Cost method
Driveway cost: price the drive and the apron as separate jobs
Price the drive on your lot and the apron in the street's right-of-way as separate jobs, each from your own quantities and local quotes. You get cement masons' wages for the U.S., California and Texas, and no national price per square foot, which no survey publishes.
How to use this page
Split the drive on your lot from the apron in the street's right-of-way before anyone prices it. The apron is permitted by the road authority, on its terms, and belongs on its own line of every quote.
Price it with your own numbers
For pavers, the paver calculator sizes the pavers, the bedding sand and a compacted base of at least 6 inches, the paving association's minimum under a residential driveway on well-drained soil. A concrete drive needs its thickness from the plan or the contractor before the concrete calculator can give cubic yards; its base is a gravel calculator job. For a gravel drive, the gravel calculator gives the tons of dense-graded base or No. 57 stone. Price the apron from the road authority's permit as a separate line.
Open the paver calculatorWhat the labor side earns
| Percentile | U.S. | California | Texas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $22.60 | $24.73 | $19.53 |
| Median | $27.41 | $30.15 | $22.84 |
| 75th percentile | $32.15 | $40.42 | $26.73 |
| Percentile | U.S. | California | Texas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $18.57 | $23.15 | $17.66 |
| Median | $22.66 | $28.98 | $19.53 |
| 75th percentile | $28.72 | $37.75 | $22.57 |
Employees’ wages, before benefits (30.5% of construction compensation in June 2026) and overtime. A contractor’s quote adds overhead and margin.
What moves the price
Two owners, two prices
The drive on your lot and the apron in the right-of-way are permitted by different authorities. A quote that folds them together hides the part a road authority controls, and the part most likely to change.
A base for a car
The paving association's guide puts a residential paver driveway on at least 6 inches of compacted base on well-drained soil, against 4 for a patio; wet or weak soil needs more. The base is where driveway quotes diverge.
What comes out first
Breaking out an old driveway, hauling it away and keeping the street clear while the apron is open are lines the new square footage does not show.
How to compare real quotes
- Quote the apron in the right-of-way as its own line, with its permit
- State the surface, its thickness and the base depth after compaction
- Itemize demolition, haul-off and any drainage work
- Divide the drive's total, apron excluded, by its area to compare quotes per square foot