Concrete slab cost in Portland, ME

Portland against nearby metros and the rest of Maine

Same job, same size (400 sq ft), priced for the nearest metros. Boston is the priciest of the group at $4,150. Manchester is the cheapest at $3,800.

Across 300 US metros, Portland comes in at #103 from the top. The priciest is Kahului, HI at $5,300; the cheapest is McAllen, TX at $3,200 (midpoints, 400 sq ft). Statewide, Portland is 4% above the Maine figure.

Other Maine metros

Cities with a workforce like Portland's

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

Related projects, priced for Portland

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

Extras that change the Portland total

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Portland by the average of the local wage index (1.06) and goods index (0.97), a factor of 1.02. 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.

Portland: what basic, standard and premium work costs

Three bands are cut from the same cited range and localized for Portland 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 5 common sizes.

Climate in Portland: timing your concrete slab job

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

May through October is the stretch where pouring concrete runs into the fewest weather problems in Portland (6 of 12 months). January, February, March, April, 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.

Portland gets about 48 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 69 inches of snow. The wettest months are April, October and December (5.3 inches in October). Inside the workable window, July and August are the driest, at 3.4 and 3.6 inches. The station averages about 5 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.

Concrete slab: what moves the price in Portland

• Finish

  A broom finish is the baseline. Stamped, stained, or exposed-aggregate finishes are priced as add-ons on top of the slab.

• Thickness and mix

  A 4-inch slab uses about 1.23 cubic yards of concrete per 100 sq ft; a 6-inch slab uses about 1.85. Stepping up from a 3,000 PSI to a 4,000-4,500 PSI mix adds $10-$40 per cubic yard (Estimators.us).

• Base and reinforcement

  A compacted gravel base, vapor barrier, and wire mesh or rebar are priced separately by some contractors and bundled by others. Ask which one your quote does.

Portland labor market for concrete slab

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 Portland is 1.06 times the national level.

For cement masons and concrete finishers (47-2051, weighted 50%) the local median is $30.01 an hour, which is 9% above the national $27.41. The middle half of them earn between $24.70 and $31.25 an hour. BLS counts 330 of them working in the area, 11.4 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 13.3), so the local bench is about average.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 30% of the weighting: a median of $23.31 an hour, in line with the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $21.50 and $27.46 an hour. About 1,470 work in the metro. That is 51.0 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 10%) the local median is $28.62 an hour, which is in line with the national $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $25.00 and $30.84 an hour. BLS counts 880 of them working in the area, 30.5 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 $30.91 an hour, which is 6% above the national $29.12. The middle half of them earn between $28.45 and $35.95 an hour. BLS counts 2,230 of them working in the area, 77.3 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 43.1), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Quotes come from real crews, not medians. If the cement masons and concrete finishers on your job are paid at the 75th percentile ($31.25 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $35. At the 25th percentile ($24.70) it shrinks by about $150. The total moves by 0.9% or 4.0%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 288,480 jobs in the Portland-South Portland area. That makes it the 89th largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.19% of US employment.