Paver patio cost in Dubuque, IA

How Dubuque compares

Of the five closest metros, 3 are cheaper than Dubuque. Iowa City is the lowest at about $4,250 (midpoint, 300 sq ft), 75 miles away.

Out of the 300 metros we cover, Dubuque ranks #129 for the cost of this job (#1 is the most expensive). Statewide, Dubuque is 1% above the Iowa figure.

Elsewhere in Iowa

Metros of a similar size

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

What local crews earn in Dubuque

The labor line is built from BLS wage data, one trade at a time. This job draws on 3 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 Dubuque the blend is 1.06.

For construction laborers (47-2061, weighted 50%) the local median is $23.46 an hour, which is 4% above the national $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $22.37 and $28.85 an hour. BLS counts 500 of them working in the area, 85.5 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 70.5), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Brickmasons and blockmasons (47-2021) carry 30% of the labor weighting. BLS does not publish this trade for the Dubuque metro, so we used the Iowa statewide median: $33.38 an hour against $29.87 for the US. The middle half of them earn between $25.77 and $36.59 an hour.

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (37-3011), 20% of the weighting: a median of $19.93 an hour, 6% above the US median of $18.82. The middle half of them earn between $16.24 and $26.73 an hour. About 240 work in the metro. That is 41.0 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 61.3 nationally, so expect fewer local crews to bid.

A quick sensitivity check: moving the lead trade (construction laborers) from the median to the 75th percentile wage adds about $300 to the midpoint estimate; the 25th percentile takes off about $60. That is a swing of roughly 1.4% to 7.1% of the total, which is useful for judging whether a bid reflects wages or something else, such as scope or margin.

Dubuque has 58,470 jobs in total (BLS, May 2025), ranking 292nd by size among the 300 metros on this site.

Dubuque weather and the paver patio calendar

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

For digging, grading and setting material in the ground, the comfortable months in Dubuque are April through October: 7 of 12. Outside them, 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 144 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

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, September and October are the driest, at 3.8 and 2.9 inches. The station averages about 6 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.

Why two Dubuque quotes can differ

• Excavation and grading

  Digging out is $1-$5 per sq ft; regrading a sloped yard is $0.40-$2.00 per sq ft.

• Pattern

  Herringbone and curves take longer to lay and waste more stone than a running bond.

• Permit

  At-grade patios often need no permit; add a retaining wall, a cover, or a connection to the house and that changes.

Add-ons priced for Dubuque

Add-ons start from national price ranges and are scaled by 1.00 for Dubuque, which is the average of the area's wage index (1.06) and goods price index (0.94). The estimator above can add them to your total.

Pick a size, pick a tier: paver patio pricing in Dubuque

The cited range is split into basic, standard and premium bands, then scaled to Dubuque. Bands overlap, because plenty of standard jobs cost as much as a light premium one. Sizes run from 12x12 (144 sq ft) to pool deck (800 sq ft).

Planning more than one job in Dubuque?

Jobs that often go together with paver patio are priced below at their usual sizes, using the same Dubuque wage and price inputs. Compared with national midpoints, retaining wall comes out highest (level) and wood deck lowest (−4%); the gap comes from the trades each job uses.