How to Price a Concrete Job: Materials, Labor, and Markup

Calculating cubic yards is only the first step in pricing a concrete job. The bid a customer sees needs to cover your material costs, labor, equipment, subcontractors, overhead, and profit. It has to do that accurately enough that you don't lose money, but competitively enough that you win the work. This guide walks through each cost component so you can build a bid you can stand behind.

Step 1: Material Costs

Concrete is your biggest material line item, but it's rarely the only one.

Ready-mix concrete

Prices vary by region and mix design, but a general range for standard 4,000 PSI ready-mix is $140–$180 per cubic yard delivered, as of early 2026. Call your local plant for current pricing. Concrete prices track closely with fuel costs and aggregate availability, so stale numbers will hurt you.

Multiply your cubic yard estimate (including waste factor) by the per-yard price to get your concrete material cost.

Other materials to include

• Rebar and wire mesh: Typically $0.10–$0.20 per square foot of slab, depending on reinforcement spec
• Fiber additives: ~$4–$8 per yard if spec'd
• Form lumber: Calculate by linear feet of edge form; 2×6 lumber at current prices
• Curing compound or blankets: Don't forget curing materials, especially in cold or hot weather
• Saw cutting: Control joints on large slabs require a concrete saw; include rental or sub cost
• Base material: Crushed stone or compacted fill under the slab

Step 2: Labor Costs

Labor is often where contractors under-bid the most. The temptation is to estimate a "best case" pour with no delays, but bids need to cover real-world conditions.

Estimating crew time

A rough rule of thumb for residential flatwork: a 3-person crew can place, screed, and finish about 500–800 square feet per day for a standard broom-finish slab. Complex shapes, decorative finishes, tight access, or large pours with multiple trucks will reduce that rate significantly.

Common labor line items

• Forming and layout
• Subgrade prep and compaction
• Rebar or mesh placement
• Concrete placement and screeding
• Finishing (bull float, troweling, broom finish)
• Curing and form stripping
• Cleanup

For each phase, estimate hours × your all-in labor rate (wages + burden: taxes, insurance, benefits, typically 25–35% on top of the wage rate).

Step 3: Equipment and Overhead

Equipment costs are easy to forget when building a bid but impossible to ignore when they show up on your P&L.

• Pump truck: $800–$1,500 per day depending on size and distance. Required on most jobs without direct truck access.
• Power screed or laser screed: Rental or depreciation on owned equipment
• Vibrators, finishers, saws: Include rental or depreciation
• Vehicles and fuel: Trips to the site, material runs

Overhead (your shop rent, insurance, office, vehicle depreciation, and other fixed costs) needs to be allocated across your jobs. A simple method: divide your monthly fixed overhead by your monthly billable hours to get an overhead rate per hour, then apply it to the crew hours on this job.

Step 4: Markup for Profit

Markup is not profit. It's how you get to profit. After covering all your costs, you need to mark up the total to generate a margin that accounts for risk, growth, and your own compensation.

Industry benchmark for residential concrete contractors: 15–25% net margin on a well-run operation. Specialty or decorative work commands higher margins; commodity flatwork is more competitive.

Putting It Together: Example Bid

A 600 sq ft driveway, 4 inches thick, standard broom finish:

The Fastest Way to Get From Volume to Bid

Building out a full cost sheet by hand on every job takes time. ConCal's cost sheet feature lets you enter your local concrete price, labor rate, and markup percentage, and it generates a complete line-item estimate automatically once you've drawn the slab. The result is a customer-ready bid number in the same tool where you calculated the volume.