Field reference·Updated May 2026·Material live from FRED·Series PCU327320327320·Anchor NRMCA 2024
Installed cost
Concrete Slab Cost Calculator: What Will It Cost to Pour? + Labor
Tell us your shape and dimensions — we'll estimate the installed cost, with material pulled live from the ready-mix price index and labor as a typical range, for slabs, footings, columns, walls and stairs.
Material · Labor · TotalLive FRED pricing6 shapesImperial + MetricPCU327320327320
Here's the deal
Want a real number before you call a contractor? Enter your shape and size; the calculator pulls the current ready-mix price from the BLS index and adds a typical labor range, so you get an installed cost you can check a quote against — computed, not copied. We've got this.
A poured concrete slab runs about $5–10 per square foot installed for plain flatwork ($8–18 decorative). Material alone is about $184 per cubic yard as of May 2026, escalated live from BLS data. Enter your dimensions below for your specific installed estimate.
The material side is live. Rather than quoting a number that goes stale, the calculator pulls the current ready-mix price index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics every month and escalates a known anchor price to today. The next section explains exactly how.
Labor is shown as a typical regional range for flatwork, and as an optional field you fill from your own quote for structural shapes. The result is an honest estimate you can take to a contractor — not a guess, and not a number copied from someone else's site.
Rectangular slab — length × width × thickness.
= 3.05 m
= 3.05 m
= 10.2 cm
Adds $5–10 per mile beyond a 20-mile base radius.
Cost breakdown
Material1.36 yd³ × $184.69/yd³$250
Live, escalated from NRMCA 2024 via ready-mix PPI · as of May 2026
Labor & finishing@ $2–3/sq ft (Angi / Jack Cooper)$200–$300
Your full breakdown — yards, tons, bags, loads and cost — appears here.
Method
How the live material price works
The material price is computed, not typed. It starts from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association's reported 2024 national average of $179.89 per cubic yard. We then scale that by how much the ready-mix price index has moved since 2024, using the formula:
current $/yd³ = $179.89 × (latest index ÷ 390.90)
Anchor
$179.89 / yd³
NRMCA-reported 2024 national average ready-mix price. Frozen baseline tied to the 2024 index for an honest ratio.
Ratio
÷ 390.90 × latest
2024 annual average of the BLS PCU327320327320 ready-mix PPI is 390.90. Latest monthly reading divides through it.
Output
≈ $184 / yd³
Result for Apr 2026 (index ≈ 400). Refreshes on each render as new BLS data lands monthly.
The index is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index for ready-mix concrete manufacturing — series PCU327320327320 — retrieved monthly from the Federal Reserve's FRED database. The figure 390.90 is that index's 2024 annual average, so the anchor price and the anchor index come from the same year. Pinning a 2024 price to the 2024 index keeps the ratio honest; we never compare a price from one year against an index from another.
At the most recent reading the index sat near 400, which puts material at about $184 per cubic yard — and that number updates on its own as new BLS data lands each month. When the live feed is unavailable, the calculator falls back to the last verified reading and says so, so it always shows a real figure rather than a blank.
The tool
What the calculator does
Pick a shape and enter its dimensions; the calculator finds the volume, adds a waste allowance, and multiplies by the live material price. The split for the labor line is where the two halves of the tool diverge.
Flatwork → labor auto-estimated
Slabs and round slabs use a typical $2–3 per square foot labor range, multiplied by the geometric area. Material plus labor totals an installed estimate without further input.
Structural → you enter the labor
Footings, columns, walls and stairs leave labor as an optional lump-sum field. Public data does not support a single honest per-shape rate, so paste a contractor quote and the calculator adds it to material.
Every dollar amount is a range, because concrete pricing is regional and labor swings by metro. Treat the output as a planning bracket, not a quote.
Worked examples
Four projects, costed
All figures are at current rates (about $184 per cubic yard, which updates monthly). Material uses the order volume — the post-waste yards you actually buy — and labor uses the finished area for flatwork.
Patio12 × 12 ft slab at 4 inches
12 × 12 = 144 sq ft · order 1.96 yd³ (+10% waste)
material ≈ $360 · labor 144 × $2–3 = $288–432
installed ≈ $650–790 (~$4.50–5.50/sq ft)
That is 144 square feet and about 1.96 cubic yards with waste, so material runs roughly $360. Labor and finishing at $2–3 per square foot adds $288–432, for an installed total around $650–790 — about $4.50 to $5.50 per square foot.
Driveway20 × 20 ft slab at 5 inches
400 sq ft · geometric 6.17 → order 6.79 yd³
material ≈ $1,250 · labor 400 × $2–3 = $800–1,200
installed ≈ $2,050–2,450 (~$5.10–6.10/sq ft) · short-load may add $340–540
At 400 square feet and about 6.79 cubic yards, material is roughly $1,250 and labor $800–1,200, for an installed range near $2,050–2,450 (about $5.10–6.10 per square foot). Because this is under ten yards, a short-load delivery fee may add $340–540.
