Concrete driveway cost in Dubuque, IA

Cost by quality level and size in Dubuque

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

Local wages behind the labor line

Wages are the part of this estimate that changes most from town to town. 4 trades carry the job here, and each is compared with its US median. The weighted result for Dubuque is 1.03 times the national level.

For cement masons and concrete finishers (47-2051, weighted 50%) the local median is $28.08 an hour, which is in line with the national $27.41. The middle half of them earn between $25.83 and $29.82 an hour. BLS counts 110 of them working in the area, 18.8 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 13.3), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 30% of the weighting: a median of $23.46 an hour, 4% above the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $22.37 and $28.85 an hour. About 500 work in the metro. That is 85.5 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 10%) the local median is $29.93 an hour, which is 4% above the national $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $26.92 and $35.52 an hour. BLS counts 160 of them working in the area, 27.4 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 30.7), so the local bench is about average.

For carpenters (47-2031, weighted 10%) the local median is $28.89 an hour, which is in line with the national $29.12. The middle half of them earn between $23.41 and $30.47 an hour. BLS counts 260 of them working in the area, 44.5 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 43.1), so the local bench is about average.

Quotes come from real crews, not medians. If the cement masons and concrete finishers on your job are paid at the 75th percentile ($29.82 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $140. At the 25th percentile ($25.83) it shrinks by about $180. The total moves by 2.2% or 2.8%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 58,470 jobs in the Dubuque area. That makes it the 292nd largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.04% of US employment.

How Dubuque compares

Of the five closest metros, 2 are cheaper than Dubuque. Iowa City is the lowest at about $6,300 (midpoint, 600 sq ft), 75 miles away.

Across 300 US metros, Dubuque comes in at #141 from the top. The priciest is Kahului, HI at $10,000; the cheapest is McAllen, TX at $4,950 (midpoints, 600 sq ft). Statewide, Dubuque is 1% above the Iowa figure.

Other Iowa metros

Cities with a workforce like Dubuque's

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

Planning more than one job in Dubuque?

Because every project leans on different trades, Dubuque's wage level does not move all prices equally. Against the US midpoint, paver patio runs +1% and concrete slab −3%.

Add-ons priced for Dubuque

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Dubuque by the average of the local wage index (1.03) and goods index (0.94), a factor of 0.98. 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.

When to schedule concrete driveway in Dubuque

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

May through September is the stretch where pouring concrete runs into the fewest weather problems in Dubuque (5 of 12 months). January, February, March, April, October, November and December have an average overnight low of 40°F or below.

The 40°F line is a deliberately cautious stand-in. The American Concrete Institute's cold-weather guide (ACI 306R-16) defines cold-weather concreting around an average daily air temperature below 40°F, which is colder than our test of an average overnight low at or below 40°F, so we flag a few extra shoulder months. In cold weather crews may need heated enclosures, insulating blankets or accelerated mixes, and those measures can raise a quote.

Dubuque gets about 38 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 43 inches of snow. The wettest months are May, June and July (5.2 inches in June). Inside the workable window, August and September are the driest, at 4.0 and 3.8 inches. The station averages about 6 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.

Why two Dubuque quotes can differ

• Thickness

  HomeGuide prices a standard 4-inch driveway at $6-$15/sq ft and a 6-inch one, recommended for heavy vehicles, at $8-$20/sq ft.

• Old driveway removal

  Tearing out the old surface adds about $2-$6 per sq ft, and some cities want the haul-off documented.

• Grading and drainage

  Professional grading runs $3-$8 per sq ft or $700-$2,500 for a typical job. A sloped lot or poor soil raises it.