How much does a concrete driveway cost per square foot?

A plain broom-finish concrete driveway typically runs $6 to $12 per square foot installed in most US markets in 2026. Decorative finishes like stamping or coloring run $12 to $18 or more. Tear-out of an existing driveway adds roughly $1 to $3 per square foot.

How much does a two-car concrete driveway cost?

A typical two-car driveway (about 400 to 600 square feet) usually lands between $4,000 and $9,000 for plain concrete, or $7,000 to $14,000 if the old driveway must be removed first.

How thick should a concrete driveway be?

Four inches is the residential standard for passenger vehicles. Go to five or six inches with rebar if trucks, RVs, or trailers will park on it.

Guide 01 — Cost reference

What a concrete driveway actually costs

National price ranges, what drives them up or down, and how to read a quote like someone who has stood on a pour. Numbers below are typical 2026 US ranges — your region will land somewhere inside them.

Written by Steve Kuhbacher — 25+ years in heavy industrial construction and maintenance

Section 01 — The numbers

Cost per square foot

Table 1 — Installed cost ranges, 2026
Driveway type	Typical $/sq ft	Two-car (~480 sq ft)
Plain gray, broom finish	$6 – $12	$3,000 – $5,800
Colored or exposed aggregate	$10 – $16	$4,800 – $7,700
Stamped / decorative	$12 – $18+	$5,800 – $8,600+
Add: tear-out of existing driveway	+$1 – $3	+$500 – $1,500
Add: thicker slab + rebar (trucks/RVs)	+$1 – $2.50	+$500 – $1,200

Rule of thumb Most homeowners replacing a standard two-car driveway with plain concrete should expect an all-in quote between $5,000 and $9,000 in 2026. Quotes far below that range usually mean corners on base prep — the part you can't see and the reason driveways fail.

Section 02 — Where the money goes

Why quotes vary so much

Two contractors can look at the same driveway and come back $3,000 apart. Here's what's actually moving the number:

Base preparation. A driveway is only as good as what's under it. Proper jobs excavate to stable subgrade and place 4+ inches of compacted gravel. Cheap jobs pour on whatever is there. This is the single biggest hidden difference between quotes.
Thickness and reinforcement. 4 inches unreinforced is the passenger-car standard. 5–6 inches with rebar or wire mesh is right if a truck, camper, or trailer will sit on it. The upgrade is cheap insurance at pour time and impossible to add later.
Tear-out and haul-off. Demo of the old slab, loading, trucking, and dump fees. More expensive if the old slab is thick, reinforced, or hard to access.
Access and distance. If the ready-mix truck can't get close, the crew pumps or wheelbarrows the mud — labor goes up fast.
Regional concrete prices. Ready-mix runs roughly $130–$180 per cubic yard depending on your market and fuel costs. Rural delivery often carries minimum-load fees.
Season. In freeze climates, spring quotes run hot because everyone discovered winter damage at the same time. Late-season pours can price better.

How much concrete does a driveway take?

Quick math a contractor runs in their head: length × width × thickness (in feet) ÷ 27 = cubic yards. A 20 × 24 ft driveway at 4 inches (0.33 ft) is about 5.9 cubic yards — call it 6.5 to 7 yards ordered, because you never want the truck to come up short mid-pour.

Section 03 — Repair or replace

Should you repair or replace?

Repair makes sense for isolated cracks, small spalled patches, or one settled section that can be mudjacked back up. Expect hundreds, not thousands.
Replace when cracking is widespread, sections have settled unevenly, the surface is scaling across large areas, or previous patches keep failing. Patch money spent on a driveway at end-of-life is money thrown after bad concrete.

Honest tell: if more than about a third of the driveway needs work, replacement usually wins on cost per year of service. See the full driveway replacement guide for the tear-out process step by step.

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