Find a tool

Concrete Cost Calculator

What the pour costs in materials — bags or a truck, whichever is cheaper.

Materials only — no labor, forms or finishing. Prices start at reference figures; type your store's.

10' · 120 in · 10 ft · 3.048 m

10' · 120 in · 10 ft · 3.048 m

4" · 4 in · 0.3333 ft · 0.1016 m

33.333 ft³

10% covers spill, a soft base and forms that bow. It is added once, to the concrete and the base gravel.

This page recalculates as you type. There is no Calculate button.

Answer

Save imageExcel

Ticked items cost

$352.16

1.358 yd³ with 10% waste · 0.53 ft³ left over · 4,960 lb · or 1.5 yd³ of ready-mix

Buy 62 × 80 lb bags
Bags 62 × 80 lb bags
Ready-mix, in quarter-yard steps 1.5 yd³ of ready-mix
Concrete 33.333 ft³
In cubic yards 1.235 yd³
In cubic meters 0.944 m³
With 10% waste 1.358 yd³
Weight of the bags 4,960 lb
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Slab 1: 10' × 10'.10'10'Slab 1

Buying note4,960 lb of bags: about 4 trips in a full-size pickup at ~1,500 lb a load. Your truck's payload is on the driver's door-jamb sticker; type it under Assumptions.
Buying noteOver 1 yd³. Compare a ready-mix truck below before you buy bags.

Breakdown

Part Measurements Qty Volume Share
Slab 1 10' × 10' × 4" Add ×1 33.333 ft³

What to buy

Buying note4,960 lb of bags: about 4 trips in a full-size pickup at ~1,500 lb a load. Your truck's payload is on the driver's door-jamb sticker; type it under Assumptions.
Buying noteOver 1 yd³. Compare a ready-mix truck below before you buy bags.

Ways to buy the bags

Every way is worked out; pick the one you will buy. The 50 and 90 lb bags are offered on their own only: we have not seen them on a shelf.

60 × 80 lb + 1 × 60 lb + 1 × 40 lb Bags 62 Left over 0.08 ft³ Weight 4,900 lb Cost $349.76
61 × 80 lb + 1 × 40 lb Bags 62 Left over 0.23 ft³ Weight 4,920 lb Cost $350.46
55 × 90 lb Bags 55 Left over 0.46 ft³ Weight 4,950 lb Cost $356.40 Reference price $6.48. Type your store's.
62 × 80 lb Bags 62 Left over 0.53 ft³ Weight 4,960 lb Cost $352.16 Reference price $5.68. Type your store's.
82 × 60 lb Bags 82 Left over 0.23 ft³ Weight 4,920 lb Cost $408.36 Reference price $4.98. Type your store's.
98 × 50 lb Bags 98 Left over 0.08 ft³ Weight 4,900 lb Cost $439.04 Reference price $4.48. Type your store's.
123 × 40 lb Bags 123 Left over 0.23 ft³ Weight 4,920 lb Cost $489.54 Reference price $3.98. Type your store's.

Shopping list

62 62 × 80 lb $352.16
46.5 gal free
74 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³) $405.52 Reference price $5.48. Type your store's.
2.25 short tons (2,000 lb) $196.25 Reference price $45.00. Type your store's. Reference price $95.00. Type your store's.
8 sheets, lapped 8 in $86.96 Reference price $10.87. Type your store's.
8 #4 bars, 20 ft $119.84 Reference price $14.98. Type your store's.
Ticked items $352.16

Untick what you already have.

Save imageExcel

Bags or a ready-mix truck

Bags $352.16
Truck $370.00 order 1.5 yd³ · billed 2 yd³

Bags are $17.84 cheaper.

From 1.5 yd³ up, the truck costs less than bags.

Includes the short-load fee small orders pay.

Reference price $150.00. Type your store's. Reference price $35.00. Type your store's. No reference price. Type what your store charges.

Every supplier rounds, sets a minimum and charges for small loads its own way. Ask before you order.

How this was worked out

Every number below is yours. Each constant links to the row where you can change it.