Garage24 × 24 ft slab at 6 inches
576 sq ft · geometric 10.67 → order 11.73 yd³
material ≈ $2,160 · labor 576 × $2–3 = $1,150–1,730
installed ≈ $3,310–3,890 (~$5.75–6.75/sq ft) · full truck — no short-load fee
This is 576 square feet and about 11.73 cubic yards, so material is roughly $2,160 and labor $1,150–1,730, for an installed total near $3,310–3,890 (about $5.75–6.75 per square foot). Above ten yards you are into full-truck territory, so no short-load fee applies.
Footing30 ft run, 16 inches wide, 8 inches deep
order 1.09 yd³
material ≈ $200 · labor: — (no auto-rate)
material ≈ $200 · labor: enter contractor quote
At about 1.09 cubic yards, material is roughly $200. Labor shows as a dash, because a footing has no honest per-square-foot rate — enter your contractor's quote and the calculator adds it.
What moves the price
What drives the cost
Thickness
Volume is area × depth, so a 4-inch patio becomes a 6-inch driveway and raises the concrete by 50% for the same footprint. Match thickness to the load, not over-build, to control material cost.
Labor
Flatwork runs $2–3 per square foot — roughly one-third to one-half of installed. A broom finish sits low; stamped or polished work pushes installed cost toward $8–18 per square foot.
Surcharges
Short-load fees on small orders, distance charges past 20 miles, and a higher-strength mix all stack on the base price. Each is a toggle in the calculator.
Labor
Labor & finishing
$2–3
PER SQ FT
Flatwork, typical
⅓–½
OF INSTALLED
Share of total cost
SOC 47-2051 +
BLS WAGE BASIS
+ 47-2061 construction laborers
Labor varies more by region than material does. A metro with high wages and permit overhead can sit well above the range; a rural job with an owner-operator crew can fall below it. For structural shapes the spread is wider still, which is why the calculator asks you to supply that number rather than inventing one.
Surcharges
Delivery & extra fees
$50–80 / yd³
Short-load fee
Plants charge this on orders under about 8–10 cubic yards to cover the cost of a part-full truck. It tips small pours back toward bagged concrete.
$5–10 / mi
Distance beyond 20 mi
Per-mile delivery charge past a 20-mile base radius. A 35-mile job adds roughly $75–150 on top of the base price.
+$20–30 / yd³
4000 psi premium
Higher-strength mix used for driveways and structural work. About $20–30 per cubic yard above standard 3000 psi.
A full ready-mix truck carries about 10 cubic yards. The short-load fee is what tips small pours back toward bagged concrete — the crossover scale below shows where the math flips.
Decision
Ready-mix or bags?
Cubic yards · bagged vs delivered ready-mix
Below about 1 cubic yard, bags usually win once delivery and short-load fees are counted. Above roughly 1.5–2 yd³, ready-mix is cheaper and far less labor.
The concrete calculator gives bag counts and volume side by side, so you can compare a bagged total against the material figure here before deciding how to buy.
Next steps
Getting an accurate quote
Get 2–3 local quotes
Use this estimate as a baseline. Local prices vary by metro and by season — a baseline gives you something concrete to compare quotes against.
Ask each to itemize
Material, labor, short-load, distance, access — line their breakdown up against the bracket here so you can see where they sit and where they add line items.
If your slab needs a sub-base, our gravel calculator sizes and prices that layer so you can budget both together.
Questions
Concrete slab cost FAQ
How much does it cost to pour a concrete slab?+
A typical 12 × 12 ft patio at 4 inches runs about $650–790 installed — roughly $4.50–5.50 per square foot — split between material near $360 and labor of $288–432. Larger or thicker slabs scale up from there; enter your dimensions for a figure.
How much does concrete cost per square foot?+
Plain installed flatwork generally runs $5–10 per square foot, of which labor and finishing are about $2–3. Decorative finishes like stamping or polishing push the installed figure to $8–18 per square foot.
Why is the material price "live"?+
The calculator escalates the NRMCA 2024 average of $179.89 per cubic yard by the BLS ready-mix price index (series PCU327320327320), refreshed monthly. That way the material figure tracks the market as ready-mix prices change instead of going stale.
How much of a slab's cost is labor?+
Typically one-third to one-half of the installed total. On flatwork that works out to about $2–3 per square foot for forming, placing, and finishing.
What is a short-load fee?+
A surcharge of roughly $50–80 per cubic yard that ready-mix plants add to small orders — generally under about 8 to 10 cubic yards — to cover the cost of sending a truck that isn't full.
Is it cheaper to use bags or ready-mix?+
Bags usually win under about one cubic yard; ready-mix wins above roughly 1.5 to 2 cubic yards once you count delivery and labor. The concrete calculator shows both so you can compare.
