Concrete Driveway Cost Calculator

How much does a concrete driveway cost?

A concrete driveway costs the concrete plus the work around it: excavation, gravel base, forms, reinforcement, placing, finishing and, on a replacement, demolition and haul-away. Size and thickness fix the concrete volume. Your local quotes set everything else. We do not publish a national average because ready-mix and labor prices vary by region and season.

Driveway cost = ordered yd³ × price per yd³ + fees + labor (ft² × rate) + base, rebar, removal and extras

The calculator above starts at a 40 × 12 ft drive, 5 in thick. Change the size, enter your yard price, delivery fees and labor rate, and it returns the total and the cost per square foot.

Concrete for common driveway sizes

This table gives the yards to order (with 10% extra, rounded up to ¼ yd³) for common driveway sizes at 4, 5 and 6 in. Multiply by your quoted price per yard for the concrete line.

In metric, a 12 × 40 ft (about 3.7 × 12.2 m) driveway at 5 in (127 mm) is 5.66 m³ of concrete before waste.

What makes a driveway cost more?

Thickness, site access and the condition of the ground under the old drive cause most of the difference between quotes.

• Thickness. Each extra inch adds 25% of a 4 in slab’s concrete. Plan the thickness for the heaviest vehicle that will use the drive.
• Removal. Breaking out old concrete or asphalt, loading it and paying disposal fees is a separate line on a replacement.
• Base repair. Soft or washed-out subgrade has to be dug out and replaced with compacted gravel. The driveway gravel calculator gives tons.
• Reinforcement. Rebar, wire mesh or fiber. Size a grid with the rebar calculator.
• Access. Long or steep drives may need a pump or several trucks timed back to back.
• Finish and extras. Broom finish is standard. Stamped, colored or exposed-aggregate finishes, curbs, aprons and drainage add cost.
• Permits. Many towns require a permit for a new curb cut or apron. Check with your local building or roads department.

How much does a concrete driveway cost per square foot?

Divide the total quote by the driveway area. The concrete share per square foot depends only on thickness and your yard price: one cubic yard covers 81 ft² at 4 in, 65 ft² at 5 in and 54 ft² at 6 in. So at 5 in, every $100 of yard price is about $1.54 per ft² before waste, and $1.72 per ft² for a 12 × 40 ft drive once 10% extra and rounding to 8¼ yd³ are included.

Labor, base, reinforcement and removal are usually quoted per square foot or as lump sums. Enter them in the calculator and it returns one combined figure per square foot, which makes it easy to compare an all-in contractor quote with your own breakdown. Check that every quote covers the same items before comparing. To compare a driveway’s square-foot price with a patio, sidewalk or garage slab at any thickness, use the concrete cost per square foot matrix.

Replacement or resurfacing?

Replace a driveway when the slab is broken through, heaved or sinking, because the base has failed. Resurfacing or repairing only makes sense when the slab is sound and the problems are on the surface.

When you get replacement quotes, ask each contractor to separate demolition and haul-away, base repair, the new slab and the apron at the street. The concrete volume for the new slab is the same as a new build, so the table above still applies.

Concrete per square foot by driveway size

Small drives cost more per square foot of concrete because the order rounds up to the next ¼ yd³. This table shows the concrete line per square foot for each $100 of your yard price, with 10% extra and rounding included.

Read it as: at an example $130/yd³, a 12 × 40 ft drive at 5 in costs 1.3 × $1.72 ≈ $2.24 per ft² in concrete. The rest of a contractor’s square-foot price is labor, base, forms, reinforcement and overhead.

Single or double driveway: concrete and base

Measure the width you will actually pour, including any flare at the street. A two-car drive is roughly double the concrete of a one-car drive of the same length, and needs a second truck sooner.

Base tonnage uses a typical planning density of 1.6 tons per yd³ for crusher run; use your quarry’s figure if it differs. If your plant’s trucks carry less than the order, the 20 × 40 ft and 16 × 60 ft drives arrive in two loads, so plan the pour order and the crew size around both.

Concrete driveway replacement cost: removal and haul-away

A replacement adds demolition, loading and disposal before the new pour. Contractors price it by area, by load or by weight, so it helps to know how much old concrete you have. At 150 lb/ft³ (the unit weight WSDOT lists for plain normal-weight concrete; FHWA reports about 140–155 lb/ft³, and reinforced slabs weigh a little more):

Broken concrete takes up more room than the solid slab, so it fills more container space than these volumes suggest. Ask haulers whether they charge by the ton or by the container, and whether clean concrete goes to a recycler at a lower rate than mixed debris. Drill a test hole or check an edge to find the real thickness; a drive you assumed was 4 in but is 5 in weighs 25% more.

