How Much Does It Cost to Pour a Concrete Slab?
A concrete slab usually costs between $5.50 and $8.50 per square foot installed in 2026, or roughly $4 to $5 per square foot in materials if you pour it yourself. The final price depends on the size, the thickness, site prep and reinforcement, so here is how the cost breaks down and how to estimate your own.
Key takeaways
- A 4 inch slab costs $5.50 to $8.50 per square foot installed by a contractor in 2026.
- DIY materials run $4 to $5 per square foot; ready-mix concrete is roughly $125 to $160 per cubic yard delivered.
- A 12 x 12 foot slab costs about $790 to $1,225 installed; a 20 x 20 foot slab runs $2,200 to $3,400.
- Decorative finishes like stamping or coloring can cost more than the concrete itself.
How much does it cost to pour a concrete slab?
For a standard 4 inch slab, expect about $5.50 to $8.50 per square foot installed by a contractor in 2026, which covers the concrete, labor, basic site prep and finishing. Doing it yourself with bagged or ready-mix concrete runs closer to $4 to $5 per square foot in materials, before your time and tool rental. Thicker slabs, a poor subgrade, rebar and decorative finishes push the number toward the top of the range and beyond.
Ready-mix concrete itself runs roughly $125 to $160 per cubic yard delivered, and a 4 inch slab needs about one cubic yard for every 80 square feet. That is why concrete is only part of the price: labor, forming, base material and finishing often cost as much as the concrete.
What goes into the cost
| Item | Typical share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete | $2.00 to $4.00 /ft² | Ready-mix delivered, more for small loads |
| Labor | $2.00 to $3.50 /ft² | Forming, pouring, finishing |
| Gravel base | $0.50 to $1.50 /ft² | 4 to 6 inches compacted |
| Rebar or mesh | $0.30 to $1.00 /ft² | For driveways and structural slabs |
| Finishing extras | $1.00 to $8.00 /ft² | Stamping, coloring, sealing |
A plain broom-finished slab sits at the low end. Add a thicker pour, a deep gravel base, a full rebar grid or a decorative finish, and the price climbs quickly. The single biggest swing is the finish: a stamped, colored slab can cost more in finishing than in concrete.
Cost by slab size
Here are rough installed costs for a basic 4 inch slab at $5.50 to $8.50 per square foot. These are planning figures; get local quotes before you commit.
| Slab size | Area | Installed cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft | 100 ft² | $550 to $850 |
| 12 × 12 ft | 144 ft² | $790 to $1,225 |
| 20 × 20 ft | 400 ft² | $2,200 to $3,400 |
| 24 × 24 ft | 576 ft² | $3,170 to $4,900 |
| 40 × 60 ft | 2,400 ft² | $13,200 to $20,400 |
DIY versus hiring a pro
For a small pad under about 100 square feet, pouring it yourself with bags can save real money, and the work is manageable for one or two people. Once you pass roughly one cubic yard, ready-mix delivered is cheaper and far less work than mixing dozens of bags by hand, and a finished slab over a few hundred square feet is hard to pour and finish well before it sets.
Hiring a pro buys you proper forming, a flat finish, and the speed to place and finish a large slab in one go. If the slab is structural, carries vehicles, or has to drain and finish a certain way, the labor is usually worth it. Where DIY makes sense, the calculator on this page tells you exactly how much concrete and how many bags to buy.
How to estimate your own slab
Start with volume. Multiply length by width by thickness, convert the thickness to feet, and divide by 27 for cubic yards, then add 10% for waste. A 12 by 12 foot slab at 4 inches is about 1.78 cubic yards, or 1.96 with waste, which at $140 per cubic yard is roughly $275 in concrete alone. Add base, reinforcement, forms and your time to get the full picture.
Rather than do this by hand, enter your dimensions in the concrete slab calculator to get the cubic yards, the number of 40, 60 or 80 lb bags, and an estimated material cost in seconds.
If you need rebar, the rebar calculator sizes the grid for your slab dimensions and spacing.