The SlabCalc Concrete Cost Index: What Flatwork Actually Costs in 26 US Metros (2026)

Methodology

Every figure above comes from SlabCalc's cost matrix, which is built from public bid tabulations — the unit prices contractors submitted to win government sidewalk work. For each metro we take its own agency district's contracts for the standard 4-inch concrete sidewalk item (5-inch in IDOT District 1, where that is the standard item; Caltrans prices minor concrete sidewalk per cubic yard, converted at 81 sq ft per CY), let in 2023–2026. We use the winning bidder's unit price on every contract line of at least 300 sq ft (smaller lines are patch repairs priced several times the going rate) and report the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of those lines. The contract count is the number of distinct contracts behind them. Prices are as bid, not inflation-adjusted. Sources: CDOT, Caltrans, FDOT, Gwinnett, IDOT, MDOT, MnDOT, MoDOT, NCDOT, NYC, ODOT, Oregon, PennDOT, TDOT, TxDOT, WSDOT. The agency, district and bid item for every metro are listed on our methodology page.

Every bid line behind the index is published with the pipeline, together with the agency URL and a checksum of the source document it was read from. A metro is only counted when at least five contracts qualify, and the build refuses any metro labelled as bid data that does not trace to those rows.

Correction, October 12, 2026. An audit found that earlier versions of this index did not meet that standard. St. Louis and Kansas City carried prices that were never read from MoDOT data; Minneapolis and Columbus served fallback constants after their source files went offline; New York was a fixed estimate; and several bid counts (Denver, Charlotte, Raleigh, Minneapolis, Columbus, St. Louis, Kansas City, New York) were typed in rather than counted. Other metros used one statewide average for several cities, or multiplied an average to get a range. The whole index was rebuilt from line-level bid records on this date. Figures from earlier versions (21 metros, 396 bid records, a $9.63 median) are superseded.

This index uses the sidewalk project type as its baseline because it maps most directly onto the underlying DOT bid item across states — a standard concrete flatwork placement — without the additional residential multipliers SlabCalc applies to driveways, patios, foundations, retaining walls, and pool decks. “Low” reflects an efficient contractor working in favorable site conditions; “high” reflects a more complex project or higher-demand contractor market.

Which cost series this index uses: the cost matrix carries two series per metro. The figures on this page are the professional installed series — the estimate of what a hired contractor charges, derived from the DOT unit-bid prices. SlabCalc's consumer cost pages additionally show a DIY-adjusted range, which scales the professional figures down by each metro's labor share to approximate a materials-and-rental self-build. The DIY series is deliberately not used for metro-to-metro ranking here: the labor deflator differs by metro, so ranking on it would reflect local wage structures more than actual concrete prices. If a number on a city cost page looks lower than this index, that is the DIY series doing its job, not a discrepancy.

Limitations

• DOT bid contracts are large-volume infrastructure pours, not residential jobs. The professional installed series shown here is derived from those bid-item prices; small residential jobs typically price above the low end of these ranges because minimum mobilization costs dominate small pours. For project-type-specific homeowner estimates, see the cost pages.
• Some metros rest on fewer than ten qualifying contracts: Austin, TX (6), Raleigh, NC (6), Charlotte, NC (6), Denver, CO (8), Riverside, CA (8), New York, NY (9), Los Angeles, CA (9). Treat their ranges as indicative.
• Atlanta is priced from Gwinnett County's own sidewalk contracts, not GDOT's: GDOT publishes its itemized bid tabs only behind a login. New York is priced from NYC Department of Design and Construction contracts, which are large remove-and-replace programs.
• Some DOT contracts require prevailing-wage or union labor, which can run above typical residential rates. See the full discussion of scale and labor-agreement limitations on the methodology page.