On this page
- How much does concrete cost for each type of job?
- Which concrete price are you looking at?
- What makes one concrete job cost more than another?
- Why do concrete cost guides give different numbers?
- Where should you start for your situation?
- Is concrete cheaper than pavers, asphalt or gravel?
- What should a concrete quote include?
- Do you need a permit or a licensed contractor for concrete work?
- Every concrete cost guide on LocalServiceHQ
- Questions about concrete cost
How much does concrete cost for each type of job?
Concrete work is priced per square foot for flat work and per step, per yard or per job for everything else. The table puts the common residential jobs side by side, each with the source of the range, so you can see which number applies to your project before you open the detailed guide.
| Job | Price range | Per sq ft, $0 to $25 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concrete driveway, installedper sq ft | $6 to $15 | Our index (typical $9) | |
| Plain concrete patioper sq ft | $4 to $9 | Lawn Love, Oct 2026 | |
| Basic slab (shed, pad)per sq ft | $4 to $8 | This Old House, Mar 2026 | |
| Walkway or sidewalkper sq ft | $7 to $17 | HomeServe, Feb 2025 | |
| Stamped concrete drivewayper sq ft | $8 to $15 | LawnStarter, Dec 2025 | |
| Mudjacking a sunken slabper sq ft | $3 to $6 | HomeAdvisor | |
| Polyjacking (foam lifting)per sq ft | $5 to $25 | HomeAdvisor | |
| Concrete steps, poured in placeper step, 3 to 6 ft wide | $150 to $900 | see guide | HomeAdvisor |
| Ready-mix, deliveredper cubic yard | $113 to $147 | see guide | This Old House; HomeServe |
| Old driveway removalper job | $1,500 to $2,500 | see guide | LawnStarter |
Ranges are national. Each guide linked below explains its job in detail and adds worked examples.
Which concrete price are you looking at?
Most confusion about concrete cost comes from comparing two numbers that measure different things. A ready-mix plant quotes material per cubic yard. A finisher may quote a "pour and finish" price that leaves out the base and forms. A full contractor quotes an installed price that includes preparation, reinforcement, finishing and cleanup. All three are honest, and none of them can be compared with the others directly.
A quick way to see the gap: one cubic yard covers about 81 square feet at 4 inches deep. At $113 to $147 a yard, the concrete in a square foot of 4-inch slab costs roughly $1.40 to $1.80. The installed price of $6 to $15 per square foot is mostly labor, preparation and finishing. That is why the per-yard guide and the per-square-foot guide give such different looking numbers for the same job, and why a material-only quote always looks cheap.
What makes one concrete job cost more than another?
Two slabs of the same size can differ by thousands of dollars. Five variables explain most of that gap, and each one is something you can ask a contractor to state in writing.
Thickness
A 4-inch slab holds 0.333 cubic feet of concrete per square foot; 6 inches holds 0.5, which is 50% more material before any extra labor. Patios and walkways are usually 4 inches; driveways often 5 or 6.
Site preparation
Excavation, a compacted gravel base and the removal of an old slab can add a line as large as the pour itself. LawnStarter puts driveway removal alone at $1,500 to $2,500.
Reinforcement
Wire mesh, rebar or fiber adds a material and labor line. It is standard for driveways and often optional for a garden path. The rebar calculator estimates bar quantity.
Finish
A broom finish is included in most installed prices. Stamped patterns, color, stain and exposed aggregate are paid upgrades that need extra labor and sealing.
Access and order size
A slab the truck can reach is cheaper than one that needs a pump. Small orders can carry short-load and minimum charges, explained in the delivery fees guide.
Why do concrete cost guides give different numbers?
If you have read more than one cost guide, you have seen ranges that do not agree. That is not always an error; the guides price different scopes. We compared six published sources while building this page, and the stamped concrete numbers show the problem clearly.
| Source | What it reports for stamped concrete | What it is measuring |
|---|---|---|
| Lawn Love (Oct 2026) | $5 to $10 per sq ft | Total cost of a stamped patio |
| LawnStarter (Dec 2025) | $8 to $15 per sq ft | Total cost of a stamped driveway |
| This Old House (Mar 2026) | $10 to $14 per sq ft | Cost added on top of the plain slab |
Read the third row carefully: This Old House is pricing the upgrade, not the whole job, so its number belongs on top of a $4 to $8 slab. The practical lesson is to compare scopes, not headlines. Ask every contractor whether their number includes the base, the forms, the finish and the sealing.
Where should you start for your situation?
Homeowners arrive at concrete pricing from four different places. Pick the one that matches yours; each route leads to the guide or tool that answers the next question you will have.
Driveway, patio or slab: start with the cost per square foot, then run the driveway and patio estimator.
Lifting is often cheaper than replacing. Check the crack with the crack width checker and read the repair guides.
Convert it to a per-square-foot installed figure and run it through the quote checker.
Work out yards or bags with the concrete calculator; small jobs such as fence posts are bag jobs.
If the slab carries a structure, such as a garage, an addition or a foundation, treat it as a structural job. The foundation repair guide and a structural engineer come before any flat-work quote.
