Asphalt driveway cost in Spartanburg, SC

When to schedule asphalt driveway in Spartanburg

We use NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals for Spartanburg 3 Sse (5 miles from the city center). These are 30-year monthly averages, not forecasts.

February through June and August through December are the stretches where digging, grading and setting material in the ground runs into the fewest weather problems in Spartanburg (10 of 12 months). January has an average overnight low at or below freezing (32°F); July has an average daytime high of 90°F or more.

In January the average low is at or below freezing, which means frozen ground and slower digging, compaction and sod or stone placement. NOAA counts about 76 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

Spartanburg gets about 50 inches of precipitation in a normal year. The wettest months are March, June and December (4.8 inches in March). Inside the workable window, September and November are the driest, at 3.6 and 3.7 inches. The station averages about 57 days a year at 90°F or above.

Does the season change the price? Probably, but we do not have a sourced seasonal price curve, so the estimator shows a year-round figure and does not adjust by month. When you collect quotes, ask whether scheduling in a slower month gets a better rate.

Extras that change the Spartanburg total

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Spartanburg by the average of the local wage index (0.87) and goods index (0.96), a factor of 0.91. 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.

Spartanburg against nearby metros and the rest of South Carolina

Of the five closest metros, 2 are cheaper than Spartanburg. Hickory is the lowest at about $4,800 (midpoint, 600 sq ft), 70 miles away.

Across 300 US metros, Spartanburg comes in at #231 from the top. The priciest is Kahului, HI at $7,650; the cheapest is Fort Smith, AR at $4,450 (midpoints, 600 sq ft). Statewide, Spartanburg is 0% below the South Carolina figure.

Other South Carolina metros

Cities with a workforce like Spartanburg's

Big cities and small ones price differently, so here is Spartanburg against the 4 metros with the closest total employment.

Local wages behind the labor line

Wages are the part of this estimate that changes most from town to town. 3 trades carry the job here, and each is compared with its US median. The weighted result for Spartanburg is 0.87 times the national level.

Paving, surfacing and tamping equipment operators (47-2071) carry 40% of the labor weighting. BLS does not publish this trade for the Spartanburg metro, so we used the South Carolina statewide median: $22.57 an hour against $25.64 for the US. The middle half of them earn between $19.31 and $23.63 an hour.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 30% of the weighting: a median of $20.29 an hour, 10% below the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $17.77 and $23.33 an hour. About 1,310 work in the metro. That is 79.3 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 70.5 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

For operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (47-2073, weighted 30%) the local median is $23.53 an hour, which is 18% below the national $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $20.29 and $28.72 an hour. BLS counts 650 of them working in the area, 39.4 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 30.7), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Quotes come from real crews, not medians. If the paving, surfacing and tamping equipment operators on your job are paid at the 75th percentile ($23.63 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $35. At the 25th percentile ($19.31) it shrinks by about $110. The total moves by 0.7% or 2.2%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 165,150 jobs in the Spartanburg area. That makes it the 143rd largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.11% of US employment.

Why two Spartanburg quotes can differ

• 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).

What nearby projects cost in Spartanburg

Because every project leans on different trades, Spartanburg's wage level does not move all prices equally. Against the US midpoint, French drain runs −8% and concrete driveway −11%.

Spartanburg: what basic, standard and premium work costs

Three bands are cut from the same cited range and localized for Spartanburg wages and prices. They overlap on purpose: a good standard job and a modest premium job can cost the same. The grid below prices the same bands at 4 common sizes.