Concrete Cost Calculator

This concrete price calculator draws labor pricing from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wages for cement masons and concrete finishers. Rates are tracked separately for 393 U.S. metro areas. Every input behind an estimate carries a SOURCED, CALIBRATED, or ESTIMATE label. That label shows which numbers come straight from government data and which ones this site derived or assumed.

Material prices start from the 2022 Economic Census, then update to today with the BLS Producer Price Index. They cover the whole country plus four broad regions, coarser than the metro data above.

This concrete cost calculator adds a fixed setup cost on top of the per-square-foot material and labor rate for every estimate. That fixed cost is why a small pad costs meaningfully more per square foot than a large driveway.

How much does concrete cost per square foot?

Concrete cost per square foot depends on which job you are pricing, even at the same footprint. For a 400 sq ft area, a concrete pad runs $7.53 to $14.96, a driveway runs $8.06 to $16.01, and a patio runs $7.36 to $14.63 nationally per square foot.

How much does it cost to pour concrete?

Pouring concrete costs $1,460 to $2,890 nationally for a small 10×10 ft slab, and $5,670 to $11,270 for a 30×30 ft slab, both at the standard 4 in thickness this calculator defaults to. Total price is a flat setup fee plus area times a marginal rate. So the larger slab costs more in total but at a much lower rate for each square foot of slab.

How many bags of concrete do I need?

To find how many bags of concrete you need, divide your project's volume in cubic feet by about 0.6, the yield of one standard 80 lb bag once mixed. A full cubic yard works out to roughly 45 bags by that same math. For a job too large to mix by hand, the concrete yard calculator prices delivered ready-mix by the cubic yard instead.

How accurate is this concrete cost calculator?

The concrete cost calculator starts from public data: federal wages for 393 metro areas and 2022 Economic Census material costs, kept current with a price index. The setup fee is our own estimate, and each price is a range because quotes and wages vary even within one metro. Past about 1,000 sq ft, the estimate tends to run low. Read the full methodology for every data source and known limit.

Every estimate from this concrete cost calculator is a starting point for a conversation with a contractor. A few limitations are worth knowing before you rely on a number here.

• For very large jobs, roughly 1,000 sq ft and up, this estimate likely runs low. The public pricing evidence behind this model gets thinner at that scale, and independent market data suggests the per-square-foot rate here may undershoot what large jobs actually cost.
• For the same reason, this site's size premium for small jobs relative to large ones may understate the real difference.
• The flat site-setup fee in every estimate is ConcreteCostCalc's own calibrated figure. It does not come from a government data source.
• Roughly 4 in 10 U.S. ZIP codes fall outside the 393 metro areas this site has wage data for. For those ZIP codes, the calculator shows the U.S. national average and labels it as such.

Read the full methodology, data sources, and every known limitation.