Concrete Cost Calculator
Total ready-mix concrete cost from volume, your supplier's price, delivery, a short-load fee, and sales tax.
Content updated September 14, 2026
No price, fee, or tax rate is assumed — every dollar figure above comes from what you entered. Pump trucks, Saturday or after-hours delivery, mix upgrades, and site-access charges are not modeled; confirm the full quote with your supplier.
Estimate the total cost of a ready-mix concrete order from a volume — computed elsewhere or entered directly — and your own supplier's price per cubic yard, delivery fee, minimum load, short-load fee, and sales tax rate.
Every dollar figure is something you enter. Ready-mix pricing varies by region, mix design, and strength, and NRMCA notes a typical truck mixer carries 8–12 cubic yards, which is why many suppliers charge extra for orders below their own minimum.
The Concrete Cost formula
Material cost = volume × price per yard · subtotal = material cost + delivery fee + (short-load fee if volume < minimum load) · total = subtotal × (1 + sales tax% ÷ 100)Volume is converted to cubic yards before pricing · the short-load fee applies only when the minimum load is greater than zero and volume is below it.
Worked example
5 yd³ at $150/yd³ with a $75 delivery fee, a 3 yd³ minimum load, and no sales tax gives a $750 material cost and an $825 total — no short-load fee, since 5 yd³ is above the 3 yd³ minimum — for an all-in rate of $165/yd³.
Assumptions, rounding, and limitations
Assumptions
- Price per cubic yard, delivery fee, minimum load, short-load fee, and sales tax rate are all entered by the user; none is assumed or looked up.
- The short-load fee applies only once, as a flat amount, when volume is below a nonzero minimum load.
- Sales tax is applied to the subtotal of material, delivery, and any short-load fee.
Rounding: All figures are computed at full floating-point precision and rounded only for currency display.
Limitations
- Does not model pump rental, after-hours or weekend surcharges, mix upgrades, site-access fees, or fuel surcharges.
- Does not look up or estimate a regional price — every dollar amount must be supplied by the user.
- The result is a planning estimate; confirm the complete, itemized quote with your own supplier before ordering.
Sources
- CIP 31 — Ordering Ready Mixed Concrete — National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
Material cost, delivery, and the short-load fee
Material cost is your entered volume multiplied by your entered price per cubic yard. A delivery fee, if any, is added as a flat amount. If your order falls below the supplier's stated minimum load, the short-load fee you enter is added — set the minimum to zero to skip this check entirely.
This mirrors what a real ready-mix quote itemizes, without assuming any of the numbers a real quote would fill in for your region and supplier.
Sales tax and the all-in rate
Sales tax, if applicable in your jurisdiction, is applied to the subtotal of material, delivery, and any short-load fee. The result also reports an all-in cost per cubic yard — the total divided by volume — for comparing quotes of different sizes on equal footing.
Frequently asked questions
▶How is total concrete cost calculated?
Volume multiplied by price per cubic yard gives material cost; delivery and any short-load fee are added, then sales tax is applied to that subtotal to get the total.
▶What is a short-load fee?
Many ready-mix suppliers charge extra for orders below their own minimum truck load — commonly a few cubic yards — because dispatching a truck has a largely fixed cost regardless of load size. Enter your own supplier's minimum and fee, or leave the minimum at zero to ignore it.
▶Does this tell me what concrete costs in my area?
No. Every price and fee is something you enter yourself. The calculator only totals the numbers you provide — it does not look up or assume any regional price.
▶Can I use this with a volume from another calculator?
Yes — compute cubic yards with the slab, footing, or column calculator, then enter that figure here along with your supplier's pricing.
▶What isn't included in this estimate?
Pump truck rental, Saturday or after-hours delivery surcharges, mix upgrades (higher strength, fiber, color), and site-access charges are common additional costs not modeled here — confirm the full quote with your supplier.
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Open calculator →Disclaimer: Concrete Cost Calculator results are estimates for general information and education only, and are not financial, tax, legal or medical advice. Verify important decisions with a qualified professional.