How to Calculate Driveway Cost — Step by Step

The six steps at a glance

A driveway costs three things, not one: the structure, the base prep and the sealing. The structure is the surface itself, priced by the area. The base prep is the groundwork the driveway sits on. The sealing is the coat that protects it. The six steps are: measure the length, measure the width, work out the area, price the structure, add the base prep, and add the sealing. The worked example in this guide is a 24 by 12 ft driveway at $8.00 a square foot, with $400.00 of base prep and $150.00 of sealing, and it comes to $2,854.00, or $9.91 a square foot all-in.

Step 1 — Measure the length

Measure the length of the driveway in feet, from the street to the garage, along the run you drive. A typical single driveway is about 24 ft long, and that is the length the worked example uses. If the driveway curves, measure along the curve, not the straight-line distance between the street and the garage: a curved driveway is longer than the straight line, and the straight line understates the area.

Step 2 — Measure the width

Measure the width of the driveway in feet, across the run you drive. A single-car driveway is about 10 to 12 ft wide, and a two-car driveway is about 20 to 24 ft wide. The worked example uses 12 ft, which is a single-car driveway with room to open the doors. Measure at the widest point if the driveway flares at the street, and use the width that most of the driveway actually is: a driveway that is 12 ft wide for most of its length and 20 ft wide at the apron is mostly a 12 ft driveway, and pricing the whole thing at 20 ft overstates the cost. Write the width down next to the length.

Step 3 — Work out the area

The area is the length times the width. For the worked example, 24 ft times 12 ft is 288 square feet. That is the number the whole price hangs on: every square foot costs the rate per square foot, so an area that is wrong by 10 percent makes the price wrong by 10 percent too. Measure twice, and check the area against the shape of the driveway: a 24 by 12 ft driveway is 288 square feet, a 20 by 10 ft driveway is 200 square feet, and a 30 by 12 ft driveway is 360 square feet. If the driveway is not a rectangle, split it into rectangles, work out each one, and add them together.

Step 4 — Price the structure

The structure cost is the area times the price per square foot. The price per square foot is what the surface costs, installed, including the material and the labour. About $6 to $12 a square foot is typical for concrete, and the worked example uses $8.00. For the worked example, 288 square feet times $8.00 is $2,304.00. That is the structure, and it is most of the job. A cheaper surface, like plain gravel or basic asphalt at $6.00 a square foot, comes to $1,728.00 for the same driveway, and the total falls to $2,278.00. A pricier surface, like stamped concrete or pavers at $12.00 a square foot, comes to $3,456.00, and the total rises to $4,006.00.

Step 5 — Add the base prep

The base prep is the groundwork the driveway sits on: the excavation, the gravel base and the levelling. It is one flat fee, and about $400.00 is typical for a single driveway. Add it to the structure cost: for the worked example, $2,304.00 plus $400.00 is $2,704.00. A driveway on ground that is already level and firm can skip the base prep and save $400.00, which brings the total to $2,454.00 — but only if the ground is strong enough to carry cars without the base. A driveway that needs deep excavation, or one on soft ground, costs more than $400.00 for the base prep, so ask the contractor to look at the ground before you take the flat fee as final.

Step 6 — Add the sealing, and work out the total

The sealing is the coat that protects the finished driveway, and about $150.00 is typical when the contractor does it. Add it to the running total: for the worked example, $2,704.00 plus $150.00 is $2,854.00. That is the total driveway cost. To work out the all-in cost per square foot, divide the total by the area: $2,854.00 divided by 288 is $9.91 a square foot. The per-square-foot figure is the one to compare between quotes: two contractors can quote different totals for the same driveway, and the all-in cost per square foot shows which one is really cheaper. Skipping the seal saves $150.00 now, and the total falls to $2,704.00, but the surface wears faster and costs more to fix later.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: 24 by 12 ft, $8.00 a square foot, base prep $400.00, sealing $150.00, budget $5,000. Line 1, the area: 24 times 12 is 288.00 square feet. Line 2, the structure cost: 288.00 times $8.00 is $2,304.00. Line 3, the total: $2,304.00 plus $400.00 plus $150.00 is $2,854.00. Line 4, the cost per square foot: $2,854.00 divided by 288 is $9.91 a square foot all-in. Line 5, the budget: a $5,000 budget minus the $400 base prep and the $150 sealing leaves $4,450, and $4,450 divided by $8.00 is 556.25 square feet of driveway, which is about 46 by 12 ft. A $3,000 budget buys 306.25 square feet, which is about 25 by 12 ft. Every figure in this guide comes from the same six steps, and the driveway cost calculator runs them for any driveway you enter.

Other driveways, checked

A 20 by 10 ft driveway is 200.00 square feet, the structure is $1,600.00 at $8.00 a square foot, and the total is $2,150.00, or $10.75 a square foot all-in. A smaller driveway costs less in total, but a little more per foot, because the $550 base prep and sealing are spread over fewer feet. A 30 by 12 ft driveway is 360.00 square feet, the structure is $2,880.00, and the total is $3,430.00, or $9.53 a square foot all-in. A longer driveway costs less per foot than a short one, because the base prep and sealing are spread over more feet. At $12.00 a square foot the 24 by 12 ft driveway costs $4,006.00, or $13.91 a square foot, and at $6.00 a square foot it costs $2,278.00, or $7.91 a square foot. With $0 base prep it costs $2,454.00, or $8.52 a square foot, and with $0 sealing it costs $2,704.00, or $9.39 a square foot.

What the six steps leave out

The six steps price the driveway itself, and they leave out the permit, the curb cut, the drainage, and tax. Ask the contractor whether the quote includes those. A driveway on a slope, or one that needs drainage, costs more than the six steps say, because the surface is cut to fit and the water has to go somewhere. The rate per square foot should include the material and the labour, and the base prep should be one flat fee: if either one is quoted separately, add it in before you compare quotes. For the concrete for the same driveway, see the concrete driveway calculator, and for concrete against asphalt, see concrete vs asphalt driveway.

Job	Area	Structure	Total	Per sq ft
24 x 12 ft, $8 (worked example)	288.00 sq ft	$2,304.00	$2,854.00	$9.91
20 x 10 ft, $8	200.00 sq ft	$1,600.00	$2,150.00	$10.75
24 x 12 ft, $12	288.00 sq ft	$3,456.00	$4,006.00	$13.91
24 x 12 ft, $6	288.00 sq ft	$1,728.00	$2,278.00	$7.91
30 x 12 ft, $8	360.00 sq ft	$2,880.00	$3,430.00	$9.53