Driveway repair cost estimates: patch, panel or full replacement

Repair only makes sense when the base underneath is sound. Use this decision rule:

• Hairline cracks and surface scaling: seal or resurface. No new concrete volume.
• One sunken or broken panel between joints: cut it out at the joints and pour a new panel. A 10 × 10 ft panel at 5 in needs 1.54 yd³ (order 1¾ yd³) or 77 × 80 lb bags; a 10 × 12 ft panel needs 1.85 yd³ (order 2¼ yd³).
• Several panels heaved or settling, or water running under the slab: the base has failed, so price a full replacement.
• Broken apron at the street: a 12 × 6 ft apron at 6 in is 1.33 yd³ (order 1½ yd³); a 20 × 6 ft apron is 2.22 yd³ (order 2½ yd³). The apron usually needs a permit from your town or roads department.

Small repairs are where short-load fees bite. A single 10 × 10 ft panel ordering 1¾ yd³ pays the full fee on under 2 yd³, so get a bag-count price as well.

Stamped concrete driveway cost

Stamping uses the same concrete volume as a plain drive, so the yards in the tables above do not change. The extra cost is decorative labor, color hardener or integral color, release agent and sealer, usually quoted per square foot. Ask for the stamped rate as a separate line so you can compare it with a broom finish on the same area. Stamped surfaces need resealing over time; ask your installer how often for your climate. The concrete patio cost page covers stamping in more detail.

Concrete driveway cost in metric

For drives measured in metres, multiply length × width × thickness in metres. A 3 × 6 m single parking space at 125 mm is 2.25 m³ (2.48 m³ with 10% extra). A 3.6 × 12 m drive at 125 mm is 5.4 m³ (5.94 m³), and a 6 × 12 m double drive at 150 mm is 10.8 m³ (11.88 m³). Multiply the order by your price per m³.

Driveway thickness and cost: 4, 5 or 6 in

Each extra inch adds 25% of a 4 in slab’s concrete, and the cost follows in step. On a 12 × 40 ft drive the order goes from 6¾ yd³ at 4 in to 8¼ yd³ at 5 in and 10 yd³ at 6 in, so each inch adds 1½ to 1¾ yd³. Labor per square foot changes much less, because the crew forms, places and finishes the same 480 ft².

Decision rule: choose the thickness for the heaviest vehicle that will park on the drive and for your soil, then price that one. If a contractor recommends thicker concrete near the street, where delivery trucks or bins cross, ask for that strip as a separate line. Your local code or the town’s apron standard may set a minimum; check it before you sign.

Reinforcement for a concrete driveway

Rebar, wire mesh or fiber is a separate line on most quotes. For a 12 × 40 ft drive with #4 bars at 18 in on center both ways, 3 in from the edges, the grid is 27 bars 11.5 ft long across the drive and 8 bars 39.5 ft long down it: 626.5 ft of bar, or 689 ft with 10% for laps. That is about 460 lb of steel at 0.668 lb/ft. The number of 20 ft bars to buy depends on how the 11.5 ft and 39.5 ft pieces and their laps are cut from stock, so ask your supplier for a cut list; it will be more than 689 ÷ 20. Fiber is priced per yard by the plant, so it shows up on the concrete line instead. Bar size and spacing come from your contractor’s spec or local code; the rebar calculator sizes other grids.

How do I get accurate driveway quotes?

Measure, decide the thickness, then ask for itemized prices.

1. Measure length and width, including flares at the street, and run the concrete driveway calculator.
2. Ask ready-mix plants for the price per yard, minimum load and delivery charges.
3. Ask at least two contractors for itemized quotes: removal, base, forms, reinforcement, placing, finishing, joints and sealing.
4. Enter those numbers above and compare 4, 5 and 6 in totals before you choose.

Common mistakes when estimating a concrete driveway

1. Measuring only the straight run. The flare at the street and the apron add area. Adding a 12 × 6 ft apron at 6 in to a drive adds about 1½ yd³ to the order.
2. Pricing 4 in and pouring 5 in. On a 12 × 40 ft drive the order rises from 6¾ to 8¼ yd³. Agree the thickness in writing before you compare quotes.
3. Forgetting the old slab’s weight. A 20 × 40 ft drive at 4 in is about 20 US tons of concrete to break out and haul. A quote without a removal line is not complete.
4. Skipping base repair. Pouring 6 in of new concrete on the same failed base repeats the old cracks. Budget for crusher run under the new slab: a 12 × 40 ft base at 4 in is about 5.93 yd³ (6.52 yd³ with 10% extra), roughly 10.4 tons at a typical planning density of 1.6 tons per yd³. Ask your quarry for its figure.
5. Splitting the pour without a plan. A 16 × 60 ft drive at 5 in orders 16½ yd³. If that takes two trucks, schedule them back to back so the crew does not leave a face to set.

Driveway cost vs related calculators: which one to use

Use this page for the total price of a concrete drive. For the volume alone, including flares and multiple sections, use the concrete driveway calculator. To check your plant’s quote and fees, use concrete price per yard. If you are weighing a gravel drive instead, the gravel driveway cost page prices stone by the ton. For patios, garage pads and other flat slabs, the cost to pour a concrete slab calculator uses the same method with slab-specific sizes.