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Concrete Driveway Cost: Price Per Square Foot and Full Job
Concrete driveway cost is four lines, not one number: ready mix, mesh, tear out, and crew. Set the drive below and each line prices itself.
Bidding it out? Estimate from a photo in about six seconds.
Published ranges, updated Aug 28, 2026: ready mix $160 to $180 per cu yd, mesh $0.23 to $0.36 per sq ft, tip fees $29 to $86 per ton. Wages are BLS OEWS May 2025, two masons plus a laborer, before markup. Local prices vary.
What concrete driveway cost is made of
A blended dollar per square foot hides everything useful. Concrete driveway cost splits into four lines; the calculator prices three of them.
Concrete is a volume line, sold by the cubic yard, so thickness drives it, not area. Mesh is an area line, tear out a weight line, wages a time line. Two drives of the same footprint land a thousand dollars apart.
Worked example: a 24 by 12 drive at 4 inches
Area is 288 sq ft. At 0.333 ft thick that is 96 cubic feet, or 3.56 cubic yards. Add 10 percent waste, round up, and order 4 cubic yards.
At the published averages of $160 to $180 per cubic yard the concrete is $640 to $720. Mesh with a 10 percent lap allowance adds $73 to $114, so concrete driveway cost in materials is $713 to $834, or $2.48 to $2.90 per square foot. Move thickness to 6 in and the concrete jumps to $960 to $1,080.
SimplyWise Cost Estimator prices material and labor line items too, from one photo.
Concrete driveway cost by size
Every row is 4 in thick with mesh, 10 percent waste, rounded up to the quarter yard, no tear out.
| Driveway | Area | Order | Concrete | Mesh | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 by 24 | 288 sq ft | 4.00 cu yd | $640 to $720 | $73 to $114 | $713 to $834 |
| 20 by 24 | 480 sq ft | 6.75 cu yd | $1,080 to $1,215 | $121 to $190 | $1,201 to $1,405 |
| 20 by 40 | 800 sq ft | 11.00 cu yd | $1,760 to $1,980 | $202 to $317 | $1,962 to $2,297 |
| 24 by 50 | 1,200 sq ft | 16.50 cu yd | $2,640 to $2,970 | $304 to $475 | $2,944 to $3,445 |
Concrete driveway cost per square foot barely moves across that span, $2.45 to $2.93. Materials scale linearly; mobilization and finish labor do not, so small drives feel expensive.
What the wage data says about the labor line
BLS publishes what the trade earns, not what it charges. In May 2025, cement masons and concrete finishers averaged $28.87 an hour, median $27.41, across 206,170 workers. Laborers averaged $25.02.
Two finishers and a laborer is $77.48 to $82.76 an hour in wages, or $620 to $662 for an eight hour day. Nobody bills that. Burden, insurance, equipment, and profit ride on top. Any concrete driveway cost guide quoting one installed labor rate is guessing at your overhead.
Turn the drive into a signed quote
This page prices materials. The signed estimate also carries labor line items and markup. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized, branded estimate in about 6 seconds. Pricing is $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, about $20/mo on annual, with a 7-day free trial.
Tear out and haul off, the line most bids miss
Replacement is a weight problem. NRMCA puts normalweight concrete at 140 to 150 lb per cubic foot, so a 4 in slab is about 48 lb per square foot. That 288 sq ft drive is 6.7 to 7.2 tons of rubble.
Harvey County, Kansas charges $29 a ton. LA County Sanitation Districts charge $85.91 at Scholl Canyon. Same rubble, three times the bill. So separate it: clean concrete with no rebar or dirt tips free at Harvey County.
Price the concrete driveway cost in this order
-
Measure, then set thickness
Thickness decides the yardage. Settle 4 in versus 6 in first.
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Add waste, then round up
CIP 31 calls for 4 to 10 percent over plan. Short buys a second truck and a cold joint.
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Get two plant quotes
Type a real quote in and the order reprices exactly.
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Weigh the demo first
Tons times the local tip fee. Check what clean concrete tips for.
Keep reading
Sources
- NRMCA Benchmarking Survey ($160 per cu yd, 2023 average; 2026-08-28).
- Concrete Financial Insights ($179.95 per cu yd, 2025 index; 2026-08-28).
- NRMCA CIP 31 (order 4 to 10 percent over plan; 2026-08-28).
- NRMCA CIP 36 (density 140 to 150 lb per cu ft; 2026-08-28).
- Mesh, 6×6 W1.4/W1.4, three sellers, 2026-08-28: Onsite Concrete Supply $169.00 per 750 sq ft roll, Chas. E. Phipps $210.21 per 750 sq ft roll, Howe Lumber $17.99 per 50 sq ft sheet.
- BLS OEWS May 2025 (47-2051 masons $28.87 and $27.41, 206,170 employed; 47-2061 laborers $25.02 and $22.66; api.bls.gov, 2026-08-28).
- Harvey County, Kansas ($29 per ton, clean concrete free; Jan 1, 2026) and LA County Sanitation Districts ($85.91, Scholl Canyon; Jul 15, 2026). Both 2026-08-28.
- SimplyWise Cost Estimator, App Store (4.8; 2026-08-22).
Driveway pricing questions
What is the concrete driveway cost per square foot?
Materials on a 4 in slab with mesh run about $2.45 to $2.93 per square foot at published ranges. Labor, base rock, and finish are separate and local.
How much concrete does a 24 by 12 driveway need?
288 sq ft at 4 in is 3.56 cubic yards. Add 10 percent waste, round up, and order 4. At 6 in it is 6.
Should a driveway be 4 inches or 6 inches thick?
4 in carries cars. Go to 5 or 6 in where trucks, RVs, or dumpsters park. Six inches adds half again to the concrete.
What does it cost to tear out an old concrete driveway?
Price it by weight: 288 sq ft at 4 in is 6.7 to 7.2 tons. Published tip fees run $29 a ton in Harvey County, Kansas to $85.91 in LA County.
Does wire mesh or rebar cost more?
Mesh is cheaper, at $0.23 to $0.36 per square foot from three published sellers. Rebar costs more in steel and tying time, and earns it on thicker slabs.
Can SimplyWise price a driveway from a photo?
Yes. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized estimate in about 6 seconds, with material pricing pulled from the nearest Home Depot to your registered zip.
Bid the drive without guessing.
Snap a photo, get an itemized, branded estimate in about 6 seconds. Free to try.