How many small-appliance circuits does a kitchen need?

NEC 210.11(C)(1) requires at least two 20 ampere small-appliance branch circuits to serve the kitchen, dining room, pantry, and breakfast room receptacles. These circuits may serve only those receptacle outlets and cannot supply lighting or other rooms.

Do the laundry and bathroom need their own circuits?

Yes. NEC 210.11(C)(2) requires a dedicated 20 A laundry circuit, and 210.11(C)(3) requires a dedicated 20 A bathroom receptacle circuit. The bathroom circuit may serve multiple bathrooms but nothing else, and the laundry circuit serves only laundry receptacles.

How are the general-purpose circuits counted?

The general lighting and receptacle load is 3 VA per square foot per NEC 220.12. Dividing that total by the capacity of one circuit — 1800 VA for 15 A or 2400 VA for 20 A at 120 V — and rounding up gives the minimum number of general-purpose circuits required by load.

Does the garage need a dedicated circuit?

Under the 2020 and 2023 NEC, 210.11(C)(4) requires at least one 20 A branch circuit for garage receptacles, and that circuit cannot serve outlets outside the garage other than readily accessible outdoor receptacles. Older code cycles did not mandate a separate garage circuit.

Are these minimums or the actual circuit count I should install?

They are NEC minimums. Real installations add more general-purpose circuits for convenience, to spread load, and to keep each circuit comfortably below capacity. Dedicated appliance circuits for items like microwaves, dishwashers, and disposals are counted separately from this minimum.

Receptacle Circuit Count Calculator

Every dwelling has a set of branch circuits the NEC simply requires, plus general-purpose circuits sized from floor area. This calculator returns both: the mandatory small-appliance, laundry, bathroom, and garage circuits, and the minimum number of general circuits needed to carry the lighting and receptacle load.

How it works

The general lighting and receptacle load comes from floor area at 3 VA per square foot. Dividing by one circuit’s capacity and rounding up gives the general-circuit count:

general load        = 3 VA/sq ft × floor area
per-circuit (120 V) = 120 × circuit amps      (1800 VA at 15 A, 2400 VA at 20 A)
general circuits    = ceil( general load / per-circuit )

On top of that, the NEC mandates dedicated circuits that may not serve other areas: two 20 A small-appliance circuits (210.11(C)(1)), one 20 A laundry circuit (210.11(C)(2)), one 20 A bathroom circuit (210.11(C)(3)), and one 20 A garage circuit (210.11(C)(4) in the 2020 and later NEC).

Worked example

A 2,000 sq ft dwelling has a 6,000 VA general load. On 15 A circuits (1800 VA each) that is 4 general-purpose circuits. Adding two small-appliance, one laundry, one bathroom, and one garage circuit gives 9 required branch circuits as the code minimum.

Notes

These are minimums, not a finished panel schedule. Most installs add more general circuits to spread load and improve convenience, and individual appliances like a dishwasher, disposal, or microwave get their own dedicated circuits counted separately. The mandated small-appliance, laundry, bathroom, and garage circuits must each remain dedicated to their listed areas.