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Concrete Driveway Cost Calculator

Build a budget for a poured concrete driveway before you start collecting quotes. Enter the size and thickness, then your local rates for concrete, labour and any removal, and the calculator breaks the total into the lines a contractor's estimate will show.

Driveway and costs

Rates are pre-filled with US national averages. Replace them with local figures if you have them.

Dimensions
4 in suits cars. Go to 5 or 6 in for trucks, RVs or heavy delivery access.
Rates
Delivered, per cubic yard.
Forming, pouring and finishing.
Breaking out and hauling an existing slab.
Over-excavation and spillage.
Reinforcement and finish
Most residential drives use wire mesh or fibre. Rebar is worth it on poor ground or for heavy vehicles.
Decorative finishes add significantly to the labour line.

Estimated total

Sample values

$6,142

Estimated total

9.88

Cubic yards of concrete

$7.68

Per square foot

Includes a 10% waste allowance on concrete volume.

Cost breakdown

Line Cost
Concrete — 9.88 yd³$1,433
Labour — 800 ft²$3,600
Welded wire mesh$536
Base preparation$400
Control joints and sealing$173
Removal of existing slab$0
Estimated total$6,142

Contractor quotes typically land within 15% either side of a figure like this, depending on access and ground conditions.

How to use this calculator

  1. Measure the driveway including any apron or turning area. A single car drive is usually 10 to 12 ft wide; a double is 20 to 24 ft.
  2. Set the thickness for the heaviest vehicle that will use it, not the everyday one. One delivery lorry on a 4 in slab can crack it.
  3. Replace the default rates with local figures. Concrete price and labour vary more by region than anything else in the estimate.
  4. Add a removal cost only if an existing surface has to come out.

What this estimate excludes

Permits, drainage, excavation of soft ground, retaining edges and any grading beyond a simple base are not included. On a straightforward flat site those are minor. On a sloping or poorly drained plot they can add substantially, and are worth pricing separately.

Formula

Area = Length × Width

Volume (yd³) = (Area × Thickness ÷ 12) ÷ 27

Material = Volume × (1 + Waste) × Price per yd³

Labour = Area × Rate per ft²

Total = Material + Labour + Reinforcement + Base + Removal

Thickness
Entered in inches, divided by 12 to give feet
27
Cubic feet in a cubic yard

Waste is applied to the concrete volume only — labour is priced on the finished area.

A 40 × 20 ft double driveway

4 in thick, wire mesh reinforcement, broom finish, no existing slab to remove.

  1. Area = 40 × 20 = 800 ft²
  2. Volume = (800 × 0.333) ÷ 27 = 9.88 yd³
  3. Concrete = 9.88 × $145 = $1,433
  4. Labour = 800 × $4.50 = $3,600
  5. Mesh, base and joints = $1,109

Budget $6,142, or about $7.68 per square foot.

Understanding your results

Labour is usually the largest line, not concrete. On a standard broom finish drive the mix is around a quarter of the cost and the crew is closer to sixty percent. That is why a decorative finish moves the total so much: stamping and colouring roughly doubles the labour without changing the volume of concrete at all.

The per square foot figure

Contractors quote per square foot, so that line is the one to compare against local quotes. A plain 4 in drive typically lands between $6 and $10 per square foot in most US markets, with exposed aggregate around $10 to $14 and stamped work $12 to $18. A quote far below that range usually means something is excluded.

Where the estimate can move

Access is the common surprise. If a mixer cannot reach the pour and the concrete has to be barrowed or pumped, add several hundred dollars. Ground that needs digging out and replacing with imported stone is the other one — it does not show up until the excavator arrives.

Questions

About this calculator

Ask something else

Four inches over a well compacted base handles cars and light vans. Go to five or six inches if a truck, RV or regular delivery vehicle will use it. Thickness is cheap insurance compared with the cost of breaking out a cracked slab.

Concrete cracks; reinforcement controls where and how much. Fibre mesh in the mix handles shrinkage cracking and costs little. Wire mesh or rebar holds the slab together across a crack once it forms, and is worth it on poor ground, over trenches, or for heavier vehicles.

Because forming, placing, screeding, floating, finishing and joint cutting are all time on site with a crew, and most of it has to happen within a few hours of the truck arriving. The concrete itself is a delivered commodity.

Typically $2 to $6 per square foot for concrete, depending on thickness, reinforcement and how far the debris has to travel. Asphalt is usually cheaper to break out. If the existing slab is sound, resurfacing over it may be an option worth pricing.

They are normally part of the finishing price rather than a separate line, but confirm it. Joints should be cut within about a day of the pour, at spacings of roughly 24 to 30 times the slab thickness — so every 8 to 10 feet on a 4 inch slab.

It is a sound starting figure for planning and for sanity checking quotes, provided you replace the default rates with local ones. It is not a quote: access, ground conditions, drainage and permits vary too much between sites to price generically.

Keep going

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Estimates, not specifications. Results are based on the values you enter and on typical material properties. Densities, coverage rates and product sizes vary between suppliers, so confirm quantities against your supplier's data before ordering. Structural work must be signed off by a qualified professional and meet your local building code.