Why is my contractor's quote different from this estimate?+
A real quote adds your region's wages, site access, excavation, base prep, reinforcement, and finish on top of material and a typical labor range. This estimate covers material (live) plus a labor range only; use the breakdown to see which line items a quote layers on.
Does the calculator include rebar, forms, or site prep?+
No. It covers concrete material and, for flatwork, placing and finishing labor. Excavation, gravel base, rebar or mesh, and forms are separate costs to add on top.
$2–3 per sq ft — roughly one-third to one-half of installed flatwork total. BLS OEWS wage basis: SOC 47-2051 cement masons + 47-2061 construction laborers.
The dollar we escalate is the NRMCA national average from 2024 — $179.89/yd³ — and the index we escalate against is the same series’ 2024 annual average — 390.90. Both come from the same year on purpose: ratios mean nothing unless the two ends share a period. Pinning a 2024 price to a 2026 index would credit the 2024 dollar with inflation it never carried, and our current figure would land too high; pinning a 2026 price to a 2024 index would do the reverse. The 2024/2024 pair gives a clean multiplier and a number we can stand behind, month after month.
PCU327320327320, not the trap series+
BLS publishes a near-identically-named ready-mix series at PCU3273232732 with a different base period (Dec 2003 = 100) and a different scale. Using it by accident would silently halve every figure on the page. The same "real ≠ right" discipline we apply to every PPI / USGS / ASTM identifier shows up here: code, base period, and the year of every reading are pinned in the page’s data file, and the escalator constant is the verified 2024 average, not the latest-month value.
Why flatwork gets auto-labor and structural shapes don’t+
Slabs and round slabs are priced per square foot of finished area because the work is in the screed and the finish. Walls are priced per square foot of form face, footings per linear foot, columns per cylinder, stairs by the step — different geometries, different productivity, no single per-shape rate public data supports. Better to leave a lump-sum field than fabricate a rate.
Material on order volume, labor on finished area+
You pay the plant for what you ordered — the post-waste yards — so material multiplies the order volume by the live price. The crew, by contrast, places and finishes the actual footprint, so labor multiplies the geometric area by a $/sq ft range. The two halves come from the same dimensions but use the volume that matches what each line item actually pays for.
Live, with an explicit fallback rather than a blank+
On every render the server hits the FRED API for PCU327320327320 with a five-second timeout and a monthly revalidate. If the call succeeds, the page label reads "Live, escalated from NRMCA 2024 via ready-mix PPI" with the observation month. If the call fails or no API key is configured, we fall back to the most recently verified reading (Apr 2026 = 400.013) and label the figure "Estimated — last verified Apr 2026." The page never blanks, never NaNs, and never silently rolls a stale number forward.
The arithmetic of $179.89, in detail+
NRMCA reports a 2024 national average of $179.89/yd³ for ready-mix concrete; BLS reports a 2024 annual-average index of 390.90 for series PCU327320327320 — the simple mean of twelve verified monthly readings, from 383.573 in January to 392.963 in December. Dividing the latest observed index by 390.90 gives a multiplier: a 5% increase in the index since 2024 means our current figure runs 5% above $179.89, and so on. The page evaluates this ratio on every render; we never store or cache a surrogate dollar value that could drift away from the current index.
Round to the nearest $10 throughout+
Pricing to the cent implies a confidence the data does not support. Material wholesales by the yard with regional variation; labor swings 25–40% between metros. We round every dollar output to the nearest $10 so the reader sees an estimate, not a fake quote. The math runs full precision under the hood.
Material and labor stay separated+
Single installed numbers force you to guess what they include. Material moves with the FRED index monthly; labor moves with regional wages and seasonal demand; surcharges depend on the plant and the haul. Splitting them lets you swap each line for your real number.
Never "$X is the answer"+
Concrete pricing varies enough by region and season that a single number would mislead. Every figure is a range: material rounds to $10, labor is $2–3/sq ft, fees come in their own bands. Stacked together they yield a planning bracket — useful for comparison, not as the quote itself.
What the structural-mode dash means+
For footings, columns, walls and stairs the labor row reads "—" with the note "no auto-rate — enter a contractor quote." The dash is the calculator declining to invent a rate. Paste a number in the optional field and it gets added to material; leave it blank and material still stands on its own.
Compute, never copy+
The four sources we use — NRMCA via Concrete Financial Insights, BLS via FRED, Angi for labor, concretecalculate for fees — are named on the page with identifiers and dates. We don’t paraphrase Homewyse, HomeGuide, or ConcreteNetwork; resurfacing derived numbers under a new label adds nothing for you.
For the shared principles behind “real ≠ right”, the primary-source rule, and the publish-our-receipts stance, see the methodology page.
Spot a number that looks off? Email info@constructioncalc.org with the page URL — fixes go up as soon as we can confirm the source.