Asphalt Calculator

Multiply the area of your project in square feet by the compacted thickness in feet, then by the density of hot-mix asphalt (145 lb per cubic foot), and divide by 2,000 to get US tons. Formula: Tons = (Length × Width × Depth-in-inches ÷ 12 × 145) ÷ 2,000. Example — a 20 × 20 ft driveway at 3 inches: 400 sq ft × 0.25 ft = 100 cubic feet × 145 = 14,500 lb = 7.25 tons. Add 5–10% for waste and compaction and order about 8 tons. The calculator at the top of this page runs this exact formula for you, for any shape, in any unit.

The standard asphalt tonnage formula is: Tons = (Area in sq ft × Thickness in inches ÷ 12 × Density in lb/ft³) ÷ 2,000. For compacted hot mix, use a density of 145 lb/ft³. In metric: Tonnes = Area in m² × thickness in metres × 2.32 (tonnes per m³). Both versions are built into this calculator — enter feet, yards or meters and it handles every conversion.

A cubic yard of compacted hot-mix asphalt weighs about 3,915 lb, which is 1.96 US tons — most estimators simply round it to 2 tons per cubic yard. Loose (uncompacted) mix is lighter at roughly 1.5 tons per cubic yard, and asphalt millings run about 1.6 tons per compacted cubic yard. Use the cubic-yards-to-tons converter in the Conversions tab for exact figures at any density.

Compacted hot-mix asphalt weighs about 3,900–4,000 pounds per cubic yard (145 lb per cubic foot × 27). Loose mix straight off the truck weighs roughly 3,000 lb per cubic yard, and recycled asphalt millings around 3,200 lb per compacted cubic yard. Per cubic foot, figure 140–148 lb for compacted hot mix.

Standard hot-mix asphalt has a compacted density of 140–148 lb/ft³, with 145 lb/ft³ (2,322 kg/m³, or about 2.3 tonnes per cubic metre) the accepted figure for estimating. Your mix design sheet lists the exact Gmb/unit weight — if you have it, enter it with the “custom density” option for a more precise tonnage.

One ton of compacted hot mix covers about 83 sq ft at 2 inches thick, 55 sq ft at 3 inches, and 41 sq ft at 4 inches. The quick rule: coverage in sq ft ≈ 166 ÷ depth in inches. So a typical 7–8 ton driveway load covers a 400 sq ft (20 × 20 ft) area at 3 inches. The full coverage chart is on this page, and the Conversions tab computes it for any tonnage.

Hot-mix asphalt costs roughly $40–$80 per ton picked up at the plant, and $75–$150 per ton delivered, depending on your region, oil prices and order size (small loads carry minimum-load fees). Recycled asphalt millings are far cheaper at $10–$30 per ton. Note that per-ton prices are material only — paving labor, base rock and equipment are billed separately, which is why installed cost is usually quoted per square foot.

Professionally installed asphalt costs about $5–$13 per square foot for a new residential driveway (national average around $7–$8), $2.50–$7 per square foot for resurfacing/overlay, and $3–$7 per square foot for larger parking-lot work. Material alone works out to only $0.75–$2.75 per square foot at typical driveway thickness — the rest is excavation, aggregate base, labor and equipment.

A 20 × 20 ft driveway is 400 square feet. At the typical installed range of $5–$13 per square foot, that is $2,000–$5,200, with most homeowners paying around $3,000–$3,600 for a standard 2–3 inch driveway over a proper aggregate base. Material-wise it needs about 7.3 tons of hot mix at 3 inches — roughly $550–$1,090 in asphalt if you are supplying it yourself.

About $5,000–$13,000 installed at $5–$13 per square foot — most quotes for a straightforward 1,000 sq ft (for example 10 × 100 ft) driveway land around $6,000–$8,000. It takes roughly 18 tons of hot mix at 3 inches compacted. Long narrow driveways can price slightly higher per square foot than wide ones because paving machines work less efficiently in narrow pulls.

A new asphalt driveway costs $5–$13 per square foot installed, so a typical two-car driveway (24 × 24 ft, 576 sq ft) runs about $2,900–$7,500, with the national average around $4,500–$5,500. The price includes grading, 6–8 inches of compacted aggregate base, 2–3 inches of hot-mix asphalt and rolling. Steep grades, poor soil, long material hauls and small job size all push the per-square-foot price up.