Is concrete cheaper than pavers, asphalt or gravel?
For a driveway, concrete usually sits between asphalt and pavers on upfront cost. Our index puts installed asphalt at $5 to $12 per square foot against $6 to $15 for concrete. Gravel is cheaper to install but needs regrading and topping up. Pavers cost more upfront but can be lifted and relaid section by section, which changes the repair math over the years.
| Surface | Installed cost | What to weigh |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete | $6 to $15 per sq ft (index) | Long life; cracks are hard to hide; sealing helps |
| Asphalt | $5 to $12 per sq ft (index) | Needs sealcoating every few years; softens in heat |
| Pavers | See the pavers guide | Higher upfront; individual pavers can be replaced |
| Gravel | Lowest upfront | Ongoing regrading, weed and drainage work |
The full 20-year comparison, including maintenance, is in the comparison guides, and the paver calculator prices the paver option for your area.
What should a concrete quote include?
A good quote lets you see what you are paying for. If any of these lines is missing, ask for it before you sign; a missing line is where most surprise charges come from.
Scope - area, thickness, and whether demolition and hauling are included.
Base - excavation depth, gravel type and compaction.
Reinforcement - mesh, rebar or fiber, with spacing.
Concrete - mix strength in PSI and yards ordered.
Finish and sealing - broom, stamped or stained, and whether the first seal coat is included.
Permit, schedule and payment - who pulls the permit, the start date, and payment at each stage.
If you received a per-yard number from a ready-mix plant, read the 2026 concrete prices guide; it explains the layers between a plant quote and an installed quote.
Have a concrete quote in hand? See whether it is low, fair or high for the scope and your area.
Check the quoteDo you need a permit or a licensed contractor for concrete work?
It depends on the job and the state. Patios and walkways often need no permit, while driveways that cut a curb or touch the public right-of-way, and any structural slab, often do. Licensing follows state rules: Texas has no statewide general contractor license, while in North Carolina a general contractor license is required for work of $40,000 or more, and Tennessee requires a contractor license from $25,000. Check your state in the license check tool and see the full rules in the hiring guide.
Whoever pulls the permit should be named in the quote. If a contractor asks you to pull it yourself, ask why; the permit holder is generally the party answerable to the inspector.
Every concrete cost guide on LocalServiceHQ
This page frames the questions; each guide below answers one of them in depth, with worked examples and its own FAQ. New guides are added to this list on the day they publish.
Coming next in this cluster: driveway replacement, patio, stamped concrete, steps, sidewalk, mudjacking and repair cost guides.
Questions about concrete cost
How much does concrete cost per square foot in 2026?
At our October 2026 index, installed concrete flat work costs about $6 to $15 per square foot, with a typical figure near $9. That covers forming, pouring and a broom finish on a 4-inch slab. Decorative finishes, thicker slabs and difficult access push the price above that range.
How much does a 20 by 20 concrete slab cost?
A 20 by 20 slab is 400 square feet. At $6 to $15 per square foot installed, it costs about $2,400 to $6,000, typically around $3,600. At 4 inches thick it needs about 4.9 cubic yards of concrete, or 5.2 yards with a normal 5% waste allowance.
Is it cheaper to pour concrete yourself?
For small jobs it can be. Bagged concrete makes sense for fence posts, a shed pad or a few steps, where a truck minimum would dominate the bill. Above roughly a yard, ready-mix is usually faster and more consistent, and finishing a large slab well is skilled work.
Is stamped concrete cheaper than pavers?
Often it is cheaper upfront, but compare full installed prices, not headlines. Stamped concrete needs resealing every few years and cracks are hard to repair invisibly, while pavers cost more at first but can be lifted and replaced one at a time. The comparison guides show the longer-term math.
Is it cheaper to lift sunken concrete or replace it?
Lifting is usually cheaper when the slab is intact. HomeAdvisor puts mudjacking at $3 to $6 per square foot, against $6 to $15 per square foot to replace with new installed concrete. If the slab is badly cracked or broken into pieces, replacement may be the better value.
Why is my concrete quote so much higher than the price per yard?
Because the yard price is material only. One yard covers about 81 square feet at 4 inches, so the concrete itself is only $1.40 to $1.80 of each installed square foot. The rest of the quote is preparation, forms, reinforcement, finishing labor, cleanup and often a permit.
Installed driveway and asphalt ranges: LocalServiceHQ price index, checked October 2026, which compares published national cost guides and supplier list prices. Other ranges, as published: Lawn Love, concrete patio cost (updated Oct 5, 2026); This Old House, concrete slab cost (updated Mar 17, 2026); LawnStarter, concrete driveway cost (updated Dec 27, 2025); HomeServe, cost to pour concrete (Feb 18, 2025); HomeAdvisor, concrete leveling cost; HomeAdvisor, concrete steps cost. Volume and coverage figures are arithmetic. License thresholds are from state boards; see the hiring guide. Method: methodology.
Estimates, not quotes. Concrete prices are set locally and change with the market. General information, not legal advice.