Gravel driveway cost in Davenport, IA

Related projects, priced for Davenport

Because every project leans on different trades, Davenport's wage level does not move all prices equally. Against the US midpoint, concrete driveway runs +4% and sod installation −3%.

Extras that change the Davenport total

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Davenport by the average of the local wage index (1.12) and goods index (0.94), a factor of 1.03. 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.

Gravel driveway: what moves the price in Davenport

• Permit

  A driveway permit is typically $50-$200 where one is needed for a new curb cut or connection; plenty of rural counties require none.

• Depth and layers

  A proper driveway is a 4-inch base plus a 2-inch top course. Each extra inch of stone adds weight in tons and money.

• Labor share

  HomeGuide puts labor at about 50% of a gravel driveway's total cost, so a longer or harder-to-reach site moves the price more than the stone does.

Is Davenport cheap or dear? The local comparison

Same job, same size (1,000 sq ft), priced for the nearest metros. Rockford is the priciest of the group at $7,500. Iowa City is the cheapest at $6,200.

Across 300 US metros, Davenport comes in at #105 from the top. The priciest is Kahului, HI at $9,500; the cheapest is McAllen, TX at $5,200 (midpoints, 1,000 sq ft). Statewide, Davenport is 5% above the Iowa figure.

Other Iowa metros

Cities with a workforce like Davenport's

Big cities and small ones price differently, so here is Davenport 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. 2 trades carry the job here, and each is compared with its US median. The weighted result for Davenport is 1.12 times the national level.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 50% of the weighting: a median of $26.14 an hour, 15% above the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $21.74 and $33.98 an hour. About 1,320 work in the metro. That is 73.2 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 50%) the local median is $31.18 an hour, which is 8% above the national $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $25.71 and $40.96 an hour. BLS counts 570 of them working in the area, 31.6 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 30.7), so the local bench is about average.

Quotes come from real crews, not medians. If the construction laborers on your job are paid at the 75th percentile ($33.98 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $540. At the 25th percentile ($21.74) it shrinks by about $310. The total moves by 8.3% or 4.7%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 180,450 jobs in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island area. That makes it the 128th largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.12% of US employment.

Cost by quality level and size in Davenport

Three bands are cut from the same cited range and localized for Davenport 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 gravel driveway in Davenport

We use NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals for Davenport (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 Davenport (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 136 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

Davenport gets about 36 inches of precipitation in a normal year. The wettest months are May, June and July (4.8 inches in May). Inside the workable window, September and October are the driest, at 3.5 and 2.7 inches. The station averages about 13 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.