Slab 1 10' × 10' × 4" 33.333 ft³
All parts 33.333 ft³ ÷ 27 1.235 yd³ · 0.944 m³
Plus waste 33.333 ft³ × (1 + 10%) 36.667 ft³ = 1.358 yd³
Bags 36.667 ft³ ÷ 80 lb at 0.6 ft³ 62 × 80 lb · 0.53 ft³ left over

Change:Yield, 80 lb bag

Ready-mix 1.358 yd³ → quarter-yard 1.5 yd³

Change:Least a supplier bills

Water 4,960 lb of bags ÷ 80 lb × 0.75 gal 46.5 gal

Change:Water per 80 lb bag

Base gravel (100 ft² × 4" + 0 ft³ in holes) × (1 + 10%) ÷ 0.5 ft³ a bag 74

Change:Base gravel depthYield, 50 lb gravel bag

Base gravel, delivered loose 1.358 yd³ × 1.59 short tons a yard, compacted, to 0.25 short ton steps 2.25 short tons (2,000 lb)

Change:Crusher run, compacted

Wire mesh 3' 6" × 7' sheets lapped 8", laid over each slab 8

Change:Mesh sheet widthMesh sheet lengthMesh lap

Rebar #4 every 1' 6" both ways, 3" in from the edge, 20' bars lapped 1' 8" 8

Change:Rebar spacingRebar kept in from the edgeRebar length soldRebar lap

Cost 62 × $5.68 $352.16

Assumptions

Every one of these is editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

Assumption Value Confidence
Thinnest pour for concrete mixSakrete High-Strength Concrete Mix (Oldcastle APG): pour at least 2 in thick. Thinner is a job for a resurfacer. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Thinnest floor slabIRC 2021 R506.1: a concrete floor slab on the ground is at least 3½ in thick. ACI 332-20 §13.5 says the same, as the Tennessee Concrete Association summarises it. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Mesh sheet widthThe sheet Home Depot sells as a 42 in. x 84 in. remesh sheet. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Mesh sheet lengthThe sheet Home Depot sells as a 42 in. x 84 in. remesh sheet. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Mesh lapOne mesh square plus 2 in at every joint: 8 in for 6×6 mesh of W1.4-W2.1 wire under ACI 318-19 §25.5.4.1 (Wire Reinforcement Institute, WWR.7 schedule). WRI's ACI 301 detail for a slab on ground that carries no design load laps 2 in (WWR.2); the longer lap is kept. ≈ in Trade convention
Rebar spacingA common grid for #4 bar in a house slab. No standard sets one for a patio. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Rebar kept in from the edgeACI 318-19 Table 20.5.1.3.1: 3 in of cover where concrete is cast against and stays in contact with the ground, kept here at the slab's edges. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Rebar length sold#4 bar is sold in 10 ft and 20 ft lengths; the longer one wastes less. ~ ft Derived or single-supplier
Rebar lap40 bar diameters for #4 (½ in): a rule of thumb for a lap, not a code figure. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Yield, 90 lb bagExtrapolated at 0.0075 ft³ per lb from the 80 lb bag of the 1101 data sheet, which lists no 90 lb bag. ~ ft³/bag Derived or single-supplier
Yield, 80 lb bagQuikrete Concrete Mix 1101 data sheet. ft³/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Yield, 60 lb bagQuikrete Concrete Mix 1101 data sheet. ft³/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Yield, 50 lb bagQuikrete Concrete Mix 1101 data sheet. ft³/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Yield, 40 lb bagQuikrete Concrete Mix 1101 data sheet. ft³/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Least a supplier billsJefferson County, MO ready-mix bid tabulation (2020): an order is billed at least 2 yd³. Every supplier sets its own minimum. ≈ yd³ Trade convention
Short-load fee underSame tabulation: a short-load fee on orders under 5 yd³. Ask your supplier for theirs. ≈ yd³ Trade convention
Price a truck fromCommon advice: past about a cubic yard, mixing bags by hand is a long day and a truck is worth pricing. ≈ yd³ Trade convention
Your truck's payloadFull-size (1500-series) pickups advertise 2,260-2,440 lb of payload (2026), and ordinary trims carry 600-700 lb less; this is the low end. Your truck's figure is on the driver's door-jamb placard. ~ lb Derived or single-supplier
Water per 80 lb bagQuikrete 1101 data sheet: start with about 6 pints per 80 lb bag, 6 to 9 pints in the end. Smaller bags take their share by weight. gal/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Base gravel depthIRC R506.2.2 (R506.3.2 in IRC 2024) asks for 4 in of base under a floor slab below grade. Outdoors it is common practice. ≈ in Trade convention
Yield, 50 lb gravel bag0.5 ft³ per 50 lb bag. Sand, which the sand page buys in the same bag: Sakrete Play Sand (data sheet REV 3-10) and Sakrete's commercial sands (Rev. 06/16) yield 0.5 ft³, Quikrete Premium Play Sand is labeled 'approx 1/2 cu. ft.'; mason sand runs larger, 0.6 ft³ (Sakrete, Rev. 04/16). Gravel: Quikrete All-Purpose Gravel as retailers list it. ~ ft³/bag Derived or single-supplier
Crusher run, compactedMoDOT's compacted crushed granite or limestone, used for crusher run and paver base: assumed to pack about this tight, as no figure for the graded product was found. ~ short ton/yd³ Derived or single-supplier

