Gravel driveway cost
A 12 × 50 ft gravel driveway, 6 in deep once compacted, takes about 21.11 tons of crusher run: about $1,180 delivered, or $1.97 a square foot, at 2025 yard prices. A contractor's grading and spreading comes on top.
Stone and delivery
Most of a gravel driveway's cost is the stone. Eight stone and landscape yards' 2025 price lists put crusher run at a middle of $43.36 a ton ($36.25 to $55.18 for most) and clean crushed stone at $48.00, before delivery and tax. Delivery is charged by the load: a Minnesota yard listed $85 to $105 for a single-axle truck carrying 5 tons and $125 to $140 for a quad or quint axle carrying 17 to 20, so a big truck costs far less per ton if you can take a full load.
| Driveway, 6 in deep | Tons | Stone and delivery | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 30 ft | 10.56 | $590 | $1.97 |
| 12 × 50 ft | 21.11 | $1,180 | $1.97 |
| 12 × 100 ft | 42.22 | $2,228 | $1.86 |
| 16 × 60 ft | 33.78 | $1,730 | $1.80 |
| 20 × 40 ft, two cars | 28.15 | $1,485 | $1.86 |
| 12 × 200 ft | 84.44 | $4,324 | $1.80 |
Work out the layers in detail with the gravel driveway calculator, and compare stone with gravel prices from each yard.
What roads pay to have gravel spread
No public agency buys residential driveways, so there's no bid price for one. What states and counties do publish is what they pay contractors to furnish and spread gravel on roads, which is the same work at a much larger scale. In 2025 that ran from about $19 to $75 a cubic yard, or $22 to $44 a ton.
| Buyer | Item | Price | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota DOT | Gravel surfacing, placed | $43.77 a ton | 14,603 tons, 15 contracts |
| South Dakota DOT | Base course, placed | $22.00 a ton | 363,581 tons, 63 contracts |
| Wisconsin DOT | Base aggregate dense ¾ in, placed | $22.56 a ton | FY 2025 |
| Allegan County, MI | Road gravel 21AA, furnished, hauled and spread | $54.90 and $75.00 a cu yd | 600 cu yd, April 2025 |
| Allegan County, MI | Road gravel 22A, furnished, hauled and spread | $18.75 to $25.00 a cu yd | 1,000 cu yd, April 2025 |
| Eaton County, MI | Aggregate surface course 23A | $21.90 to $30.45 a cu yd | Low bids by township, January 2025 |
Those prices cover hundreds or thousands of tons with the contractor's equipment already on the road. A driveway job is small, and the contractor also clears and grades the ground, may lay fabric, compacts the base and charges a minimum, so ask for a price per square foot and enter it in the calculator.
Gravel, asphalt or concrete
Gravel is the cheapest of the three to build. For comparison, cities paid a typical $10.60 a square foot for new 6 in concrete in 2025 bids; see concrete driveway cost. The asphalt calculator gives the tons of hot mix and 2026 public prices. A gravel drive needs topping up from time to time, as stone is pushed aside and pressed into the ground.
Sources
- Price sheet, Pallas Landscape Supply (Georgia), 1 January 2025. Crusher run $60, #57 granite $68 and pea gravel $135 a ton; fill dirt $20 and screened topsoil $40 a cubic yard; delivery from $75.
- 2025 product price list, S. St. George Enterprises (Fredonia, New York), 1 April 2025. #57 stone $36, 1 in crusher run limestone $37, 1A pea stone $33.50 and fill dirt $7 a ton.
- 2025 price list, Rock Hard Landscape Supply (Minnesota), 2025. Class 5 $34 a ton; delivery $85 to $105 for a single axle (5 tons) and $125 to $140 for a quad or quint axle (17 to 20 tons); fabric 4 × 100 ft $48.
- Supply yard: contractor price list, Ricupero Supply (Verona, Pennsylvania), 2025. 2A modified $46 and pea gravel $49 a ton; delivery at least $45.
- Materials, supplies and recycling price list, Lawton Adams Construction (Somers, New York), 17 March 2025. Per cubic yard at the yard: Item #4 base $57, fill $2, structural screened fill $14; delivery $8 to $16 a cubic yard more by load size.
- Bulk and bag material pricing, 2025, Natorp Landscape Supply (Mason, Ohio), 2025. Per cubic yard, wholesale: #57 washed gravel $70, #411 limestone $75, pea gravel $35.
- Retail price sheet, Nature's Way Resources (Conroe, Texas), 1 January 2025. Per cubic yard: road base $100, pea gravel $110.45, fill dirt $36.
- Local material prices, Just Deliveries (Bennington, Vermont), 26 June 2025. William E. Dailey: #2 stone $28.80 and dense-graded crushed stone $27.50 a ton.
- 2025 bid item price report, South Dakota Department of Transportation, 2025 lettings. Average low bid for Class A, B and C riprap: $43.93, $70.54 and $83.00 a ton; 4 in underdrain pipe $38.17 a foot; base course $22.00 and gravel surfacing $43.77 a ton; contractor-furnished borrow $13.69 a cubic yard; sodding $4.62 a square yard; 4 in shredded bark mulch $5.78 a square yard.
- Average unit price list, FY 2023 to FY 2025, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, FY 2025. FY 2025: riprap light, medium and heavy $134.48, $112.90 and $67.23 a cubic yard; 6 in pipe underdrain $16.00 a foot; base aggregate dense ¾ in $22.56 a ton; borrow $7.39 and select borrow $16.47 a cubic yard; sod lawn $8.18 a square yard.
- Gravel surfacing bid tabulations, Allegan County Road Commission (Michigan), 16 April 2025. Furnish, haul and spread road gravel: 1,000 cu yd of 22A from $18.75 a cubic yard; 600 cu yd of 21AA at $54.90 and $75.00.
- 2025 aggregate surface course and maintenance gravel bids, Eaton County Road Commission (Michigan), 27 January 2025. 23A aggregate surface course: low bids of $21.90 to $30.45 a cubic yard by township.
- Weight-Volume Relationships and Conversion Factors for Soils and Aggregates of Wisconsin (WHRP 0092-22-05), Wisconsin Highway Research Program, Michigan State University, December 2023. Measured loose and compacted weights of base aggregates, recycled asphalt and recycled concrete; tons per compacted cubic yard.
- Bid tabulations for city sidewalk, driveway and concrete repair programs, 2025 and 2026, The 21 cities and towns listed in the table on this page, each linked to its own bid tabulation, bids opened February 2025 to February 2026. Every contractor's unit price for concrete sidewalk, driveway and approach work, new and remove-and-replace, converted to dollars per square foot; engineers' estimates left out.