How much does a new concrete driveway cost?

For a typical 12 ft × 40 ft single-car drive, expect roughly $4,000 to $8,500 installed at national pricing, including excavation and a compacted base. Per square foot that is about $8 to $17 all-in, against a bare surface price of $6 to $12.

Is gravel or concrete cheaper in the long run?

Gravel is far cheaper to install and needs topping up and raking every few years. Concrete costs three to five times as much up front and typically needs nothing for twenty years. Over a long horizon they converge; over ten years gravel is still ahead on cash.

How thick should a driveway slab be?

Four inches of concrete is standard for cars and light trucks. Go to 5 or 6 in wherever a loaded truck, an RV or a dumpster will sit. Asphalt is usually 2 to 3 in of compacted hot mix over a deeper base.

How deep does the base need to be?

Four inches of compacted crushed stone over firm, well-drained soil; 8 to 12 in over clay, silt or anywhere that freezes. Compaction should be done in lifts of about 4 in, not in one pass over the full depth.

When should control joints be cut in a new driveway?

Within 24 hours of the pour, and sooner in hot weather — usually 6 to 18 hours, once the slab holds a saw without ravelling. Cut about a quarter of the slab depth, spaced roughly 10 ft apart.

Do I need a permit for a driveway?

Often yes, particularly where the drive meets a public road or changes drainage. The apron, culvert size and sight lines are usually the authority's concern rather than the slab itself. Ask before you order concrete.

Driveway Cost Calculator

Enter the driveway's length and width, pick a surface and a slab or base thickness, and get a low-to-high installed cost with the excavation, base, material and labor shown separately. Removal of an existing surface and drainage work are priced as their own lines because they are where budgets usually go wrong.

Driveway length(ft)

From the road edge or apron to the garage door.

Driveway width(ft)

10–12 ft for a single car, 18–20 ft for two cars side by side.

Surface material

Surface thickness(in)

4 in concrete for cars, 5–6 in if a loaded truck will park on it.

Compacted base depth(in)

4 in on firm sandy ground, 8–12 in over clay or soft soil.

Remove an existing surface

Slope or drainage work

Regional market

Estimated total cost

$4,036 – $8,388

480 sq ft of poured concrete

Cost per square foot: $8 – $17/sq ft
Excavation & compacted base6 in of aggregate, plus mobilisation: $1,156 – $2,628
Surface material4 in poured concrete: $1,440 – $2,880
Installation laborforming, placing, finishing or compacting: $1,440 – $2,880
Removal & disposalnothing to demolish: Not included
Slope & drainage worksite already sheds water: Not included

What this figure includes

This is a planning range for a straight, level residential driveway on ground a machine can reach. It does not include tree or stump removal, rock excavation, soil export beyond normal spoil, retaining walls over about 2 ft, a road apron or culvert required by the local authority, permit fees, sealing or striping, or repairs to lawn and irrigation damaged by the truck. Prices assume normal working access and one mobilisation.

How this is calculated

Cross-section through a driveway. The surface gets the attention, but the compacted base under it is what stops the cracking and rutting.

How a driveway is priced

A driveway quote is four numbers stacked on top of each other, and the formula behind this estimate follows the same order a contractor bids it:

Total = base and excavation + surface material + placement labor + removal and drainage

Area drives everything. Length × width gives square feet: a single-car drive at 12 ft × 40 ft is 480 sq ft, a two-car at 20 ft × 40 ft is 800 sq ft. Every per-square-foot rate below is multiplied by that number and then by the regional factor.

Surface price per square foot is the number people compare, and the spread is wide. Gravel runs about $1.40 to $3.50, asphalt $4 to $8, poured concrete $6 to $12, stamped concrete $10 to $20, and pavers $12 to $24. Thickness only moves part of that price — with pavers the unit cost is the paver itself, so a deeper bedding course barely changes it, while with gravel almost the whole price is depth of stone.

The base matters more than the surface

This is the thing homeowners get wrong, and it is worth more than any material choice you will make.

