How Much Does a Patio Cost?
Patio cost per square foot ranges from about $4 for gravel to over $50 for premium stone. The cheapest to install is rarely cheapest over twenty years, and the gap narrows once repair is priced in.
Every price here is a planning range, not a quote. Landscape pricing varies enormously by market, site access, and season, always get local bids before committing.
On this page
Patio cost per square foot spans an order of magnitude depending on material. What is worth separating is install cost from cost per year of service, because they rank differently.
Installed cost by material (opens in a new tab)
| Surface | Installed / sq ft | Lifespan | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel | $4–10 | Indefinite with top-ups | Rake, top up every few years |
| Concrete, broom finish | $8–20 | 25–30 yr | Seal occasionally; cracks are permanent |
| Concrete, stamped | $15–30 | 25–30 yr | Reseal every 2–3 yr |
| Concrete pavers | $14–30 | 25–50 yr | Joint sand top-up; individual resets |
| Brick | $16–32 | 50+ yr | Similar to pavers |
| Flagstone, dry-laid | $18–38 | 50+ yr | Joint maintenance |
| Flagstone, mortared | $20–45 | 50+ yr | Repointing eventually |
| Porcelain pavers | $25–50 | 50+ yr | Very low |
| Composite decking | $30–60 | 25–30 yr | Wash; no staining |
| Wood decking | $30–50 | 15–25 yr | Stain every 2–3 yr |
Typical totals (opens in a new tab)
Average-cost market:
| Size | Concrete | Pavers | Natural stone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft (100 sq ft) | $800–2,000 | $1,400–3,000 | $2,000–4,500 |
| 12 × 16 ft (192 sq ft) | $1,500–3,800 | $2,700–5,800 | $3,800–8,600 |
| 16 × 20 ft (320 sq ft) | $2,600–6,400 | $4,500–9,600 | $6,400–14,400 |
| 20 × 20 ft (400 sq ft) | $3,200–8,000 | $5,600–12,000 | $8,000–20,000 |
Concrete versus pavers (opens in a new tab)
The most common decision, and the one where the trade-off is genuinely interesting.
Poured concrete
Pavers
$8–20 per sq ft installed
$14–30 per sq ft installed
Fast: poured in a day, usable in a week
Slower: excavation, base, laying, jointing
Cracks are permanent. Repair is visible; replacement is the real fix
Individual units lift and reset. Damage is repairable
Rigid, so it heaves and cracks in freeze-thaw
Flexible, so the assembly moves and settles back
Seamless surface, easy to sweep
Joints need sand top-up, and weeds establish in them
Utilities underneath mean breaking concrete
Lift pavers, work, relay them
In cold climates with real freeze-thaw cycling, the flexibility argument for pavers is substantial. In mild climates it matters much less and concrete's cost advantage carries more weight.
What drives the price beyond material (opens in a new tab)
Base depth. The most important number in the quote and the least visible. Four inches of compacted aggregate suits foot traffic on well-draining soil; clay wants 6. A quote priced on 4 inches over clay is cheaper and will not stay flat.
Excavation and disposal. A 400 sq ft patio at 7 inches deep produces roughly 8.6 cubic yards of spoil, around 10 tons. Where it goes is a real cost line.
Site access. A narrow gate turns every ton into wheelbarrow trips.
Slope. Sloped sites need cut-and-fill, and often retaining, before the patio starts.
Pattern. Herringbone at 45 degrees wastes 10 to 15% in cuts and takes longer to lay than a running bond. Circular features cost more again.
Edging and steps. Steps, seat walls, and curved edges all add labour disproportionate to their area.
DIY savings, realistically (opens in a new tab)
Material-only cost is roughly 40 to 50% of installed price. For a 200 sq ft paver patio that is roughly $800 to $2,000 in materials against $2,800 to $6,000 installed.
What that saving costs you:
- Equipment hire. Plate compactor, saw, possibly a mini excavator: $150–400 for a weekend
- Spoil disposal. Roughly 4 cubic yards for a 200 sq ft patio at 6 inches
- Time. A first DIY patio is two to four full weekends
- Risk. Base preparation is where DIY patios fail, and the failure shows up a year later as a wavy surface
Walkways make a better first project than patios: smaller, more forgiving, same skills.
Cost per year of service (opens in a new tab)
Dividing installed cost by expected lifespan changes the ranking:
| Surface | Installed / sq ft | Lifespan | Cost per sq ft per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel | $7 | 20 yr with top-ups | $0.35 |
| Concrete | $14 | 28 yr | $0.50 |
| Pavers | $22 | 40 yr | $0.55 |
| Flagstone | $28 | 50 yr | $0.56 |
| Wood deck | $40 | 20 yr | $2.00 |
| Composite deck | $45 | 28 yr | $1.61 |
Once spread over service life the hard surfaces converge to within pennies of each other, and decking is the genuine outlier, because it needs replacing sooner and, in wood, maintaining constantly.
That reframes the choice: pick the surface you want to live with, not the one that looks cheapest on the quote.
Where to save (opens in a new tab)
Size it honestly. The most effective saving available. A 12 × 16 ft patio comfortably seats six; a 20 × 20 ft one costs twice as much and often gets used the same way. Lay the furniture out on the lawn first.
Simple shapes. Rectangles cut cheaply. Curves and circles do not.
Standard materials. A standard concrete paver costs a fraction of tumbled premium stone and, once furniture is on it, reads similarly.
Do the demolition yourself. Removing an old surface and hauling spoil is unskilled work billed at skilled rates.
Book off-season. Late autumn and winter, when crews have gaps.
Phase it. Build the patio now, add the seat wall, lighting, and pergola later, but run conduit for lighting before you lay the surface.
Frequently asked questions
Calculators for this job
Paver Calculator
Enter your patio or walkway size and paver dimensions to get the paver count plus every layer underneath, base depth by traffic type, bedding sand, joint sand, and edging.
OpenConcrete Calculator
Get cubic yards and exact bag counts for slabs, footings, cylindrical piers, and stairs, plus whether mixing bags or ordering ready-mix makes sense at your volume.
OpenLandscaping Cost Calculator
Pick a project, enter its size, and set your market. You'll get a DIY material cost and an installed cost range, with the drivers behind the spread spelled out.
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A plain broom-finished concrete patio runs $8 to $20 per square foot installed. Stamped and coloured roughly doubles that, and the finish choice matters less than the base and the control joints.
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How Much Does a Paver Walkway Cost?
Paver walkways run $15 to $34 per square foot installed, more per square foot than a patio because there is far more cutting and edging per unit of area.
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How Much Does Landscaping Cost?
Landscaping costs vary more by market and site access than by anything on a spec sheet. A full front-yard renovation commonly lands between $5,000 and $25,000, and the spread is mostly excavation, access, and disposal.
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