Paver patio cost in Altoona, PA

Altoona 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, Altoona 3 W (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 Altoona are April through November: 8 of 12. Outside them, January, February, March and December have an average overnight low at or below freezing (32°F).

In January, February, March 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 128 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

Altoona gets about 45 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 38 inches of snow. The wettest months are May, June and September (4.4 inches in May). Inside the workable window, April and November are the driest, at 3.8 and 3.6 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.

Is Altoona cheap or dear? The local comparison

Same job, same size (300 sq ft), priced for the nearest metros. Altoona is the priciest of the group. Hagerstown is the cheapest at $3,950.

Out of the 300 metros we cover, Altoona ranks #86 for the cost of this job (#1 is the most expensive). Statewide, Altoona is 3% above the Pennsylvania figure.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania

Metros of a similar size

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

Specs and site conditions that change a Altoona bid

• 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.

• Paver material

  Pavers alone average $2-$4 per sq ft but the full range is $1-$15 depending on concrete, brick, or natural stone (HomeGuide).

Optional extras in Altoona

Add-ons start from national price ranges and are scaled by 1.06 for Altoona, which is the average of the area's wage index (1.11) and goods price index (1.01). The estimator above can add them to your total.

Related projects, priced for Altoona

Jobs that often go together with paver patio are priced below at their usual sizes, using the same Altoona wage and price inputs. Compared with national midpoints, retaining wall comes out highest (+9%) and concrete driveway lowest (−4%); the gap comes from the trades each job uses.

Cost by quality level and size in Altoona

The cited range is split into basic, standard and premium bands, then scaled to Altoona. 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).

What local crews earn in Altoona

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 Altoona the blend is 1.11.

For construction laborers (47-2061, weighted 50%) the local median is $22.03 an hour, which is in line with the national $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $18.45 and $24.02 an hour. BLS counts 350 of them working in the area, 59.7 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 70.5), so the local bench is thinner than average.

For brickmasons and blockmasons (47-2021, weighted 30%) the local median is $44.24 an hour, which is 48% above the national $29.87. The middle half of them earn between $35.79 and $48.57 an hour. BLS counts 70 of them working in the area, 11.9 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 3.4), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (37-3011), 20% of the weighting: a median of $17.16 an hour, 9% below the US median of $18.82. The middle half of them earn between $14.33 and $20.00 an hour. About 310 work in the metro. That is 52.9 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 61.3 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

A quick sensitivity check: moving the lead trade (construction laborers) from the median to the 75th percentile wage adds about $110 to the midpoint estimate; the 25th percentile takes off about $200. That is a swing of roughly 4.5% to 2.5% of the total, which is useful for judging whether a bid reflects wages or something else, such as scope or margin.

Altoona has 58,650 jobs in total (BLS, May 2025), ranking 291st by size among the 300 metros on this site.