How Much Does a Concrete Driveway Cost in Atlanta?
Atlanta Concrete Services prices most new residential driveways in Atlanta at $8 to $14 per square foot installed, and $10 to $16 when we have to break out and haul away an old one first. For a typical 600 square foot drive, that works out to roughly $4,800 to $8,400 new or $6,000 to $9,600 as a replacement.
Those ranges are wide on purpose. Two driveways the same size can land at opposite ends because of what sits under them and around them: the grade of the lot, the clay, a big oak at the curb, or an apron that has to be rebuilt in the city right-of-way.
Below we break the number into its parts so you can see where your own job is likely to fall before we ever measure it.
Every figure here comes from the same price sheet we quote from. We do not add surprise line items after the pour.
Why Choose Atlanta Concrete Services
Concrete Driveway Cost in Atlanta, GA
Typical Atlanta Driveway Prices by Size
Square footage drives the total more than anything else. Here is how our installed ranges play out on common Atlanta driveway sizes, using plain gray concrete with a broom finish.
- Single-car strip, about 400 sq ft: $3,200 to $5,600 new, or $4,000 to $6,400 with removal
- Standard two-car drive, about 600 sq ft: $4,800 to $8,400 new, or $6,000 to $9,600 with removal
- Long or wide drive with a turnaround, about 1,000 sq ft: $8,000 to $14,000 new, or $10,000 to $16,000 with removal
- Stamped or decorative finish: $12 to $20 or more per sq ft, so a 600 sq ft stamped drive starts near $7,200
Most intown lots in Kirkwood, Grant Park or Virginia-Highland have short, narrow drives near the low end of that list. Lots in Buckhead or out past I-285 often run longer, with a parking pad or turnaround that pushes the square footage up fast.
What Is Inside the Per-Square-Foot Price
An installed price bundles several separate pieces of work. When you see a low number elsewhere, it usually means one of these was trimmed.
Base and Reinforcement
We set a compacted layer of graded aggregate base under every driveway. Gravel base alone runs $1 to $2 per square foot, and steel reinforcement adds $0.50 to $1.50. On 600 square feet, those two items together come to roughly $900 to $2,100 of the total, and they are the part that keeps panels from settling.
Excavation and Grading
Digging to firm soil and shaping the grade costs $1 to $3 per square foot. Flat lots sit at the bottom of that range. A drive cut into a hillside, which is common on the ridges around Buckhead and along the Chattahoochee bluffs, sits at the top.
Tear-Out and Haul-Off
Breaking up and removing old concrete runs $2 to $6 per square foot depending on thickness, rebar and access. That is the main reason a replacement costs more than a first pour on a gravel track.
Atlanta Site Conditions That Move the Price
The soil across most of the metro is Piedmont red clay, the Cecil series in USDA soil surveys. It is a kaolinitic clay with low shrink-swell potential, so it is not the heaving clay people worry about in Texas. The cost comes from water. Atlanta's 30-year normal rainfall at Hartsfield-Jackson is about 50 inches a year, and saturated clay or loose fill turns soft under a slab.
Slope matters just as much. A steep drive needs more excavation, sometimes a short retaining wall to hold the cut, and a trench drain at the bottom so stormwater does not run into the garage. Those are real line items, and we price them separately so you can see them.
Trees are the third factor. Atlanta protects hardwoods 6 inches and larger and pines 12 inches and larger, measured 4.5 feet up the trunk, and a project that may affect them needs an arborist meeting with the city before permits. Working around a protected root zone can mean hand digging, bridging roots or shifting the drive a few feet. We explain why roots and runoff break slabs in more detail on our page about why concrete cracks in Atlanta.
The Street Apron and Permit Costs
The last few feet of your driveway, between the sidewalk and the curb, usually sit in the public right-of-way. Inside city limits, rebuilding that apron requires a right-of-way permit from the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT), and the apron has to be built to the city's standard details. That can add work if your current apron is the wrong width or slope.
Permit fees are set by the city, so we pass them through at cost rather than marking them up. Our page on driveway permits in Atlanta covers who needs one and when.
Repair, Level or Replace
Not every tired driveway needs a full tear-out. If the slab is sound but a few panels have sunk, concrete leveling and mudjacking lifts them back into place for far less than new concrete. Surface cracks and spalled edges fall under repair work at $3 to $8 per square foot.
When more than about a third of the panels are broken, heaved by roots or crumbling, replacement usually makes more sense. Patching that many sections costs nearly as much and leaves you with mismatched color and the same failed base underneath.
Ways to Keep Your Total Down
A few choices trim the bill without cutting corners on the base. Keep the finish plain broom instead of stamped on the main drive, and save decorative work for a border or a front walkway where people see it up close.
Pouring the driveway, a patio and a walk in one visit also helps, since the crew, pump and concrete trucks are already on site. Ask us to price a concrete patio as an add-on if you have been thinking about one.
Get a Written Driveway Price
The fastest way to know where your driveway lands is a site visit. We measure it, check the slope and drainage, look for roots and right-of-way work, and give you a written quote with base, thickness, steel and finish listed line by line. Request your free estimate and we will get you a firm number for your concrete driveway.