Cost
Landscaping 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.
Updated
Your project
Excavation depth and base thickness drive cost more than the paver you pick.
A typical project is around 300 sq ft (27.9 m²).
Mid-size metros and most suburban markets.
Installed cost
Paver patio · 300 sq ft (27.9 m²) · National average
- Per sq ft
$14.00–$30.00
- Midpoint
$6,600
- DIY instead
$2,100
Midpoint
DIY vs hiring out
Materials only (DIY)
Installed (contractor)
Labour and equipment
| Approach | Range | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Materials only (DIY) | $1,200 – $3,000 | $2,100 |
| Installed (contractor) | $4,200 – $9,000 | $6,600 |
| Labour and equipment | $4,500 |
Four things move a quote more than anything on a spec sheet: site access, slope, disposal of excavated spoil, and material tier. A backyard reachable only through a narrow gate can add 30–50% to labour on its own.
These are planning ranges, not quotes. Get at least three bids for anything over a few thousand dollars, and make sure all three price the same base depth, excavation, and disposal, that is usually where quotes diverge.
Scope my project
Describe your yard and budget and the assistant will suggest a phased plan and where to spend or save. Cost ranges stay exactly as calculated.
Written by AI from the figures above. The quantities themselves are calculated deterministically and are never generated by AI. Check anything consequential, permits, utility locates, and chemical labels especially, before acting on it.
How this is calculated
How these estimates are built
Each project has a material-only range and an installed range, both expressed per unit, square foot, linear foot, or fixture. Your size multiplies the per-unit range, then a regional multiplier adjusts for your market.
Installed pricing also respects a minimum job charge. A contractor is not going to build a 40 sq ft paver landing for the per-square-foot rate that applies to a 400 sq ft patio, mobilisation, delivery, and setup are largely fixed. Small jobs cost dramatically more per square foot.
estimate = size × per-unit range × regional multiplier, floored at the minimum job
Why the ranges are wide
Landscape pricing varies more by market than almost any other trade, and the same project genuinely differs two-fold between a low-cost interior metro and a coastal one. Beyond geography, four things move a quote more than anything on a spec sheet.
Access is the big one. A backyard reachable only through a 36 inch gate means everything moves by wheelbarrow, and that can add half again to labour. Slope matters similarly, anything steep enough to need terracing or retaining changes the job.
Disposal is the cost people forget. Excavating for a patio generates spoil that has to go somewhere, and dumpster plus haul-away can run into four figures on its own.
Finally, material tier. Standard concrete pavers and premium tumbled stone can differ threefold at the same square footage.
| Project | Unit | Installed range |
|---|---|---|
| Paver patio | sq ft | $14–30 |
| Concrete patio | sq ft | $8–20 |
| Paver walkway | sq ft | $15–34 |
| Concrete sidewalk | sq ft | $7–16 |
| Sod installation | sq ft | $1.00–2.40 |
| Lawn seeding | sq ft | $0.12–0.35 |
| Retaining wall | sq ft of face | $25–70 |
| Landscape lighting | fixture | $150–450 |
| Irrigation system | zone | $500–1,100 |
| Fence installation | linear ft | $20–60 |
Using this against real quotes
Treat the output as a sanity check, not a target. Its job is to tell you whether a quote sits in a normal range, if three bids come in at double the high end, something in the scope is different from what you assumed, and it is worth asking what.
Get at least three quotes for anything over a few thousand dollars, and make sure all three price the same scope. Quotes that differ wildly usually differ on excavation depth, base thickness, and disposal rather than on the visible material.
Worked example
A 350 sq ft paver patio
A 350 sq ft paver patio in a higher-cost market, comparing DIY materials against installed.
- DIY material range
- $4–10 per sq ft
- Installed range
- $14–30 per sq ft
- Regional multiplier
- ×1.22 (higher-cost market)
- DIY total
- 350 × $4–10 × 1.22 = $1,708–4,270
- Installed total
- 350 × $14–30 × 1.22 = $5,978–12,810
Roughly $1,700–4,300 doing it yourself against $6,000–12,800 installed. The gap is labour, equipment hire, and disposal, plus roughly a week of weekends.
Frequently asked questions
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