How much does a 1,000 foot gravel driveway cost?

A 1,000 foot drive at 10 to 12 feet wide is 10,000 to 12,000 square feet. At the national $1 to $3 per square foot range that is $10,000 to $36,000. At the Louisiana contractor-reported rate of about $1.37 per square foot it lands near $14,000 to $16,000. That is 125 to 200 tons of rock, or 8 to 13 truckloads.

Is a gravel driveway cheaper than concrete?

Yes, by a wide margin. ProMatcher's Louisiana cost report lists gravel at about $1.37 per square foot installed and concrete at about $5.06. HomeGuide's national figures are $1 to $3 for gravel and $6 to $15 for concrete. Gravel needs a fresh lift of rock and a regrade every few years, which is the trade.

How much gravel do I need for a 2 car driveway?

A two-car pad of 400 to 600 square feet takes 5 to 10 tons at a 4 inch depth, since one ton covers about 60 to 80 square feet at that depth (HomeGuide). That is 5 to 8 cubic yards. Angi puts an installed double-car gravel drive at $800 to $2,200.

How much does gravel cost per ton in Louisiana?

One Louisiana supplier lists a 15 to 20 ton truckload of 610 limestone from $780 plus $100 to $220 for delivery, which works out to roughly $44 to $67 per ton delivered. Another quotes $500 to $1,200 per load. Local yards in New Iberia and Lafayette quote by phone, since the price moves with fuel and haul distance.

How much does it cost to regrade an existing gravel driveway?

No published guide prices a regrade on its own. HomeGuide lists grading at $1 to $3 per square foot, and a 1 to 2 inch top-up of fresh rock takes a third to two thirds of the tonnage of a new 4 inch drive. A regrade with new rock usually costs well under a full rebuild. We price it after a look at the base.

How much does a gravel driveway cost in Louisiana?

Q: What are the downsides of a gravel driveway?

Ruts and potholes after heavy rain, rock that migrates into soft ground without fabric under it, dust in dry stretches, and weeds through the surface. Angi puts upkeep at $100 to $400 a year. In south Louisiana clay, the base and the crown decide whether those problems show up in one year or ten.

A gravel driveway runs $1 to $3 per square foot installed, per LawnStarter and HomeGuide, and Louisiana contractors report an average near $1.37 per square foot for a 4 inch limestone drive (ProMatcher). A typical two-car pad lands at $800 to $2,200 (Angi). A 100 foot drive at 12 feet wide runs roughly $1,200 to $3,600.

Those are published market ranges, not our prices. We price every drive after looking at the ground under it. Here is what decides the number.

What does a gravel driveway cost by size?

Length and width set the square footage, and square footage sets the rock tonnage. One ton of gravel covers about 60 to 80 square feet at a 4 inch depth (HomeGuide). The table applies the national $1 to $3 range and the Louisiana $1.37 rate to common drive sizes. The Louisiana rate comes from an undated contractor survey and reads low against 2026 national numbers, so treat it as a floor, not a quote.

Driveway	Square feet	Tons at 4 inches	Louisiana rate (about $1.37)	National range ($1 to $3)
Two-car pad, 20 by 24 ft	480	6 to 8	about $660	$480 to $1,440
50 ft by 12 ft	600	8 to 10	about $820	$600 to $1,800
100 ft by 12 ft	1,200	15 to 20	about $1,640	$1,200 to $3,600
200 ft by 12 ft	2,400	30 to 40	about $3,290	$2,400 to $7,200
1,000 ft by 12 ft	12,000	150 to 200	about $16,400	$12,000 to $36,000

A 100 foot drive at 4 inches is about one truckload of rock. A 1,000 foot drive is 8 to 13 truckloads, and the rock alone runs $7,000 to $13,000 before any machine time. Depth changes everything. Go to 6 inches and the tonnage rises by half. HomeGuide calls 5 to 6 inches the minimum total depth, laid in layers, and 8 to 12 inches for a drive that carries trucks or an RV.

What rock goes on a Louisiana driveway?

