Concrete Slab Cost Calculator

What a Concrete Slab Actually Costs

Slab pricing splits into three parts, and a quote that only covers one of them will look cheap for the wrong reason.

Every figure below is a typical 2026 range for the United States. Concrete pricing moves with fuel, cement supply and how far the plant has to drive, and labor rates differ by a factor of two or more between a rural county and a major metro. Treat these as a sanity check on a quote, not as a price. Get three local quotes before committing to any of it.

Materials

• Ready mix concrete delivered: 130 to 180 dollars per cubic yard for a standard 3000 to 4000 psi mix. Higher strength, fiber, accelerator, retarder and integral color all add to that.
• Short load fee: 100 to 200 dollars. Most plants apply this when the order is below their minimum, commonly around 4 to 5 cubic yards, because the truck cannot be filled efficiently. On a small pad this fee alone can be a fifth of the material cost.
• Gravel base: 15 to 30 dollars per cubic yard for crushed stone delivered, plus haulage on small loads. Four inches of base under 400 square feet is about 4.94 cubic yards, so roughly 75 to 150 dollars of stone.
• Forms: lumber, stakes and form release, commonly 0.50 to 1.50 dollars per square foot of slab depending on how much perimeter there is relative to area and whether the forms are reused.
• Reinforcement: welded wire mesh runs roughly 0.15 to 0.35 dollars per square foot. A number 4 rebar grid at 18 inch centers with chairs and ties runs roughly 0.50 to 1.20 dollars per square foot.
• Vapor barrier: 0.10 to 0.30 dollars per square foot for 10 to 15 mil sheet plus seam tape, on interior slabs only.

Put together, materials for a plain 4 inch exterior slab typically land between 2.50 and 4.00 dollars per square foot, before any labor.

Labor

Labor is the larger and more variable half. For a plain broom finished slab, expect 3 to 8 dollars per square foot. For stamped or integrally colored work, expect 8 to 18 dollars per square foot, because the crew is larger, the working window is shorter, and pattern mats, release agent, color hardener and sealer all take extra passes.

Small jobs cost more per square foot than large ones. A 100 square foot pad still needs a crew to arrive, set up, form, pour, finish and clean tools, so the fixed portion is spread over very little area. Below about 200 square feet, many contractors quote a flat minimum rather than a rate.

Extras That Get Left Off

• Excavation and grading: 1 to 4 dollars per square foot where a machine can reach, more where access is tight and the work is by hand.
• Spoil removal: 300 to 700 dollars for a dumpster or haul off, depending on volume and local tipping fees.
• Demolition of an existing slab: 2 to 6 dollars per square foot, higher if the old slab is thick or reinforced.
• Concrete pump: 800 to 1,500 dollars for a trailer or boom pump on a half day, needed when the truck cannot reach the pour.
• Sealer: 0.30 to 1.50 dollars per square foot depending on product, and stamped work usually needs resealing every 2 to 3 years.
• Permit and inspection: 50 to 500 dollars, entirely dependent on the jurisdiction and whether the slab is structural.
• Thickened edges and footings: extra concrete volume plus rebar, often overlooked and sometimes a third of the total volume on a small slab.

Cost by Finish

Installed cost includes materials, labor and a normal base, but not excavation, demolition, pumping or permits. Regional variation on these numbers is large, and a quote 30 percent above or below the range is not automatically wrong.

A Worked Example

A 20 ft by 20 ft patio, 400 square feet, poured 4 inches thick with a broom finish. Concrete volume is 4.94 cubic yards, and with 10 percent waste the order is 5.5 yards. At 155 dollars per yard that is 853 dollars, and the load is above most short load minimums so no small load fee applies. Base stone at 5.5 cubic yards and 22 dollars per yard is 121 dollars. Forms and mesh at about 0.90 dollars per square foot together is 360 dollars. Materials total roughly 1,334 dollars. Labor at 5 dollars per square foot is 2,000 dollars. Total is about 3,334 dollars, or 8.34 dollars per square foot, which sits inside the 6 to 12 dollar range for a broom finish.

Reading a Quote

Compare quotes on scope, not on the bottom line. Ask each contractor for the slab thickness, the compacted base depth, the mix strength in psi, what reinforcement is included, whether joints will be saw cut or tooled, who removes the spoil, and whether the price includes sealing. Two quotes that differ by 40 percent usually differ on thickness or base depth, and the cheaper one is often quoting 3 inches of concrete on 2 inches of uncompacted stone.