Asphalt driveway cost in Arkansas

Quality levels and sizes in Arkansas

The cited range is cut into three overlapping bands (basic, standard and premium) and scaled to statewide Arkansas wages and prices. The grid prices the same bands at 4 common sizes.

Arkansas versus the states around it

Arkansas ranks 50 of 51 (the 50 states plus DC) for asphalt driveway, where 1 is the most expensive. The costliest is Hawaii at $7,500 and the cheapest Mississippi at $4,600, both for 600 sq ft at the midpoint. Arkansas sits at $4,600. The five states closest by workforce center are listed below.

Asphalt driveway: what moves the price in Arkansas

• New versus overlay

  Resurfacing an existing driveway runs $3-$7 per sq ft; a full new driveway runs $5-$12+ (HomeGuide). Tearing out and replacing one is higher still.

• Base work

  Four to eight inches of compacted aggregate under the asphalt is where cheap quotes cut corners. Base typically runs $1-$3 per sq ft.

• Small jobs cost more per foot

  Paving crews move a paver, roller and trucks to your address, so a 400 sq ft driveway carries more mobilization per square foot than a 1,000 sq ft one.

• Hot-mix price

  Hot-mix asphalt is $100-$200 per ton delivered and moves with oil prices (PaveGauge).

• Sealcoating

  Sealing is $1-$2 per sq ft and is a maintenance cost, not part of the install.

Wages behind the Arkansas number

Statewide wages come from BLS's state-level estimates, which blend big cities with small towns and rural areas. 3 trades drive the labor line for this job, and the weighted ratio against the national wage level is 0.79 for Arkansas.

For paving, surfacing and tamping equipment operators (47-2071, weighted 40%) the local median is $21.16 an hour, which is 17% below the national $25.64. The middle half of them earn between $18.29 and $23.41 an hour. BLS counts 490 of them working in the state, 3.8 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 2.7), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 30% of the weighting: a median of $18.09 an hour, 20% below the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $16.63 and $21.31 an hour. About 10,650 work in the state. That is 81.7 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 70.5 nationally, which suggests plenty of local crews to bid.

For operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (47-2073, weighted 30%) the local median is $21.41 an hour, which is 26% below the national $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $18.44 and $23.97 an hour. BLS counts 5,800 of them working in the state, 44.5 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 30.7), so the local bench is deeper than average.

A crew paid at the 75th percentile for paving, surfacing and tamping equipment operators ($23.41 an hour) would add about $75 to the statewide midpoint; one at the 25th percentile ($18.29) would take off about $95. Use that as a rough guide to how far a bid can sit from our midpoint on wages alone.

BLS counts 1,303,630 jobs across Arkansas (May 2025), which is 0.8% of US employment.

Optional extras in Arkansas

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Arkansas by the average of the local wage index (0.79) and goods index (0.94), a factor of 0.86. Tick any of them in the estimator above to add them to your total. Treat these as planning figures: an add-on touches different trades than the main job, so the scaling is an approximation.

Arkansas seasons and asphalt driveway

Season matters for asphalt driveway. For each Arkansas metro below we took NOAA's 1991-2020 monthly normals from the nearest suitable station and counted comfortable months for digging and ground work.

Little Rock has the longest comfortable season of the metros we cover in Arkansas at 9 months (February through June and September through December); Jonesboro has the shortest at 8 (February through May and September through December). Rainfall runs from 47 inches a year in Fayetteville to 50 inches in Little Rock.

We do not adjust prices by month, because we have no reliable published data on seasonal pricing. Timing is still worth raising when you collect bids.

Arkansas metro-by-metro prices

2 of the 4 metros sit above the statewide midpoint of $4,600, and the top-to-bottom gap is 7%. Each row prices the default size with that metro's own BLS wages and BEA price levels, so the gap between rows is real local variation rather than a flat markup.

Other Arkansas jobs that often go with asphalt driveway

The table prices neighboring jobs at their usual sizes using statewide Arkansas wages and prices. Against national midpoints, paver patio comes out highest (−12%) and concrete driveway lowest (−16%), because each job leans on different trades.