Concrete driveway cost in Nashville, TN

What local crews earn in Nashville

The labor line is built from BLS wage data, one trade at a time. This job draws on 4 trades. We compare each trade's local median with the US median, weight the ratios by how much of the job each trade does, and apply the blend to the national labor cost. For Nashville the blend is 0.91.

Cement masons and concrete finishers (47-2051), 50% of the weighting: a median of $23.47 an hour, 14% below the US median of $27.41. The middle half of them earn between $22.49 and $26.85 an hour. About 1,490 work in the metro. That is 13.6 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 13.3 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

For construction laborers (47-2061, weighted 30%) the local median is $22.21 an hour, which is in line with the national $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $18.67 and $24.27 an hour. BLS counts 9,170 of them working in the area, 83.4 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 70.5), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (47-2073), 10% of the weighting: a median of $26.94 an hour, 6% below the US median of $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $23.79 and $29.11 an hour. About 3,820 work in the metro. That is 34.7 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 30.7 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

Carpenters (47-2031), 10% of the weighting: a median of $26.81 an hour, 8% below the US median of $29.12. The middle half of them earn between $23.80 and $29.35 an hour. About 3,040 work in the metro. That is 27.7 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 43.1 nationally, so expect fewer local crews to bid.

A quick sensitivity check: moving the lead trade (cement masons and concrete finishers) from the median to the 75th percentile wage adds about $270 to the midpoint estimate; the 25th percentile takes off about $80. That is a swing of roughly 1.3% to 4.6% of the total, which is useful for judging whether a bid reflects wages or something else, such as scope or margin.

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin has 1,099,300 jobs in total (BLS, May 2025), ranking 33rd by size among the 300 metros on this site.

Is Nashville cheap or dear? The local comparison

Contractors rarely work more than an hour or two from home, so the neighboring metros set a rough ceiling and floor for your quotes. Midpoints for 600 sq ft range from $5,500 to $5,950 across Nashville and its five closest metros.

Out of the 300 metros we cover, Nashville ranks #180 for the cost of this job (#1 is the most expensive). Statewide, Nashville is 2% above the Tennessee figure.

Elsewhere in Tennessee

Metros of a similar size

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

Extras that change the Nashville total

Add-ons start from national price ranges and are scaled by 0.94 for Nashville, which is the average of the area's wage index (0.91) and goods price index (0.96). The estimator above can add them to your total.

Specs and site conditions that change a Nashville bid

• 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.

• Finish

  Decorative driveways run $10-$25 per sq ft installed: colors and borders at $10-$15, stamped patterns at $15-$20, and high-end finishes at $20-$25+ (HomeGuide).

Nashville: what basic, standard and premium work costs

The cited range is split into basic, standard and premium bands, then scaled to Nashville. Bands overlap, because plenty of standard jobs cost as much as a light premium one. Sizes run from 1-car (12x20), 240 sq ft to 3-car (900 sq ft).

What nearby projects cost in Nashville

Jobs that often go together with concrete driveway are priced below at their usual sizes, using the same Nashville wage and price inputs. Compared with national midpoints, paver patio comes out highest (−1%) and stamped concrete lowest (−7%); the gap comes from the trades each job uses.

Nashville weather and the concrete driveway calendar

Climate numbers on this page come from NOAA's 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals at the nearest suitable station, Nashville Intl Ap (5 miles from the city center). They are 30-year averages, so any one year can run hotter, colder or wetter.

For pouring concrete, the comfortable months in Nashville are April through June and September through October: 5 of 12. Outside them, January, February, March, November and December have an average overnight low of 40°F or below, and July and August have an average daytime high of 90°F or more.

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.

Heat matters for concrete as well. With average highs of 90°F or more in July and August, crews often start early, wet the base and plan for faster set times.

Nashville gets about 51 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 5 inches of snow. The wettest months are March, April and May (5.0 inches in May). Inside the workable window, September and October are the driest, at 3.8 and 3.4 inches. The station averages about 54 days a year at 90°F or above.

We do not adjust the estimate by month, because we have no reliable published data on seasonal pricing. It is still worth asking contractors whether an off-peak start date changes their bid.