I have been searching, shopping and pricing granite.
I can tell you what I have learned but I am no expert.
In fact if it were not for GW I would be lost.

Here is what I understand. There are a few factors involved
in the price.

1. Seams. If you have a pennisula and you do not want a
seam, and that pennisula is curved or has an elbow,
it could be more expensive.
I am learning that to not have a seam will be more
expensive. You are paying for the large slab and the waste
involved. Same goes for an Island or various shape with
many edges. No seam means more waste on the slab.

2. Edges. Certain edges mean that certain amount of granite
is wasted to create the Ogee or the Tripe Ogee edge.

3. Backsplash.

4. The actual stone. A rare peice of stone is like
art. The more exotic, rare, unique and popular
the piece the higher the price.
Tan Brown may be far cheaper than a Paridiso or Juperana

5. Quality of installation. You want the best installer.
I have seen some bad seams on GW and some super ones.
A good installer should have a seam of 1/16th of inch
or smaller. You want the best person to install so the
granite looks wonderful.

6. Location. How far away are you from a supplier?
How many marble or granite or soapstone suppliers
are in your area? I think this could drive up the
price. But I am new at this and learning too.

I hope to learn more. I look forward to more info
from this great question you posted.

I am getting 32 square feet of Juparana Columbo installed with a sink cut out and ogee edge for $2100.00. The price also included a sink and cutting board. (I am passing up on the sink, and getting my own).

I had three quotes and the highest was $3,000, but that was through a kitech designer and shipping a slab to the fabricator. You need 3 times as much as me, so you should be fine with your budget, and should have some to spare. (unless you pick a very expensive granite)

I got 46 sq. ft. of Ocean Green with an eased edge, no backsplash and the cost was just a bit over $4100. I also used a fabricator and granite yard that is considered a bit expensive. In my area where there are several sources for granite, so that might influence the cost too.

I too am not an expert but a budget of 11,000 for 96 sf is over 114.00 p/sf. And depending on where you are, that can be a very generous budget. The cost of the stone is separate from the cost of the fabrication and stone pricing can vary depending on the type of stone you choose. We had Verde Peacock installed in our kitchen, it was about 3200 for 60sf or 53.00 p/sf. It's pretty common and one of the lower priced stones available. For our master bath however, we chose Golden Shore which is a much busier stone. It's costing us 1400 for 20 sf, or 70.00 p/sf. Both p/sf costs include the stone & the fabrication i.e. edges, faucet holes and under mount sink cutouts as well as installation. What you need to do is visit a stone yard, see what you like and find out what the p/sf cost is in your area for the stones you are interested in. Some stone yards do their own fabrication, some don't. Just make sure that when you get your pricing, they tell you exactly what it includes. Hope that helps --Lukki

In the midwest where I live our granite fabricator told us to plan on about $80-$88 dollars/sq.ft.

Ah, thanks! Very helpful comments. We're going tomorrow, I'm very excited.