pricetheworkEstimating on public data

Concrete calculator

How many cubic yards a slab, wall, column or flight of steps takes, and what the ready-mix and the placing cost.

Wages follow the area. Material and haulage do not.
ft
ft
in
Four inches for a patio or a walk, five to six for a driveway.
%
Spillage, uneven subgrade and over-excavation. Ten percent is common.

Breakdown

U.S.
ItemQuantityUnitCost
Ready-mix concretevolume of the chosen shape, plus waste allowanceseed $165.00 at 2026-07 · WPU133 406.999 to 406.999 (2026-07)13.58 cu yd$165.00$2,240.74
Placing and finishing0.85 cu yd per worker-hourOEWS 2025-05 · 47-2051 · incl. payroll burden15.98 hr$37.53$599.62
Direct cost$2,840.36

What to charge

your markup, your overhead
%
%
$
%
Direct cost$2,840.36
Price to the client$3,498.38
Gross marginmarkup 23.2% on cost is a margin of 18.8% on price18.8%
Overhead at 15.0% of revenuea property of the business, not of this job: annual overhead over annual revenue-$524.76
Net margin3.8%
What is left after this job carries its share of the business$133.26

Keep it

saved against today’s figures

The markups above are starting values, not advice. Profit is not asked for separately on purpose: a markup already carries your profit intent, and adding a profit percentage on top of it counts the same money twice. Overhead is taken out of revenue rather than added to the price, so the gap between gross and net is the part most estimates never show.

Labour comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for the selected state, multiplied by 30% to cover payroll taxes, insurance and workers’ compensation, because the published figure is a wage and not what an hour costs an employer. Material starts from a figure of ours and is carried forward by the BLS producer price index. Both are starting points. Your own costs will differ, and the numbers you enter are the ones worth keeping.

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