Replacing (tearing out and repaving) an asphalt driveway costs $8–$15 per square foot — the demolition and hauling adds $1–$3 per square foot to new-install pricing. For a 600 sq ft driveway that is roughly $4,800–$9,000. If the existing base is still solid, ask about resurfacing instead: a 1.5–2 inch overlay costs only $2.50–$7 per square foot.

Resurfacing an asphalt driveway costs $2.50–$7 per square foot — a 1.5–2 inch layer of new hot mix rolled over the existing pavement. It is the right choice when the surface is worn but the base underneath is sound. If more than about a third of the driveway is cracked, rutted or sinking, overlays fail early and full replacement is the better spend.

Asphalt is cheaper to install: $5–$13 per square foot versus $8–$18 for concrete — typically 30–40% less upfront. Concrete lasts longer (30–40 years vs 15–30) and needs less maintenance, while asphalt needs sealcoating every 3–5 years but handles freeze-thaw cycles and cheap repairs better. Over a 30-year life the total costs converge; in cold climates asphalt is usually the practical choice, in hot climates concrete resists softening.

A residential driveway should have 2–3 inches of compacted asphalt over 6–8 inches of compacted crushed-aggregate base. If trucks, RVs or trailers will park on it, go to 3–4 inches of asphalt over 8+ inches of base. Parking lots need 3 inches for cars and 4–6 inches where trucks travel. Remember asphalt compacts about 25% during rolling — a 3-inch compacted lift is laid roughly 4 inches loose.

Only as an overlay on existing sound pavement. As new construction, 1.5 inches will crack and ravel quickly under car traffic no matter how good the base is — 2 inches compacted is the practical minimum for a new driveway, and 3 inches is what most reputable pavers install. If a quote for new work specifies 1.5 inches, that is a red flag worth questioning.

Asphalt millings (also called recycled asphalt, RAP, or crushed asphalt) are old pavement ground into gravel-sized pieces. They cost $10–$30 per ton — a fraction of new hot mix — and $2–$5 per square foot installed. Compacted with a roller, the leftover binder partially re-binds into a firm, dust-free surface. Use the millings density preset (120 lb/ft³ compacted) in this calculator to get tonnage; a millings driveway is normally laid 3–4 inches thick.

A 50-lb bag of cold-patch asphalt fills about 0.45 cubic feet — enough for roughly 5 sq ft at 1 inch deep, or a single 12 × 12 inch pothole 4 inches deep. Enter your patch dimensions in the calculator and it shows the bag count automatically (weight ÷ 50, rounded up). For anything beyond about 20 bags, ordering hot mix or a bulk cold-mix delivery is dramatically cheaper.

They are near-synonyms with regional flavor. Bitumen is strictly the black petroleum binder (about 5% of the mix); asphalt (or hot-mix asphalt, HMA) is bitumen mixed with graded stone and sand; blacktop is the everyday American word for the same material, sometimes implying the slightly stone-richer mixes used on driveways. In the UK, India and Australia “bitumen road” means an asphalt road. This calculator works identically whichever term you use — a blacktop calculator and a bitumen calculator are computing the same tons.

New asphalt parking lots cost about $3–$7 per square foot for standard passenger-car construction (3 inches of asphalt over 6–8 inches of base) — economies of scale make big lots cheaper per square foot than driveways. A 10,000 sq ft lot (about 28 spaces) runs roughly $30,000–$70,000 before striping, curbing, lighting and drainage. Repaving an existing lot with a 2-inch overlay costs $1.50–$4 per square foot.

At 2 inches compacted, one ton of hot mix covers about 9.2 square yards; at 3 inches, about 6.1 square yards. Highway estimators often work the other way — square yards to tons: SY × 9 × depth-in-inches ÷ 12 × 145 ÷ 2,000, which the Conversions tab on this page computes instantly. A handy rule: 1 square yard needs about 110 lb of asphalt per inch of depth.

Completely free: no sign-up, no download, no usage limits, no watermarked results. It runs 100% in your browser with plain JavaScript, so nothing you enter is uploaded or stored on a server, and it works offline-fast on any phone, tablet or desktop — which is why field crews can use this page instead of installing an asphalt calculator app.

The math is exact for the density you choose; real-world accuracy depends on how uniform your thickness is and how close your mix’s density is to the 145 lb/ft³ default (mix designs range 140–148). Always order 5–10% extra: yield is lost to uneven subgrade, hand-work areas, truck-bed residue and edge compaction. The waste-factor selector adds this margin for you — running short mid-pour means a cold joint and a minimum-load delivery fee.