The kitchen carries more electrical requirements than any other room, because it concentrates high-draw appliances, water, and people using both at once.
Small appliance branch circuits
At least two 20 amp circuits serving the countertop and dining area receptacles.
They may not serve lighting, and they may not serve other rooms except the specific spaces named in the Code — dining room, pantry and breakfast area.
Two is a minimum, and a kitchen with a kettle, a toaster, a coffee machine and a microwave in use at once benefits from more. Three or four is common in current work.
Countertop receptacle spacing
Receptacles along the counter are placed so that no point along the counter wall is more than 24 inches from one — which in practice means a receptacle at least every four feet.
Any counter space 12 inches or wider requires a receptacle.
Islands and peninsulas have their own requirements, which have changed across recent Code editions in both the number required and where they may be located — under-counter locations that were once acceptable no longer are.
GFCI
All receptacles serving the countertop require GFCI protection, and current editions extend it to essentially all kitchen receptacles and to a number of appliances.
Dishwashers require GFCI protection in current editions, and this has been a common source of nuisance tripping with certain machines.
Dedicated circuits
Refrigerator — a dedicated circuit is standard practice, though not universally required, and it prevents a tripped counter circuit from defrosting the food.
Dishwasher — dedicated, commonly 15 or 20 amps.
Disposal — dedicated, and sometimes shared with the dishwasher where the ratings allow.
Microwave, particularly a built-in or over-range unit — dedicated 20 amp.
Electric range — a dedicated 240 V circuit, commonly 40 or 50 amps depending on the nameplate.
Wall oven and cooktop as separate appliances — each on its own circuit.
Each of these is a breaker position, and together they are why a kitchen renovation so often runs into a full panel.
Lighting
On a separate general lighting circuit, not on the small appliance circuits.
Under-cabinet lighting and any dedicated fixture over an island go with it.
AFCI
Kitchen circuits require AFCI protection in current editions, which for counter receptacles means a dual-function AFCI/GFCI device.
What an older kitchen typically has
One circuit for everything, shared with the dining room and sometimes with a bedroom. No GFCI. Two receptacles along the counter. The refrigerator on the same circuit as the toaster.
None of that is required to be corrected until the kitchen is worked on — at which point current requirements apply to what is installed, and the scope grows accordingly.
Planning a renovation
Count the circuits before the cabinets are ordered.
A kitchen renovation typically needs six to ten new circuit positions. If the panel has two spares, that is a subpanel or a panel replacement, and it belongs in the budget at the start rather than as a discovery in week three.
The load calculation matters too: an electric range and an induction cooktop are large additions, and a house moving from gas cooking to electric is changing its service load meaningfully.
Which Code edition applies
Requirements have moved substantially across recent editions, particularly for island receptacles, GFCI coverage and dishwasher protection.
The edition that applies is the one adopted by the jurisdiction, which is frequently a cycle or two behind the current published one. An electrician working locally knows which, and it is worth asking, because guidance found online may describe a Code your inspector does not enforce — or one they enforce more strictly.
The inspection is the useful part
A kitchen renovation with a permit gets an inspection at rough-in, before the walls close.
That is the point at which a missed circuit, a receptacle in the wrong place or an undersized conductor costs nothing to fix. Discovering it after the tiling and the cabinets is a different number entirely, and it is the strongest practical argument for permitting work that some contractors offer to do without one.