A driveway does not carry a car on its surface. It carries it on the compacted aggregate underneath, and the surface only spreads the load and keeps water out. A 4 in concrete slab poured on soft, uncompacted, unprepared ground will crack within a year or two, because the soil moves and concrete has almost no ability to bridge a void. The same 4 in slab on 6 in of properly compacted crushed stone will still be flat in twenty years.

That is why the base is a separate line here at roughly $0.28 to $0.60 per square foot per inch of depth. Four inches over firm sandy soil is enough. Over clay, or anywhere the ground goes soft in winter, budget 8 to 12 in and expect it to be compacted in lifts of about 4 in with a plate compactor or roller, not dumped and driven over once.

The same logic explains why a well-prepared gravel drive outlasts expectations. Gravel is flexible — it shifts, settles and can be raked and topped up. A cheap gravel drive over a good base is a genuinely durable surface for years; an expensive concrete drive over a bad base is a crack you paid extra for.

Concrete wants control joints cut within 24 hours

Concrete cracks. Every slab cracks. What you control is where.

Control joints are cut roughly one quarter of the slab depth deep — 1 in on a 4 in slab — and spaced at about 10 ft, or 2.5 to 3 times the slab thickness in feet. They create a deliberate weak line so the shrinkage crack forms down inside the cut where you cannot see it. Cut them too late and the concrete has already chosen its own path, usually diagonally across the middle of the drive.

The window is short: saw-cut joints go in as soon as the slab will carry the saw without ravelling, typically 6 to 18 hours after the pour and almost always within 24. In hot weather it is closer to 4 hours. If a contractor pours on Friday and plans to come back Monday with a saw, that is not a schedule, it is a crack.

A worked example

A 12 ft × 40 ft poured concrete drive, 4 in thick, on 6 in of base, no demolition, no drainage work, national pricing:

Area: 12 × 40 = 480 sq ft
Surface at $6 to $12 per sq ft, thickness factor 1.0: $2,880 to $5,760, split about half material and half labor
Base: 480 × 6 in × $0.28 to $0.60 = $806 to $1,728
Mobilisation: $350 to $900
Total: roughly $4,040 to $8,390, or $8.40 to $17.50 per sq ft all-in

Note how the base and mobilisation add nearly a third on top of the headline material price. A quote that lands well under that range is usually a quote with no base in it.

Cost figures last reviewed 9 Sept 2026 · Installed driveway prices per square foot by surface type, national contractor averages for a straight, level residential drive.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a new concrete driveway cost?: For a typical 12 ft × 40 ft single-car drive, expect roughly $4,000 to $8,500 installed at national pricing, including excavation and a compacted base. Per square foot that is about $8 to $17 all-in, against a bare surface price of $6 to $12.
Is gravel or concrete cheaper in the long run?: Gravel is far cheaper to install and needs topping up and raking every few years. Concrete costs three to five times as much up front and typically needs nothing for twenty years. Over a long horizon they converge; over ten years gravel is still ahead on cash.
How thick should a driveway slab be?: Four inches of concrete is standard for cars and light trucks. Go to 5 or 6 in wherever a loaded truck, an RV or a dumpster will sit. Asphalt is usually 2 to 3 in of compacted hot mix over a deeper base.
How deep does the base need to be?: Four inches of compacted crushed stone over firm, well-drained soil; 8 to 12 in over clay, silt or anywhere that freezes. Compaction should be done in lifts of about 4 in, not in one pass over the full depth.
When should control joints be cut in a new driveway?: Within 24 hours of the pour, and sooner in hot weather — usually 6 to 18 hours, once the slab holds a saw without ravelling. Cut about a quarter of the slab depth, spaced roughly 10 ft apart.
Do I need a permit for a driveway?: Often yes, particularly where the drive meets a public road or changes drainage. The apron, culvert size and sight lines are usually the authority's concern rather than the slab itself. Ask before you order concrete.