DFW Concrete Driveway Cost: 2026 Ranges and Sized Totals

How a DFW concrete driveway cost adds up on a 2-car job

Everything starts with square footage, since every DFW concrete driveway cost is built on it. Take a 24 by 30 driveway: that's 720 sq ft. Multiply by our $7 to $12 per sq ft and the reinforced, broom-finished slab, 4 to 5 inches thick, comes to $5,040 to $8,640. A 20 by 20 pad in front of a two-car garage covers 400 sq ft, so the same math gives $2,800 to $4,800.

Where you land inside the range depends on what's under and around the slab. Think about how much old concrete has to come out, how far the truck can reach, whether the city's approach section is part of the job, and how thick the steel-reinforced section needs to be. The sections below put real numbers on each of those line items. To see how we build one, from forming through cure, visit our concrete driveway service page. Already know your city? The permit guide for the North Dallas suburbs lists each desk's fee and approach spec.

Sized totals at $7 to $12 per square foot

Every total here prices a new reinforced slab only. If you want a 6 inch heavy-duty section, tear-out, a stamped finish or city approach work, those get added on top. The next section gives the amounts.

What It Costs

Our DFW ranges for driveways and the jobs that pair with them, each with a free estimate.

These are ranges, not bids. Size, tear-out, soil prep, site access and your city's approach detail move the price, and we fix it in a free written estimate after seeing the site.

Tear-out, thickness and finish: the add-ons that change the total

Three of the add-ons are choices you control.

Removing the old slab. Tear-out and haul-off add $1.50 to $4 per sq ft. On a 720 sq ft driveway, that's about $1,080 at the low end and $2,880 at the high end, depending on the old concrete's thickness and how much steel sits inside it. Carrollton's median home was built in 1988, and 26% of its housing predates 1980, so a replacement quote there should carry this line.

Going thicker. Our base price covers 4 to 5 inches. Step up to a 6 inch heavy-duty section and you add $1.50 to $3 per sq ft, which on 720 sq ft is about $1,080 at the low end and up to $2,160 at the high end. If an RV, a trailer, a work truck or a boat will sit on it, that's money well spent. You can hold the cost down by pouring just the parking area at 6 inches.

Finish. A broom finish is already in the base price. Stamped and colored concrete costs $12 to $20 per sq ft, and a 2-car stamped driveway runs $8,000 to $13,000. Another route is a stamped border around a broom-finished field, which keeps most of the area at the lower rate. Living in Little Elm? The town lists decorative driveway paving, such as salt finish and exposed aggregate, among its architectural standards for residential structures, so ask the town what applies to your lot.

City fees and approach work in a DFW concrete driveway cost

Permit fees stay small. What costs money is the approach spec behind them. These are the figures each city posts:

• The Colony: a Flatwork permit at $50 plus a $50 non-refundable application fee. The approach calls for 4,000 psi concrete, an 8 inch excavation and dowels epoxied into the street.
• Frisco: a Concrete Driveway / Pad permit at $75, with a separate Public Works right-of-way permit for the approach. Permits that start on August 1, 2026 carry a 6% technology fee.
• Plano: $75 for a sidewalk or approach in the right-of-way, built 6 inches thick with 3,000 psi concrete.
• Lewisville: a Driveway permit at $50. The approach is 6 inches of 4,200 psi high-early-strength concrete.
• Carrollton: a Driveway / Curb-cut permit at $100, plus an engineering inspection fee of $0.265 per sq ft of right-of-way paving. A 12 by 20 approach area comes to about $64 in inspection fees.
• Unincorporated Denton County: a $100 development permit outside the floodplain and a $75 driveway inspection.

This is where the approach spec matters most. Carrollton makes its right-of-way section match the street's thickness, at least 7 inches, at 4,000 psi. The private part of that same driveway can be 4 inches at 3,000 psi. Same-size driveways in neighboring cities can land at different prices, since the curb section in one city is thicker and stronger than in the other.

How Your Job Goes

1. Consultation and design

   We measure the driveway, look over the old slab and the approach, and talk through thickness, finish and whether you'd like a wider parking area.

2. Planning and preparation

   You receive a written estimate with the spec listed. We then line up permits, any HOA letter and utility locates, and schedule demo, grading and base prep.

3. Installation and completion

   Forms and steel go in, the city inspects where it requires one, and we pour, finish and cut joints. The slab then cures before anyone parks on it.

What North Texas clay adds under the slab

You never see the ground, but you pay for it. NRCS soil data for 630 random sample points across our service area put 42% in the very high shrink-swell class. The most common soil, Houston Black clay, opens cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide as it dries, and those cracks can stay open 90 to 150 days a year. Houston Black turned up at 20 of 30 sample points in Plano and 18 of 30 in Allen, while The Colony sits mostly on Branyon clay.

Soil like that pushes spending into prep. That means stripping topsoil, compacting the subgrade, adding base, and holding the steel on chairs inside the slab rather than on the dirt. Plano and Lewisville both specify subgrade compacted to 95% under right-of-way paving. Ground that swells and shrinks this much is the reason every range here assumes reinforced concrete. Our guide to expansive clay soil and concrete slabs explains the soil mechanics, so here we'll stick to budget. A quote that skips the base or the steel looks cheaper on paper, but it leaves out work the clay will ask for later.

Pour timing in DFW heat and winter cold

Weather leaves our per-square-foot range alone, but it moves the schedule, and a slipped schedule means more days with a blocked garage. DFW Airport's 1991 to 2020 normals show July and August highs of 95.6 and 95.8 degrees, with about 9.7 days of 100 degrees or more in August alone. NRMCA explains that hot, dry, windy conditions pull moisture out fast and can cause plastic shrinkage cracking. That's why we start summer pours early in the morning and stay on finishing and curing.

Winter flips the problem. DFW Airport averages 10.6 days at or below freezing in January, and NRMCA says fresh concrete needs protection from freezing until it reaches 500 psi, about two days after placement. The Colony won't inspect concrete unless the temperature is at least 38 degrees and rising, so a cold snap can push a pour back even when the forms are ready.

Rain changes dates too. May is the wettest month at 4.78 inches, with October next at 4.37 inches, and wet subgrade can cancel an inspection in The Colony and Lewisville. If a party, a closing or a new car delivery hangs on the finished driveway, leave a few days of slack.

How to compare two driveway quotes line by line

Two quotes for the same driveway can sit thousands apart and both be honest, as long as they describe different slabs. Lay them side by side and check each line:

• Thickness and strength: inches of concrete and the PSI. Frisco's permit form asks for depth, rebar size and spacing and PSI, so a solid quote names all three.
• Steel: bar size, spacing and whether it sits on chairs.
• Tear-out and haul: whether it's included or extra, and for how many square feet.
• Approach and sidewalk panels: whether the right-of-way section is in the price and built to your city's detail.
• Permit: who applies, and whether the fee is included.

Texas law adds a few checks of its own. The Texas Attorney General tells homeowners to get a written contract with start and finish dates, never to sign one with blanks, and not to pay in full until the work is complete and inspected. Under Property Code 162.006, a contractor on a written homestead improvement contract over $5,000 must keep the money in a construction account, and you can ask for written proof. A door-to-door sale over $25 made away from the seller's place of business can be cancelled within three business days.

Tax is the last check. The Texas Comptroller says labor to repair or remodel residential real property isn't taxable. With a lump-sum contract, the contractor pays tax on materials and doesn't charge you tax. With a separated contract, sales tax applies only to the separately stated materials. Run this checklist on every DFW concrete driveway cost quote you collect, ours included.