What Should I Charge for Concrete? (2026 Contractor Pricing Guide)
Short answer
Standard 4 inch residential flatwork runs about $8 to $14 per square foot installed, with the pour itself a minority of the cost once forming, base prep, and finishing are counted.
Concrete unit prices by work item
Enter a ZIP code to adjust every row to local cost levels. Rates start from a national baseline of 1.00 and scale by the published city cost index for that area.
Showing national baseline rates.
| Work item | Unit | Material | Labor | What to charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
4 inch slab on grade, broom finish Includes forming, mesh or fiber, and a standard finish. | sq ft | $3.90 | $4.60 | $8.25 to $13.76 |
Driveway, 5 inch reinforced Thickened edges and rebar are why this beats a patio per foot. | sq ft | $4.80 | $5.20 | $9.70 to $16.17 |
Sidewalk or walkway Narrow pours are labor-heavy per square foot. | sq ft | $3.70 | $5.10 | $8.22 to $14.61 |
Stamped and colored concrete Pattern complexity and release color count drive the labor. | sq ft | $5.50 | $9.50 | $13.65 to $25.35 |
Continuous footings Assumes machine-dug trench in normal soil. | linear ft | $12.00 | $16.00 | $25.41 to $47.19 |
Demo and haul existing slab Reinforced or thick slabs can double this. | sq ft | $0.90 | $2.90 | $3.23 to $6.70 |
Material and labor columns are bare cost per unit before markup. The charge column applies +15% materials, +20% labor, then +10% overhead and profit, and shows a realistic range rather than one false-precision number.
How this number is built
There is no proprietary data feed here and nothing is hidden. Every figure above comes from four visible steps, which is exactly how your own price book should work:
- 1Start from bare material and bare labor cost per unit, at a national baseline.
- 2Multiply both by your local cost factor, from the ZIP table below.
- 3Add markup: 15% on materials, 20% on labor. This covers waste, procurement and supervision.
- 4Add 10% overhead and profit on the marked-up subtotal, then show a range rather than one number.
Regional cost factors
A national average is close to useless on its own. The same concrete job prices very differently across markets. These are the multipliers applied above, against a 1.00 national baseline.
| Metro | Factor | 4 inch slab on grade, broom finish (sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 1.38x | $11.39 to $18.98 |
| New York, NY | 1.32x | $10.90 to $18.16 |
| Boston, MA | 1.24x | $10.24 to $17.06 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 1.22x | $10.07 to $16.78 |
| Seattle, WA | 1.20x | $9.90 to $16.51 |
| Chicago, IL | 1.18x | $9.74 to $16.23 |
| Washington, DC | 1.15x | $9.49 to $15.82 |
| Denver, CO | 1.08x | $8.91 to $14.86 |
| Austin, TX | 1.04x | $8.58 to $14.31 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 1.02x | $8.42 to $14.03 |
| Atlanta, GA | 1.00x | $8.25 to $13.76 |
| Houston, TX | 0.98x | $8.09 to $13.48 |
Before you send this number to a client
Worth doing
- Walk the actual site before committing to a fixed price.
- Itemize disposal, permits and prep as their own lines.
- Write down what is excluded, not only what is included.
- Compare these rates against your own last three invoices.
Where bids go wrong
- Using a national average as if it were a local quote.
- Forgetting that overhead is a real cost, not profit.
- Absorbing prep and access problems instead of pricing them.
- Quoting from memory when material prices moved.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per square foot for concrete?
Plain 4 inch broom-finished flatwork typically charges out at $8 to $14 per square foot installed. Stamped and colored work runs roughly $13.65 to $25.35 per square foot because the finishing labor multiplies.
Why is a small concrete job so expensive per square foot?
Mobilization, forming, and the short-load fee from the ready-mix plant are close to fixed no matter the size. On pours under about 200 square feet those fixed costs dominate, which is why a small patio can cost double per foot what a driveway does.
Should I price base prep separately?
Yes. Excavation depth and imported gravel vary enormously with site conditions, and bundling them into a per-foot slab price is the fastest way to lose money on a job with bad soil.
Other trades
Turn these rates into a sent proposal
A table is a starting point. Describe the job in plain words and Takeoff Convert prices it from your own price book, then produces an itemized proposal your client can e-sign.
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