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Concrete Cost Calculator

This concrete cost calculator prices a pour from its dimensions: ready-mix by the cubic yard, delivery and short-load fees, labour, and whether bags work out cheaper.

Slab, Pad or Driveway Cost

Placeholder. Replace it with a quote from your local plant.

Leave at zero for a materials-only estimate.

How to use the Concrete Cost Calculator

Enter the pour’s dimensions and the price your local plant quotes per cubic yard. Every price field starts on a placeholder, replace them, because concrete pricing swings hard by region, season and how far the truck has to drive.

Leave Labour at zero for a materials-only figure. Set it to your contractor’s square-foot rate to get an installed price.

Concrete Cost formula

Cost follows volume, and volume follows the same geometry as the main concrete calculator:

  • volume = length × width × thickness × quantity
  • cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27
  • ordered yards = cubic yards × (1 + waste), rounded up to the next quarter yard
  • material cost = ordered yards × price per yard
  • total = material + delivery + (area × labour rate)

Ready-mix is sold in quarter-yard increments, so the calculator rounds up to one, ordering 2.13 yards is not a thing you can do.

For the bag comparison, weight comes from a pre-mixed density of 133 lb/ft³, the same figure the main concrete calculator uses, and bags are rounded up whole.

Worked example

A 20 ft × 20 ft driveway slab at 4 inches, 10% waste, $165 per yard:

  • Volume: 20 × 20 × 0.333 = 133.3 ft³ = 4.94 cubic yards
  • With 10% waste: 5.43, rounded up to 5.50 yards ordered
  • Material: 5.50 × $165 = $907.50

Add delivery, and add labour if someone else is placing and finishing it, on a driveway that is usually the larger half of the bill.

What the result means

The figure is a materials estimate unless you entered a labour rate. It does not include excavation, the gravel base, forms, rebar or mesh, control joints, sealing, or removing what was there before. On a typical residential slab those add up to real money.

Plants price per cubic yard with a minimum load, and charge a short-load fee under it. On a small pour that fee can be a large share of the total, which is exactly why the bag comparison exists.

Common mistakes

  • Pricing the exact volume. Order short and the pour stops mid-slab, leaving a cold joint. Ten percent is a sane default for a formed slab.
  • Forgetting the short-load fee. Two yards at $165 looks like $330 until the $150 surcharge lands.
  • Comparing bags on price alone. Sixty bags is also a day of mixing and a very real risk of cold joints between batches. The cheaper number is not always the better job.
  • Treating a materials figure as an installed price. Finished concrete is usually priced per square foot and includes base prep, forms, reinforcement and finishing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a cubic yard of concrete cost?

It varies enough by region, season and haul distance that any single national number will mislead you. Ring two local plants and ask for their price per yard, their minimum load, and their short-load fee. Those three figures are all this calculator needs.

Is it cheaper to mix concrete yourself or order ready-mix?

Bags usually win on small pours because ready-mix carries a delivery charge and a short-load fee below the plant minimum. Ready-mix wins as soon as the volume clears that minimum. Use the Ready-Mix vs Bags tab to find the crossover for your own prices, and weigh in that mixing dozens of bags by hand is a long day with a real risk of cold joints.

What is a short-load fee?

A surcharge plants add when you order less than their minimum load, because the truck and driver cost the same whether they carry one yard or ten. It is charged per yard short of the minimum, or as a flat fee, depending on the plant.

Does this include labour?

Only if you enter a labour rate. Left at zero it is a materials estimate. Installed concrete is normally quoted per square foot and covers base prep, forms, reinforcement, placing and finishing.

Why does it round up to a quarter yard?

Because that is how ready-mix is sold. Plants batch in quarter-yard increments, so the orderable quantity is always a multiple of 0.25 and you pay for what is batched, not what you pour.

How much extra concrete should I order?

Five to ten percent. Use the lower end for a formed slab on a well prepared base, the higher end for footings dug in soft ground where the excavation is never quite the size you planned.

Sources and assumptions

Volume is exact geometry. Bag counts use a pre-mixed density of 133 lb/ft³, matching the main concrete calculator so figures agree across the site.

No price defaults on this page are researched market rates. They are round placeholder numbers so the calculator has something to run on. Concrete pricing moves with region, season, fuel and mix design, get a local quote and type it in.

This is an estimating tool, not a bid. It excludes excavation, base material, forms, reinforcement, jointing, sealing, demolition, permits and tax.