Asphalt driveway cost in Madison, WI

Pick a size, pick a tier: asphalt driveway pricing in Madison

Three bands are cut from the same cited range and localized for Madison 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.

When to schedule asphalt driveway in Madison

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

April through October is the stretch where digging, grading and setting material in the ground runs into the fewest weather problems in Madison (7 of 12 months). January, February, March, November and December have an average overnight low at or below freezing (32°F).

In January, February, March, November and December the average low is at or below freezing, which means frozen ground and slower digging, compaction and sod or stone placement. NOAA counts about 147 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

Madison gets about 37 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 52 inches of snow. The wettest months are June, July and August (5.3 inches in June). Inside the workable window, September and October are the driest, at 3.4 and 2.8 inches. The station averages about 9 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.

How Madison compares

Of the five closest metros, all are cheaper than Madison. Dubuque is the lowest at about $5,200 (midpoint, 600 sq ft), 80 miles away.

Across 300 US metros, Madison comes in at #34 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, Madison is 9% above the Wisconsin figure.

Other Wisconsin metros

Cities with a workforce like Madison's

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

What nearby projects cost in Madison

Because every project leans on different trades, Madison's wage level does not move all prices equally. Against the US midpoint, French drain runs +17% and concrete slab +4%.

Why two Madison 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).

Extras that change the Madison total

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Madison by the average of the local wage index (1.48) and goods index (0.94), a factor of 1.21. 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.

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 Madison is 1.48 times the national level.

For paving, surfacing and tamping equipment operators (47-2071, weighted 40%) the local median is $45.01 an hour, which is 76% above the national $25.64. The middle half of them earn between $30.73 and $45.01 an hour. BLS counts 80 of them working in the area, 2.0 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 2.7), so the local bench is thinner than average.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 30% of the weighting: a median of $27.40 an hour, 21% above the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $22.70 and $31.94 an hour. About 2,370 work in the metro. That is 58.1 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 70.5 nationally, so expect fewer local crews to bid.

For operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (47-2073, weighted 30%) the local median is $39.93 an hour, which is 39% above the national $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $31.65 and $47.46 an hour. BLS counts 680 of them working in the area, 16.7 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 30.7), so the local bench is thinner 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 ($45.01 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $0. At the 25th percentile ($30.73) it shrinks by about $470. The total moves by 0.0% or 7.8%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 408,070 jobs in the Madison area. That makes it the 61st largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.26% of US employment.