From square feet to tons to an itemized price
Asphalt is bought by the ton and laid by the square foot, and the bridge between the two is the tonnage: area times compacted depth times density. This page does that conversion openly (with the density editable, because mixes differ), adds your waste allowance, and then prices the job in lines: material and placement per ton, base preparation and old-surface removal per square foot, hauling per load, sealcoat per square foot. Every price is yours to enter from quotes. The estimate applies any minimum charge openly, adds contingency once and tax once, and reports the total, a low to high range and the all-in cost per square foot, with a downloadable estimate.
The asphalt quantity
Base, removal, hauling and sealcoat
Minimum, contingency, tax and range
Disclaimer: This calculator gives estimates for general information only. It is not financial, medical or other professional advice. Tonnage depends on the compacted depth actually achieved and the mix supplied; the binding figures are those in a written agreement with your paving contractor.
What this calculator does
It prices a paving job the way the yard and the crew think about it. First the quantity: surface area times compacted depth gives cubic feet, times the mix density gives pounds, divided by 2,000 gives tons, and your waste allowance turns that into the order quantity a supplier will actually quote against. Then the money: material and placement priced per order ton, the groundwork priced per square foot, hauling per load, sealcoat per square foot, fixed extras flat. Quantities and rates stay separate throughout, each line is rounded to cents, and the familiar estimator discipline applies on top: minimum charge openly, contingency once, tax once, a range that is yours, and an all-in cost per square foot at the end for comparing scopes that were built differently.
How to use it
- Depth is the tonnage dial. At a fixed area and density, every extra inch of compacted depth adds a third again to a 3 inch job’s tonnage. Quotes that differ mainly in specified depth are not comparable until they are converted to tons, which this page does in the open; a cheap quote at 2 inches against a proper one at 3 is a thinner driveway, not a bargain.
- Know whether your ton price is supply-only or supply-and-place. Plant prices, delivered prices and placed prices are three different numbers wearing one label. The placement labour line exists for supply-only pricing; if your rate already includes laying and compacting, zero the labour line or you will pay the crew twice in your own estimate.
- The base is not a detail. Asphalt is a wearing surface, not a structure: its life is set by the graded, compacted base beneath it and the drainage under that. Base preparation priced per square foot is on this page because skipping it is the standard way a driveway is made cheap and short-lived at the same time.
- Removal is its own area and its own price. An old surface may cover more or less than the new one, and tearing out and disposing of asphalt or concrete is real work with real haulage. Give it its own square footage rather than assuming it shadows the new area.
- Sealcoat is maintenance with a schedule, not a one-time extra. It is priced per square foot here so it can be estimated for the new surface or for an existing drive on its own; either way, entering it as a line rather than a lump keeps its coverage honest.
How it is calculated
- Volume = area (sq ft) x depth (inches) / 12. Tons needed = volume x density (lb per cubic foot) / 2,000. Order tons = tons needed x (1 + waste %).
- Material = order tons x price per ton. Placement labour = order tons x labour per ton. Both are rounded to cents on the unrounded tonnage, and the tonnage is printed in the results so the lines can be audited.
- Base preparation = surface area x its rate. Removal = removal area x its rate. Hauling = loads x rate per load. Sealcoat = sealcoat area x its rate.
- Subtotal = the sum of the line amounts. Minimum charge: if a minimum is entered and exceeds the subtotal, the minimum becomes the base and the results state that the minimum charge applied. Contingency applies once to the base; tax once to base plus contingency. Total = base + contingency + tax. Range = total less and plus your percentage. Per square foot = total / surface area.
