Does anyone know the average cost per foot of soap stone? Google search returns a pretty wide range. I'm in Austin if that makes any difference.

we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago. We liked the soapstone look, but it was prohibitively expensive, I recall. We ended up getting honed granite (essentially unpolished granite) that has a very similar look. We really like it and it was much less expensive. You might take a look at that if you decide the cost of soapstone is too much. I don't remember the costs per foot, sorry.

We priced it for our kitchen remodel about 4 years ago. It was insane, close to $100/sqft.

We too chose absolute black granite in a honed finish. Doesn't have the veining like soap stone but looks very close otherwise. That was about $40/sqft.

We are in Houston btw. I think part of the reason is that it's not very common in Texas and they have to go out of state to get it and soap stone is heavier than granite.

I think there is a soapstone dealer/supplier in Austin. 8-10 years ago we had a custom bathroom vanity made and covered it in soapstone, I seem to remember a supplier in Austin. I know finding it was difficult.
I don't remember it being insanely expensive either, but our piece wasn't near as big as kitchen counters.