A concrete driveway in the Philadelphia and Delaware County area costs roughly $8 to $18 per square foot installed in 2026. For a typical two-car driveway around 600 square feet, that puts most jobs between $5,000 and $11,000. Where you land in that range comes down to a few things: whether we have to rip out an old slab, how thick you need the concrete, the grading, the finish, and how hard your driveway is to reach.
Below is how the pricing actually breaks down, why it moves, and where pumping comes in.
What a concrete driveway costs by size
Most homeowners think in driveway size, not square feet, so here’s a table for the common ones around Upper Darby, Drexel Hill, and Havertown. These are installed ranges for a standard 4-inch slab on a prepped base, broom finish.
| Driveway size | Approx. square feet | Typical installed cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1-car | 250–350 sq ft | $2,500–$6,000 |
| 2-car | 550–650 sq ft | $5,000–$11,000 |
| 2-car + walkway | 700–850 sq ft | $6,500–$14,000 |
| 3-car / extra deep | 900–1,200 sq ft | $8,500–$20,000 |
The bigger the pour, the lower your per-foot cost usually drops, because setup, forming, and the crew’s time get spread over more concrete. A tiny 200-square-foot job can run closer to the high end per foot just because the fixed costs don’t shrink.
What actually moves the price
Two driveways the same size can come in thousands of dollars apart. Here’s why.
- Tearing out the old slab. Removing and hauling away existing concrete or asphalt usually adds $1 to $4 per square foot. Thick or reinforced old slabs cost more to break up.
- Thickness. A 4-inch slab handles cars fine. Bump to 5 or 6 inches for a truck, RV, or trailer and the concrete and labor go up 15 to 25 percent.
- Grading and base prep. A flat, well-drained lot is cheap to prep. A sloped yard, soft soil, or one that needs regrading and extra stone runs higher. Bad drainage is what kills slabs in Pennsylvania, so this is not the place to cut corners.
- Finish. A standard broom finish is the baseline. Exposed aggregate, stamped, or colored concrete can add $3 to $9 per square foot.
- Reinforcement. Wire mesh or rebar adds a little cost but a lot of crack resistance, which matters with our freeze-thaw winters.
- Access. If the truck can’t back up to the pour, we run a pump. More on that below.
Why freeze-thaw matters here
Southeastern PA goes through dozens of freeze-thaw cycles a winter. Water gets into the concrete, freezes, expands, and pries it apart over time. Road salt and de-icers make it worse by speeding up surface scaling.
That’s why the cheap stuff doesn’t hold up. A driveway poured too thin, over a weak base, with no air-entrained concrete and no control joints will crack and flake within a few winters. Spending a little more on the right mix, proper thickness, and a sealed surface is what gets you 30-plus years instead of 10. We cover the upkeep side in our guide on concrete driveway vs asphalt, since the long-term math is where concrete pulls ahead.
Where pumping comes into the price
A lot of driveways in Delaware County aren’t a straight backup for a concrete truck. Tight side yards, slopes, gates, or a pour behind the house mean the mixer can’t reach the forms.
When that happens, we run a concrete pump. A line pump or boom can push concrete over the house, around the garage, or through a long-hose run up to about 150 feet to reach the spot. It costs more than a direct chute pour, but it’s often the only way to do the job right without wheelbarrowing yards of concrete by hand, which is slow and risks a cold joint.
Pumping is our specialty, so if your driveway has a tough approach, that’s exactly the kind of work we do every week. You can see the full scope on our concrete driveways page.
Concrete vs. the cheaper options
Gravel and asphalt cost less to put down. Here’s the honest trade-off:
- Gravel: cheapest up front, but it ruts, scatters, and needs topping up. Not great for a daily driveway.
- Asphalt: $5 to $9 per square foot, faster to install, but needs sealing every few years and resurfacing in 15 to 20.
- Concrete: $8 to $18 per square foot, more up front, but 30 to 40 years with minimal upkeep.
If you’re staying in the house and want to pour once and forget about it, concrete usually wins on cost per year even though the sticker is higher.
Get a real number, not a guess
Every quote above is a range because every site is different. The only way to know what your driveway costs is to have someone look at the slope, the soil, the access, and what’s already there. We give free estimates and we’ll tell you straight whether you need a pump, what thickness makes sense, and where you can save.
Dougherty Concrete serves Upper Darby, Drexel Hill, Havertown, Lansdowne, Springfield, and the rest of Delaware County. Call Mike at (215) 850-7536 for a free estimate.