What the concrete for a slab costs

Price the volume twice — once in bags, once off a truck — and buy whichever is cheaper. The slab this page opens with, 10 by 10 feet and 4 inches thick, is 33.3 cubic feet, 1.23 cubic yards, and 1.36 with 10% added for waste. In 80 lb bags at a reference $5.68 that is 62 bags, $352.16. A truck would bring 1.5 yards, but most suppliers bill at least 2 and add a short-load fee to a small order: 2 × $150 plus 2 × $35 is $370.00. The bags win by $17.84, which is $3.52 a square foot of slab.

Change any number and the cheaper way is chosen again: the headline is the total of the ticked lines of the shopping list, and the comparison under it shows both prices side by side, with the yardage from which the truck comes out cheaper. At these prices that is 1.5 yards; a 12 by 12 ft slab at 4 in is already past it, and the truck's $370 beats 88 bags at $499.84.

The prices in the boxes are dated reference figures, not a quote: one home center's shelf price for an 80 lb bag in 2025, $150 a yard inside the $125 to $165 commonly quoted for ready-mix, and the 2 yard minimum and $35 short-load fee of one county's published bid sheet. Type your store's and your supplier's and every total on the page follows. The link you share carries the prices you typed.

Materials for common slabs

At 4 in thick, with 10% waste, at the reference prices:

Slab 80 lb bags Ready-mix Cheaper, per ft²
10 × 10 ft62 · $352.161.5 yd³ · $370.00bags · $3.52
12 × 12 ft88 · $499.842 yd³ · $370.00truck · $2.57
12 × 16 ft118 · $670.242.75 yd³ · $508.75truck · $2.65
16 × 20 ft196 · $1,113.284.5 yd³ · $832.50truck · $2.60
20 × 20 ft245 · $1,391.605.5 yd³ · $825.00truck · $2.06
20 × 24 ft294 · $1,669.926.75 yd³ · $1,012.50truck · $2.11
24 × 24 ft352 · $1,999.368 yd³ · $1,200.00truck · $2.08

Read the 16 by 20 row against the one under it. 4.5 yards pays the short-load fee on every yard and 5.5 yards pays none, so the bigger slab costs $7.50 less. If your pour lands just under your supplier's short-load line, price the order at the line before you trim the yardage.

Bags or a truck, by the yard

A cubic yard is 45 bags of 80 lb, each making 0.60 cubic feet. At $5.68 a bag that is $255.60 a yard, against $150 for ready-mix — bags cost about 1.7 times as much per yard before the truck's fees. What keeps bags in the running for a small pour is the minimum: a half-yard pour pays for 2 yards and a short-load fee on both, $370 for $75 of concrete. Bags also cost labor that the price does not show: the opening slab is 4,960 lb to load, unload and mix by hand.

What the total leaves out

The total is materials on the shopping list and nothing else. It does not include labor, the 2×6 boards for the forms, finishing tools, a pump, sealer, a permit or sales tax. Delivery is a box beside the truck's price, empty until you type your supplier's charge.

Three lines are on the list with their prices and left unticked: the gravel base, the wire mesh and the rebar grid. Ticked, the 10 by 10 slab's base is 74 bags of gravel, $405.52, more than the concrete itself, and a base that size is usually bought loose by the yard. Mesh is 8 sheets, $86.96; rebar instead is 8 bars of #4, $119.84. They are one choice, not two things to buy. Tick what you are buying and the headline adds it.

Common questions

How much does a 10 by 10 concrete slab cost?

About $352 in materials at 4 in thick: 62 bags of 80 lb at $5.68. At 6 in it is 92 bags, $522.56, and the truck wins at $416.25 for 2.25 yards with the short-load fee. Labor is extra.

How much is a yard of concrete?

The page starts ready-mix at $150 a yard, before the minimum order, the short-load fee and delivery. The same yard in 80 lb bags is 45 bags, $255.60 at the reference price.

Is it cheaper to mix concrete from bags?

For a small pour, often — under about 1.5 yards at these prices, because the truck bills its minimum. Past that the truck is cheaper and the gap grows with every yard. The comparison under the shopping list gives the yardage for your own prices.

Why does a smaller order cost more?

Most suppliers add a short-load fee to every yard of an order under a set size, 5 yards on the bid sheet this page starts from. An order just under the line can cost more than one just over it.

Is the waste in the price?

Yes, once. The 10% in the waste box is added to the volume before it is counted into bags or yards, and the result shows the yards before and after it. Set the box to 0 to price the bare volume.