Crushed limestone, and mostly a grade called 610. Louisiana is not limestone country. The state’s own crushed stone is mostly sandstone (USGS), so driveway limestone comes in from out of state through yards like the one on Marina Road in New Iberia.

610 limestone runs from about half-inch rock down to fine powder (Acadiana Shell and Limestone). The fines lock the bigger pieces together, so it packs into a hard surface that still drains. That is the base and the running surface on most rural drives around here. 57 limestone is washed rock with no fines, about three quarters of an inch, and it drains fast. It goes in French drains and trench backfill, and sometimes as a top dressing.

Rock is sold by the truckload. One Louisiana supplier lists a 15 to 20 ton load of 610 from $780 plus $100 to $220 for delivery. Another lists $500 to $1,200 per load depending on distance. Yards in New Iberia, Lafayette and Abbeville quote by phone because fuel and haul distance move the price week to week.

What moves the price on a gravel driveway?

Base condition. A drive going down on firm, dry ground needs less rock than one going over soft clay. In Acadiana, the ground is usually the clay. A layer of geotextile fabric between the dirt and the rock keeps the limestone from sinking into the subsoil (HomeGuide) and is the difference between a drive that lasts and one that needs rock every spring.

Crown and drainage. South Louisiana gets around 57 inches of rain a year, and a flat gravel drive becomes a pond. The surface has to be crowned so water runs to the edges and into a ditch. That is grading work, not just rock, and it is where gravel driveway installation in New Iberia is won or lost.

A culvert at the road. If the drive crosses a roadside ditch, it needs a pipe. HomeGuide lists culverts and drains at $500 to $2,000 as a driveway line item, and Angi puts a culvert replacement at $1,000 to $9,000. The parish permits that pipe and often sets the size. Our page on driveway culvert installation covers the process.

Regrade versus rebuild. Most driveway calls we get are on a drive that already exists. If the base is sound, the job is to cut the potholes out, reshape the crown, and add a lift of fresh rock. That takes a fraction of the tonnage of a new drive. If the base has failed and rock is sitting in mud, it is a rebuild.

Hauling distance. Every truckload has a delivery charge tied to distance from the yard. A drive in St. Martinville is a short run from the New Iberia yard. A drive in Crowley is a longer one.

Is gravel cheaper than concrete in Louisiana?

By a lot. The same Louisiana cost report that lists gravel at $1.37 per square foot lists a concrete driveway at $5.06, about 3.7 times more (ProMatcher). HomeGuide’s national figures are $1 to $3 for gravel against $6 to $15 for concrete. A 1,200 square foot drive runs roughly $1,600 in gravel or $6,000 in concrete at the Louisiana rates.

Gravel wins on price and on repair. A washed-out section gets regraded and topped. A cracked concrete slab gets cut out and repoured. HomeGuide puts a gravel drive’s lifespan at up to 100 years with upkeep, against 15 to 30 years for asphalt.

The trade is maintenance. Angi puts gravel upkeep at $100 to $400 a year. Concrete asks for nothing until it cracks. On a long rural drive, gravel is almost always the answer. On a short pad in a subdivision, concrete may fit better.

What are the downsides of a gravel driveway?

Ruts and potholes are the big one, and they come from water. A drive with no crown holds water, the water softens the clay, and tires push the rock down into it. The fix is grading, and the prevention is doing the base right the first time.

Rock migrates. Without fabric, limestone slowly disappears into soft ground and the drive needs topping more often. Dust shows up in dry August stretches. Weeds come through anywhere the fines have washed away.

None of that is a reason to skip gravel. It is a reason to build the base, crown the surface, and set the culvert right. A drive built that way in Acadiana clay holds up for years between lifts of rock.

Related reading: driveway culverts in Acadiana, cost and permits if your drive crosses a ditch, and land clearing cost per acre in Louisiana if the drive runs through brush first.

Get a real number for your driveway

Every figure above is a published range or a supplier’s list price. Your drive depends on its length, the ground under it, and where the rock comes from. We come look, measure it, check the base and the ditch, and give you a written estimate at no charge. Request a free driveway estimate or call (337) 201-0594.