Paver patio cost in Lincoln, NE

Related projects, priced for Lincoln

Because every project leans on different trades, Lincoln's wage level does not move all prices equally. Against the US midpoint, retaining wall runs −6% and wood deck −10%.

Local wages behind the labor line

Wages are the part of this estimate that changes most from town to town. 3 trades carry the job here, and each is compared with its US median. The weighted result for Lincoln is 0.96 times the national level.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 50% of the weighting: a median of $22.45 an hour, in line with the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $19.28 and $24.46 an hour. About 1,250 work in the metro. That is 68.4 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 70.5 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

Brickmasons and blockmasons (47-2021), 30% of the weighting: a median of $26.85 an hour, 10% below the US median of $29.87. The middle half of them earn between $24.07 and $28.89 an hour. About 60 work in the metro. That is 3.3 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 3.4 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

For landscaping and groundskeeping workers (37-3011, weighted 20%) the local median is $18.16 an hour, which is 4% below the national $18.82. The middle half of them earn between $17.45 and $22.45 an hour. BLS counts 1,040 of them working in the area, 56.9 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 61.3), 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 ($24.46 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $110. At the 25th percentile ($19.28) it shrinks by about $180. The total moves by 2.8% or 4.4%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 182,620 jobs in the Lincoln area. That makes it the 126th largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.12% of US employment.

How Lincoln compares

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 300 sq ft range from $4,000 to $4,450 across Lincoln and its five closest metros.

Across 300 US metros, Lincoln comes in at #185 from the top. The priciest is Kahului, HI at $5,650; the cheapest is Dothan, AL at $3,500 (midpoints, 300 sq ft). Statewide, Lincoln is 2% below the Nebraska figure.

Other Nebraska metros

Cities with a workforce like Lincoln's

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

When to schedule paver patio in Lincoln

We use NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals for Lincoln Muni Ap (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 Lincoln (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 143 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

Lincoln gets about 29 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 26 inches of snow. The wettest months are May, June and August (4.9 inches in May). Inside the workable window, April and October are the driest, at 2.7 and 2.1 inches. The station averages about 42 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.

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

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

Specs and site conditions that change a Lincoln bid

• 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.

Optional extras in Lincoln

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Lincoln by the average of the local wage index (0.96) and goods index (0.94), a factor of 0.95. 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.