Most cost guides give you a range and stop. This one shows the whole bill — every line item, the quantity behind it, and where the unit price came from. Numbers are for a 384 sq ft driveway (24 × 16 ft, 5 inches thick, 3500 psi mix, broom finish) at national-average labor rates.
The single most useful thing to understand about a concrete driveway is that you are mostly not buying concrete. The ready-mix delivered to your house accounts for 20.5% of what you pay. Labor is 44.2% — more than twice as much.
That one fact explains most of the confusion people have when quotes come back. Two bids can use identical material and differ by thousands, because the part that varies most is the part that isn't the concrete.
| Line item | Quantity | Cost | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor — pour, place & broom finish | 384 sf × $6.50/sf | $2,496 | 44.2% |
| Ready-mix concrete | 6.52 cy × $178/cy | $1,160 | 20.5% |
| Contractor overhead | 15% of materials + labor | $714 | 12.6% |
| Excavation & grading | 4.7 cy × $65/cy | $308 | 5.5% |
| Form lumber (2×4 + stakes) | 80 lf × $3.8/lf | $304 | 5.4% |
| 6×6 wire mesh | 384 sf × $0.65/sf | $250 | 4.4% |
| Crushed-stone subbase | 5 cy × $42/cy | $210 | 3.7% |
| Permit & inspection | flat | $175 | 3.1% |
| Expansion / control joints | 8 lf × $4.2/lf | $34 | 0.6% |
| Total | $5,651 | 100% |
Grouped a different way: materials $1,957 (34.6%), labor $2,804 (49.6%), and permit plus contractor overhead $889 (15.7%).
Per-square-foot cost rises as the pour gets smaller. Permits, form lumber, the minimum concrete delivery and the crew's mobilization are close to fixed, so a small job spreads them over less area.
| Project | Typical size | Area | Total | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driveway | 24×16 ft, 5" | 384 sf | $5,651 | $14.72 |
| Patio | 16×12 ft, 4" | 192 sf | $3,094 | $16.12 |
| Garage slab | 24×24 ft, 5" | 576 sf | $7,977 | $13.85 |
| Walkway | 25×4 ft, 4" | 100 sf | $1,900 | $19.00 |
A walkway costs $19.00/sq ft while a garage slab more than five times its size costs $13.85/sq ft — about 27% less per foot. If you're planning several small pours, doing them in one visit is materially cheaper than doing them separately.
Decorative finishes are labor upcharges, not material upcharges, which is why they scale with area rather than volume.
| Finish | What it is | Total | vs. broom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broom finish | Standard non-slip | $5,651 | — |
| Stamped | + pattern + color | $8,300 | +$2,650 (+47%) |
| Exposed aggregate | Decorative, rougher | $7,196 | +$1,546 (+27%) |
| Smooth trowel | Interior or garage | $6,092 | +$442 (+8%) |
Stamped concrete adds $2,650 to this driveway — a 47% increase. It is by far the largest single decision on the job, larger than the difference between any two mix grades.
| Mix | Typical use | Per cy | Total | vs. 3000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3000 psi standard | Residential walks, patios, sidewalks | $165 | $5,553 | — |
| 3500 psi driveway | Driveways, slabs, garage floors | $178 | $5,651 | +$97 |
| 4000 psi reinforced | Garage pads in cold climates, footings | $192 | $5,756 | +$202 |
| 4000 psi + fiber | Crack-resistant; no need for mesh | $215 | $5,928 | +$375 |
Run these numbers for your own dimensions.
Same data, same arithmetic, your measurements.
Figures are generated directly from the same pricing file the calculator uses, with the same formula — the page and the tool cannot disagree. Prices are a synthesis of published 2026 cost indexes rather than original field research, and we say so plainly.
We apply a flat labor multiplier by region:
This is a modelling assumption, not a research finding. The same multipliers are applied across every trade on this site. They are a reasonable way to adjust a national average toward a local one, but they are not derived from concrete-specific regional data, and we would not want them cited as though they were. Every figure on this page uses the national-average setting (×1.00).
An estimate, not a quote. Site access, soil, demolition of an existing slab, drainage and rebar schedules all move real numbers. Use this to judge whether a bid is reasonable, not to replace one.
Found this useful, or spotted something wrong? Tell us — corrections are welcome, and we update the underlying pricing file twice a year.