Concrete cost per yard, month by month
Ready-mix concrete averages $173.97 per cubic yard in August 2026, up 2.28% from August 2025 and up 0.11% from July 2026. The figure is national. It starts from what producers in an NRMCA survey took in per yard in 2023, across all their customers, and moves each month with a Bureau of Labor Statistics price index. Your local plant will quote its own price. At this price 5 yards come to $869.85. Every month since January 2023 is further down.
5 cubic yards of ready-mix
$869.85
$173.97 a yard, the national figure for August 2026. No short-load fee from 4 yards up.
- Concrete
- $869.85
- Short-load fee
- none
- Per yard, fee included
- $173.97
- Trucks at 10 yards
- 1
An estimate, not a bid. A contractor's price depends on your site, access and timing.
The yard price is national and built from producers' revenue, so expect another number from the plant near you. The short-load fee is our assumption, marked estimated.
How much does a yard of concrete cost?
One cubic yard of ready-mix is $173.97, which is $6.44 per cubic foot. A small order costs more: under 4 yards we add a short-load fee of $85.00 estimated, so a single yard comes to $258.97.
| Order | Concrete | Short-load fee | Total | Per yard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yard | $173.97 | $85.00 estimated | $258.97 | $258.97 |
| 3 yards | $521.91 | $85.00 estimated | $606.91 | $202.30 |
| 5 yards | $869.85 | none | $869.85 | $173.97 |
| 10 yards (one truck) | $1,739.70 | none | $1,739.70 | $173.97 |
Each order is priced at the yards shown, with nothing added for waste. Our slab estimates order 5% extra, so add your own margin before you call the plant.
Concrete cost per yard delivered
Our yard price has no separate delivery line. The one delivery charge we price is the short-load fee, $85.00 estimated on any order under 4 yards. Spread over the load, that is $258.97 a yard on a 1-yard order and $202.30 a yard on a 3-yard order. From 4 yards up, the delivered figure is the yard price itself, $173.97.
A plant may also charge for distance, waiting time or a weekend pour. We hold no data on those charges, so none of them is in these numbers. Ask the plant for its fee sheet with the quote.
How much does a truck of concrete cost?
Our estimates count a truck as 10 yards. A full one costs $1,739.70 at the August 2026 price, with no short-load fee. A bigger order is split across trucks: 15 yards arrive on 2 trucks and cost $2,609.55.
80-lb bag of concrete cost vs. a yard of ready-mix
We price an 80-lb bag of concrete mix at $5.60 estimated. Each bag yields 0.6 cubic feet, so a cubic yard takes 45 bags: $252.00, or $78.03 more than a yard from the truck. Once the short-load fee is counted, bags are the cheaper buy only below 1.09 yards. Above that, the truck costs less, and the concrete arrives mixed.
Ready-mix concrete cost per yard, by month since 2023
The price was $154.13 in January 2023 and is $173.97 in August 2026, up 12.87%. No month since has been lower. The highest was June 2026 at $174.31.
Free to reuse with credit and a link to American Build Rate (CC BY 4.0). Underlying BLS data is public domain; base price from NRMCA, cited.
- Every price on this page is national. We hold no ready-mix price for a state, a metro area or a single plant.
- It rests on producers' revenue, not on a price list. The base is the average revenue per cubic yard reported by NRMCA benchmarking-survey members, 2023: $159.68. That is what producers took in per yard across all their customers, and a homeowner ordering 5 yards will not be quoted it.
- The last 4 months, May 2026 to August 2026, are preliminary. BLS revises them, so those rows can change.
- A month's price is $159.68 times that month's index, divided by 362.716, the index's 2023 average. For August 2026: 159.68 × 395.186 / 362.716 = $173.97.
- The newest month is August 2026, read from BLS on September 25, 2026.
| Month | BLS index WPU1333 | Price per cubic yard | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 (preliminary) | 395.186 | $173.97 | up 2.28% |
| Jul 2026 (preliminary) | 394.742 | $173.78 | up 2.27% |
| Jun 2026 (preliminary) | 395.954 | $174.31 | up 2.21% |
| May 2026 (preliminary) | 394.112 | $173.50 | up 1.72% |
| Apr 2026 | 392.891 | $172.96 | up 1.76% |
| Mar 2026 | 390.985 | $172.12 | up 0.64% |
| Feb 2026 | 390.077 | $171.73 | up 0.14% |
| Jan 2026 | 390.209 | $171.78 | down 0.03% |
| Dec 2025 | 386.202 | $170.02 | up 0.07% |
| Nov 2025 | 383.902 | $169.01 | down 0.92% |
| Oct 2025 | 385.591 | $169.75 | up 0.06% |
| Sep 2025 | 386.267 | $170.05 | up 0.35% |
| Aug 2025 | 386.359 | $170.09 | down 0.01% |
| Jul 2025 | 385.993 | $169.93 | up 0.64% |
| Jun 2025 | 387.394 | $170.54 | up 1.40% |
| May 2025 | 387.457 | $170.57 | up 0.85% |
| Apr 2025 | 386.098 | $169.97 | up 0.68% |
| Mar 2025 | 388.511 | $171.04 | up 0.63% |
| Feb 2025 | 389.524 | $171.48 | up 2.41% |
| Jan 2025 | 390.311 | $171.83 | up 3.69% |
| Dec 2024 | 385.931 | $169.90 | up 4.87% |
| Nov 2024 | 387.459 | $170.57 | up 3.95% |
| Oct 2024 | 385.351 | $169.64 | up 3.62% |
| Sep 2024 | 384.917 | $169.45 | up 3.62% |
| Aug 2024 | 386.394 | $170.10 | up 5.12% |
| Jul 2024 | 383.550 | $168.85 | up 5.58% |
| Jun 2024 | 382.036 | $168.19 | up 5.93% |
| May 2024 | 384.181 | $169.13 | up 6.11% |
| Apr 2024 | 383.503 | $168.83 | up 7.23% |
| Mar 2024 | 386.077 | $169.96 | up 8.68% |
| Feb 2024 | 380.370 | $167.45 | up 8.06% |
| Jan 2024 | 376.419 | $165.71 | up 7.51% |
| Dec 2023 | 368.005 | $162.01 | no earlier year |
| Nov 2023 | 372.721 | $164.08 | no earlier year |
| Oct 2023 | 371.884 | $163.72 | no earlier year |
| Sep 2023 | 371.452 | $163.53 | no earlier year |
| Aug 2023 | 367.558 | $161.81 | no earlier year |
| Jul 2023 | 363.262 | $159.92 | no earlier year |
| Jun 2023 | 360.663 | $158.78 | no earlier year |
| May 2023 | 362.064 | $159.39 | no earlier year |
| Apr 2023 | 357.639 | $157.44 | no earlier year |
| Mar 2023 | 355.235 | $156.39 | no earlier year |
| Feb 2023 | 351.997 | $154.96 | no earlier year |
| Jan 2023 | 350.112 | $154.13 | no earlier year |
A yard price covers the concrete and nothing else. To price the whole job, with the gravel base, forms, steel, finishing and the crew, use the slab cost calculator. To count the steel on its own, work out the rebar and mesh for the slab by size and grid spacing. Installed prices for each kind of project are compared per square foot of finished concrete.