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United States

Concrete Driveway Calculator

Enter the length, width and thickness of your driveway and see how many cubic yards to order. Driveways are usually a ready-mix job: the calculator rounds the order and shows the short-load fee for small pours.

What are you pouring?
Patio, driveway, shed base, path
Length Width Thickness

Tip: you can type feet and inches, like 10' 6".

Reinforcement for slabs (optional)
Gravel base under slabs (optional)

Gravel weight changes from quarry to quarry: ask your supplier for the compacted weight and we turn the volume into tons.

Use your own prices (optional)

You need

– cu yd

–

Poured, it weighs about – lb.

Premixed bags

Bag Bags To carry Est. cost

Mixing it yourself (1:2:3)

QUIKRETE Portland Cement data sheet: concrete mix 1 part cement, 2 parts All-Purpose Sand, 3 parts All-Purpose Gravel; 5 to 6 bags of 94 lb per yd³. A 94 lb bag is the customary 1 cu ft of cement.

Ready-mix truck

–

If a contractor pours it

How we price

Link to this calculation Download estimate (PDF)

Your materials at a glance

How to calculate concrete

  1. Measure the area. Length and width in feet. Split curved or L-shaped driveways into rectangles.
  2. Choose the thickness. 4 in for cars, 5–6 in for heavier vehicles: check your local code.
  3. Multiply and convert. Length × width × (thickness ÷ 12) ÷ 27 gives cubic yards.
  4. Add 5–10%. Then round up to the quarter yard your plant sells.

Worked example: a 20 × 24 ft two-car driveway, 5 inches thick

  1. Volume: 20 × 24 × (5 ÷ 12) = 200 cu ft = 7.41 cubic yards.
  2. Plus 5%: 7.78 cubic yards, so order 8.00 yards.
  3. In 80 lb bags it would be 350 bags: that is why driveways are poured from a truck.

Cubic yards for common driveway sizes

Driveway 4 in 5 in 6 in
Single car (10 × 20 ft) 2.47 3.09 3.70
Single car, wide (12 × 24 ft) 3.56 4.44 5.33
Two cars (20 × 20 ft) 4.94 6.17 7.41
Two cars, deep (20 × 24 ft) 5.93 7.41 8.89
Two cars, large (24 × 24 ft) 7.11 8.89 10.67
Long single (12 × 50 ft) 7.41 9.26 11.11

No waste included: add 5–10% before ordering.

Concrete formulas by shape

All measurements in feet; divide inches by 12 first. Results are in cubic feet.

Slab
length × width × thickness
Monolithic slab
length × width × thickness + perimeter band × (edge depth − thickness), where perimeter band = length × width − (length − 2 × edge width) × (width − 2 × edge width)

Cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27.

Frequently asked questions

How thick should a concrete driveway be?

4 inches is common for passenger cars; 5 to 6 inches if trucks, RVs or heavy equipment will use it. Your local building code may set a minimum.

How much concrete for a two-car driveway?

A 20 × 24 ft driveway 4 inches thick is about 5.9 cubic yards; at 5 inches it is about 7.4. Add 5–10% before ordering.

Should I use bags or ready-mix for a driveway?

Almost always ready-mix: even a 10 × 20 ft single-car driveway at 4 inches needs about 117 bags of 80 lb with 5% extra, over 9,000 lb of mix, more than most people can mix before the first batch sets.

How far apart should control joints be?

A common rule is joints no farther apart in feet than 2 to 3 times the slab thickness in inches: every 8 to 12 ft for a 4 in driveway.

When can I drive on new concrete?

Usually wait at least 7 days for a car and longer for heavy vehicles. Ask your contractor or the mix supplier for your mix.

About the prices

Costs are estimated ranges with source and date, never a quote. Enter your local prices under "Use your own prices", or read how we estimate prices.