Concrete Sidewalk Cost Calculator: Per Foot & Per Square Foot

How much does it cost to pour a concrete sidewalk?

A sidewalk quote is the concrete plus everything around it: fees on the delivery, the gravel base, forms, labor to place and finish, control joints and, often, tearing out the old walk. We do not print a national average because concrete prices and labor rates are set locally. The calculator above takes your price per yard, fees, labor rate per square foot and extras, and returns the total.

Sidewalk cost = ordered yd³ × price per yd³ + delivery and short-load fees + area (ft²) × labor rate + base, forms and extras

What makes a sidewalk different from a patio of the same area is its shape. A long, narrow pour has many feet of form board per square foot, a lot of edging and jointing, and often a small total volume that falls under a plant’s short-load threshold. That is why contractors often quote walks per linear foot.

How much concrete is in a sidewalk per linear foot?

At 4 in thick, each linear foot of a 4 ft walk holds 4 ft² × ⅓ ft = 1.33 ft³, so one cubic yard pours about 20 ft of walk. The table converts common walk sizes to orders and shows what each $100 of yard price adds.

Figures come from scripts/concrete-sidewalk-cost.ts using the site’s calc library; bags use the QUIKRETE 0.60 ft³ yield for an 80 lb bag, and m³ uses NIST’s 1 yd³ = 0.7646 m³. To price your walk, multiply the per-$100 columns by your yard price ÷ 100. Short walks (4 × 25 ft) cost more per foot because the ¼ yd³ rounding step is a bigger share of a small order.

How wide must a sidewalk be under the ADA?

On an accessible route covered by the 2010 ADA Standards, a walking surface must be at least 36 in clear. The exact text of section 403.5.1:

“Except as provided in 403.5.2 and 403.5.3, the clear width of walking surfaces shall be 36 inches (915 mm) minimum.”

The exception lets the width drop to 32 in (815 mm) for no more than 24 in (610 mm) of length, between 48 in (1220 mm) long segments at least 36 in wide. Narrow routes also need room to pass. Section 403.5.3:

“An accessible route with a clear width less than 60 inches (1525 mm) shall provide passing spaces at intervals of 200 feet (61 m) maximum.”

A passing space is at least 60 × 60 in (1525 × 1525 mm), or a T-shaped intersection of two walks. In cost terms, a 3 ft walk meets the 36 in minimum only if nothing narrows it, while a 5 ft walk is wide enough to need no passing spaces. The 5 × 50 ft walk orders 3½ yd³ instead of 2¾ yd³ for 4 ft, so each $100 of yard price adds $75.

The ADA Standards apply to sites and buildings, such as the route from a parking lot to an entrance. A private walk to a house is usually governed by the local building code instead. Sidewalks in the public right-of-way are addressed by the Access Board’s Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), published as a final rule on 8 August 2023, and by your city’s standards. Ask the public works department before pouring along a street.

What slope can a concrete sidewalk have?

The ADA limits are 1:20 along the walk and 1:48 across it. Section 403.3 reads:

“The running slope of walking surfaces shall not be steeper than 1:20. The cross slope of walking surfaces shall not be steeper than 1:48.”

The cross slope is what sheds rain, and the forms set it. Here is what 1:48 means in inches:

Along the walk, 1:20 is a rise of 30 in over 50 ft. If the grade is steeper, the walk becomes a ramp, and ramps cost more: ADA 405.2 says “Ramp runs shall have a running slope not steeper than 1:12,” 405.6 says “The rise for any ramp run shall be 30 inches (760 mm) maximum,” and 405.8 requires handrails on ramp runs “with a rise greater than 6 inches (150 mm).” A 30 in rise at 1:12 needs 30 ft (9.14 m) of ramp run, plus landings at the top and bottom (405.7) and a clear width of at least 36 in (405.5). If your lot has a slope like that, get the walk designed before you price it.

What drives the price of a sidewalk?

After the concrete, these lines move a sidewalk quote. Ask each bidder to price them separately.

• Tear-out and haul-away. An old 4 × 50 ft walk 4 in thick weighs about 10,000 lb (4,536 kg, 5 short tons) at 150 lb/ft³, so removal is a real line with a disposal fee.
• Base. Many contractors place compacted gravel under a walk; 4 in under a 4 × 50 ft walk is 2.47 yd³ before compaction. Price it with the crushed stone calculator.
• Forms and edging. A 50 ft walk has 100 ft of side form plus ends, and curves take more time than straight runs.
• Control joints. The QUIKRETE Concrete Mix data sheet calls for joints 1 in deep every 6 to 8 ft. Narrow walks are often jointed closer; at 5 ft spacing a 50 ft walk has 9 joints, at 4 ft it has 12.
• Thickness at crossings. A walk crossing a driveway is often poured thicker there; at 6 in that section’s concrete costs 50% more per square foot.
• Finish. Broom finish is standard on walks; stamping, color and sealer are a separate rate.
• Small-order fees. A walk under your plant’s minimum load pays a short-load fee; see concrete delivery cost for what a flat fee adds per yard.
• Permits. Work on a public sidewalk usually needs a permit and an inspection.

Bags or ready-mix for a sidewalk?

For anything over about a yard, ready-mix is usually easier; below that, compare totals. The 4 × 25 ft walk at 4 in takes 62 × 80 lb bags, or 1½ yd³ of ready-mix. Sixty-two bags is roughly 5,000 lb of dry mix to lift and many mixer batches, and a long walk mixed in batches leaves cold joints unless you place joints at the batch breaks. With an example $150 per yd³ and a $100 short-load fee, the delivered ticket is $325; compare that with 62 × your bag price plus mixer rental. The bags of concrete per yard table converts any order.

Questions to ask before you hire

1. Is the quote per linear foot or per square foot, and what width and thickness does it assume?
2. Does it include tear-out, haul-away and disposal?
3. How deep is the gravel base, and is it compacted?
4. What cross slope will the forms set, and which way will water drain?
5. How far apart are the control joints, and are they tooled or saw-cut?
6. Is reinforcement included, and what kind?
7. Who gets the permit if the walk touches the public sidewalk or curb?
8. How long before we can walk on it, and before a car can cross it? See concrete curing time.

Common mistakes when pricing a sidewalk

• Comparing per-foot and per-square-foot quotes directly. Multiply the per-square-foot rate by the width to compare.
• Forgetting the rounding. A 4 × 25 ft walk needs 1.23 yd³ but orders 1½; the spare is paid for.
• Too narrow for the use. Below 36 in clear, a walk on an accessible route fails ADA 403.5.1.
• No fall for water. A dead-flat walk holds puddles and ice. The ADA allows up to 1:48 across.
• Ignoring the grade. Steeper than 1:20 along the walk is a ramp under the ADA Standards, with handrails and landings.

Sidewalk cost vs the other cost pages

This page is for long, narrow flatwork priced per foot. For a thickness × yard-price matrix across slabs, driveways and patios, use concrete cost per square foot. For a square pad or slab, cost to pour a concrete slab covers labor, base and reinforcement, and concrete patio cost prices a patio. For volume first, start on the concrete calculator or the concrete slab calculator. For a walkway made of pavers instead, use the paver calculator.