Worked examples
A driveway, fully priced. Illustrative rates: 1,000 square feet at 3 inches compacted and a density of 145 gives 250 cubic feet, 18.125 tons needed, and 19.03 tons to order at a 5% waste allowance. Material at $110 per ton is $2,093.44; placement labour at $45 per ton is $856.41; base preparation at $1.80 per square foot is $1,800.00; removing the old surface (1,000 square feet at $1.20) is $1,200.00; hauling 4 loads at $150 is $600.00; sealcoat at $0.45 per square foot is $450.00. Subtotal $6,999.85. Contingency at 10% adds $699.99 for a total of $7,699.84, or $7.70 per square foot all-in, ranging from $6,544.86 to $8,854.82 at plus or minus 15%.
Why the density field exists. Run the same driveway at a density of 140 instead of 145 and the order quantity falls to 18.38 tons: about $100 less material and labour on these rates, from nothing but the mix assumption. Density is a property of the supplied mix, which is why the page takes it from your supplier’s data rather than burying a universal constant in the math.
A sealcoat-only job meets the floor. Two hundred square feet of sealcoat at $0.45 is $90 of lines; against a contractor’s $400 minimum the estimate builds on the minimum, adds 10% contingency ($40.00) and totals $440.00, stating that the minimum charge applied.
Reading your results
Start with the tonnage: if a contractor’s quote implies a materially different tonnage for the same area, one of you has a different depth or density in mind, and that conversation is cheaper now than after the trucks arrive. Then read the all-in per-square-foot figure against complete local quotes for the same depth and base scope; per-foot figures that exclude base work or removal are not lower prices, they are shorter lists. Finally, let the range do its job: ground conditions and achieved depth are the two honest unknowns in paving, and a budget that cannot survive its own high end is a hope with a signature line.
Limitations
- Achieved depth varies. The tonnage assumes the specified compacted depth everywhere; real mats vary, edges thin, and yields wander. The waste allowance absorbs some of this; it does not repeal it.
- Subgrade surprises are excluded by definition. Soft spots, buried debris, failed base and drainage failures discovered on excavation day are priced as extras in the field. Contingency is the only line here that speaks for them.
- Thickness design is engineering, not estimating. The right depth and base for your soil and traffic (a turning apron and a car-only drive live different lives) comes from the contractor’s or engineer’s judgement for the site; this page prices a specified design, it does not specify one.
- Rates are local and seasonal. Asphalt prices track oil, plant distance and the paving season’s demand. Rates from a quote have a shelf life measured in weeks, and the estimate inherits it.
Frequently asked questions
How many tons of asphalt do I need?
Area in square feet, times compacted depth in inches divided by 12, gives cubic feet. Multiply by the mix density in pounds per cubic foot (compacted asphalt is commonly near 145) and divide by 2,000 for tons. On this page’s example, 1,000 square feet at 3 inches is 250 cubic feet, 18.125 tons in place, and 19.03 tons to order with a 5% waste allowance. The results print each step so a supplier’s tonnage can be checked against yours line by line.
Why does depth matter so much to the price?
Because tonnage, and with it both the material and placement lines, scales directly with depth. Going from 2 inches to 3 adds half again as much asphalt; from 3 to 4 adds a third. Depth is also structural: it is a large part of how long the surface lasts under load. That combination (expensive and consequential) is why quotes should always state compacted depth, and why this page converts every scope to tons before pricing it.
Is sealcoating included in a paving price?
Usually not in the initial paving price, and often not recommended immediately on brand-new asphalt, which needs time to cure before sealing by most contractors’ practice. It is priced here as its own per-square-foot line so it can be included for an existing surface, planned as future maintenance, or left at zero, but never silently bundled where it cannot be seen.
What is the waste allowance for, on a measured job?
For the difference between the neat rectangle in the measurement and the ground as found: irregular edges, thickness variation, spillage, and the simple fact that plants sell in practical increments. Five percent is a common planning allowance on a clean, rectangular job; awkward shapes and hand-worked areas argue for more. It applies to the tonnage only, not to the per-foot lines, which is how this page applies it.
Related calculators
Method: tonnage from area, compacted depth and entered density; itemized quantity times rate lines at user-entered rates; minimum charge applied to the base, contingency once and tax once, exactly as defined on this page. Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.