Cost method
Patio cost: price pavers or a slab from your own quantities
Choose pavers or a slab, size the surface, base and bedding sand, and compare quotes for the same area and base depth. What cement masons earn in the U.S., California and Texas is here; a national price per square foot of patio is not, because no survey publishes it.
How to use this page
Choose the surface first, pavers or poured concrete, then count it. The paver calculator sizes pavers, base and bedding sand; the concrete calculator sizes a slab once the plan or the quote gives its thickness.
Price it with your own numbers
For pavers, the paver calculator counts the pavers with a cutting allowance and sizes the compacted base, at least 4 inches under a patio on well-drained soil in the paving association's guide, and the inch of bedding sand; enter the prices from a yard or a store. For a slab, take the thickness from the plan or the quote, then run the concrete calculator for the cubic yards and the gravel calculator for the base. A quote's price per square foot times the area is the installed total to compare.
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
The layers you do not see
Pavers sit on a compacted base and an inch of sand; a slab is poured on its own base. Excavation depth, base thickness and compaction are what separate two quotes for the same area.
Getting to the yard
Haul-off of the dug soil, room for a plate compactor or a concrete truck, and a wheelbarrow route through a side gate all add labor the square footage does not show.
Edges and runoff
Edge restraint around pavers or forms for a slab, and a surface that sheds water away from the house (the paving guide sets slopes at 1.5 percent or more), are lines a complete quote names.
How to compare real quotes
- Compare quotes for the same area, surface and base depth
- Ask for the base depth after compaction and the aggregate it uses
- Require excavation, haul-off and edge restraint or forms as separate lines
- Divide each installed total by the patio's area to compare pavers and a slab per square foot