three, so you pay the service call once. Booking in business hours keeps it at $65.

A 20-unit building at turnover: 20 doors is $1,700 to $3,000, quoted on site once the technician has seen the real brands and conditions. That works out to $85 to $150 a unit, which is small against the cost of one tenant dispute over who holds old keys. These are illustrations of how the arithmetic runs, not quotes.

What the quote should say

A rekey quote should name the number of cylinders, the per-cylinder price, the service call, and how many keys come with each cylinder. It should say whether the cylinders are being re-pinned or replaced. And it should say what happens if one turns out to be worn: whether the technician stops and calls you, or replaces it and bills the difference.

That last point is where rekey quotes drift. A rekey of a worn cylinder can fail, and a technician who replaces it on the spot has done you a favor only if you were told first. Ask for the answer before the work. The pricing logic is the same one laid out in how honest locksmith pricing is built, applied to a single job.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to rekey a lock in NYC? It starts at $85 for a standard apartment door. A knob and a deadbolt together come to $85 to $150 all in. The service call is $65 in business hours and higher after hours, $125 until 2 a.m. and $195 from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.

How much does it cost to rekey five locks? Rekeying is priced by the door, so five locks on two or three doors come to roughly $170 to $450 depending on how they group, and a single visit keeps it to one service call. Quoted on site once the technician sees the doors.

Can any lock be rekeyed? Most standard pin-tumbler cylinders can. Worn, damaged or unusual cylinders are sometimes cheaper to replace than rekey, and the technician will say which when they see it.

Is rekeying as secure as changing the lock? It stops every old key, which is the usual threat. It does not upgrade a weak lock. If the hardware is low grade, replacing it is the better security spend.

Will my old keys still work after a rekey? No. Old keys stop turning the moment the new pins are in, so there is no step where both sets work.