Concrete Cost Calculator
Concrete cost = volume in cubic yards × the price per yd³ your supplier quotes, plus any flat fees; the calculator holds no market prices. A 20 × 10 ft slab 4 in thick is 2.47 yd³: at $160 a yard plus a $75 short-load fee, that is $470.06 exact or about $510 for the 10%-waste order. Volume: Concrete Calculator.
How it's calculated: Cost = volume (yd³) × your price per yd³ + fixed fees; the recommended cost uses the waste-adjusted volume.
Result appears here
Fill in the fields and press Calculate.
Formula, calculation, assumptions and sources
Volume = Length × Width × Depth
Cost = Volume (yd³) × your price per yd³ + fixed fees
Run the calculation to see each step with your own numbers.
A 20 ft × 10 ft slab, 4 in thick, quoted at $160/yd³ with a $75 short-load fee, 10%.
Volume = 2.469 yd³ exact
Exact cost = 2.469 × $160 + $75 = $470.06
Order cost (2.72 yd³) = 2.72 × $160 + $75 = $510.20
- The unit price is exactly what you enter — BuildNumerics does not know or estimate concrete prices.
- Rectangular slab of uniform thickness.
- Fixed fees are added once, to both the exact and the order figure.
- Excludes rebar, forms, base gravel, finishing labour and permits.
- Why doesn't it just tell me what concrete costs?
- Because it changes by region, supplier, mix, load size and week. A number baked into a calculator would be wrong for most people. Enter your quote and the calculator does the maths reliably.
- Does this include labour?
- No — material only, plus any flat fees you enter. Finishing labour, forms, rebar and base are separate.
- How much does a 10×10 concrete slab cost?
- It depends on your quote. At $160 per yd³ — the worked example's figure, not a market price — a 10 × 10 ft slab 4 in thick (1.23 yd³) costs about $198 exact or $218 with 10% waste, plus any fees.
- How do delivery or short-load fees change the cost?
- Enter them as fixed fees: they are added once, to both the exact and the order cost, rather than scaled with the volume. A $75 short-load fee adds exactly $75 to each figure.
Volume
Standard geometry. Unit conversions per NIST SP 811.
Price
User-supplied. BuildNumerics intentionally embeds no market price — you enter your own quoted rate.
About the Concrete Cost Calculator
The Concrete Cost Calculator estimates the material cost of a pour from its dimensions and a unit price you get from your supplier — it holds no market prices of its own. It returns the cost of the exact volume and the cost of the recommended, waste-adjusted order quantity. Work out the volume first with the Concrete Calculator if you don't already have it.
What you enter
- Length
- Width
- Depth / thickness
- Price per cubic yard — Your ready-mix supplier's quoted price per yd³ (or per m³ if you're in metric).
- Fixed fees — Delivery, short-load or pump fees — a flat amount added once.
- Waste allowance — Default 10%. Adjust to your own allowance — the exact figure is always shown too.
What you get back
- Estimated concrete cost — Exact = cost of the exact volume. Recommended = cost of the volume you'd actually order (waste included). Fixed fees are added to both.
The formula, a worked example, the assumptions behind it and the sources are shown in full below the calculator.
Related calculators
- Concrete Calculator — How much concrete a rectangular slab or footing needs, in cubic yards or cubic metres.
- Sonotube Concrete Calculator — Concrete volume for round column forms (Sonotube-style tubes).
- Concrete Calculator for Fence Posts — Concrete volume to set a run of fence posts, allowing for the posts displacing concrete in each hole.
- Cubic Yard Calculator — Convert a length, width and depth into cubic yards, cubic feet or cubic metres.
Related articles
- Exact Quantity vs Recommended Order Quantity — Every BuildNumerics calculator shows two figures on purpose — the exact geometric answer, and a separate, waste-adjusted number you can actually order.
Part of the Concrete calculators.