How much does crushed stone cost per ton?

In 2026, crusher run and screenings run $15–35 per ton at the quarry, clean #57 stone $25–45, and large clean sizes like #2 and #3 $25–50. Decorative crushed stone — white marble, red granite — jumps to $60–120 per ton. Delivery adds a flat $50–150 per trip in most markets.

Why is crusher run the cheapest product?

It takes the least processing. Clean stone must be crushed, screened to a narrow size band and often washed; crusher run comes off the primary crusher with everything left in. Less screening, no washing, no handling of separated fractions — the savings pass straight to the per-ton price.

How much does a ton of #57 stone cover?

About 80 ft² at 3 inches deep, or 60 ft² at 4 inches, loose. At $35 per ton that is roughly $0.45–0.60 per square foot of material for a typical 3–4 inch layer, before delivery and spreading.

What does installed crushed stone cost?

Material is usually the smallest line. Add $50–150 delivery per load, and $300–800 for machine spreading and plate or roller compaction on a residential job. A typical single-car driveway base lands at $1–2 per square foot installed; hand-spread decorative work runs higher per square foot because labor dominates.

Is it cheaper to buy crushed stone by the yard or by the ton?

Neither is inherently cheaper — they are the same stone measured differently. A cubic yard of #57 weighs about 1.35 tons, so a $40/ton quote equals $54/yd³. The trap is comparing one supplier's ton price against another's yard price without converting; always convert both to dollars per ton before deciding.

How can I cut the cost of a crushed stone project?

Three levers, in order: buy from the quarry rather than a reseller (often 30–50% less per ton), consolidate everything into one delivery (the fee is per trip, not per ton), and use cheap crusher run for buried structural layers, saving clean or decorative stone for the visible top 2 inches only.

Gravel · Crushed Stone

Crushed stone cost (2026)

Crushed stone is one of the cheapest materials you can buy by the ton — and one of the easiest to overpay for once delivery, resellers and decorative grades enter the picture. Here is the full 2026 price map.

Contents

1.2026 price chart
2.Why prices differ by size
3.Delivery
4.Installed cost: driveway base example
5.Where to save

2026 price chart

2026 quarry-gate prices per US ton. Landscape yards and resellers typically add 20–50%; delivery is extra.
Item	Unit	Low	High	Average
Crusher run / road baseLeast processing — the budget structural product	per ton	$15	$30	$23
Screenings / stone dust (#10)Paver leveling beds, path topping	per ton	$15	$35	$25
#57 clean stoneThe all-purpose size; most-quoted price in the industry	per ton	$25	$45	$35
#8 clean stoneFiner screening adds cost	per ton	$30	$50	$40
#2 / #3 large clean stoneEntrances, ballast, drainage beds	per ton	$25	$50	$38
Decorative crushed (marble, red granite)Specialty deposits, often bagged — 2–4× plain stone	per ton	$60	$120	$90

Regional geology moves every row: markets sitting on limestone (the Midwest, Southeast) hug the low end, while regions that truck stone in — coastal plains, parts of the Gulf — pay the high end plus freight. USGS pegs the national average price of crushed stone around $16–17 per ton at the plant, which is why any quote over $50 for plain stone deserves a second phone call. The wider gravel price guide covers rounded gravels and blends.

Why prices differ by size

Every product starts as the same blasted rock, so the price ladder is a processing ladder. Crusher run exits the primary crusher unscreened — cheapest. Clean stone passes over screens that split it into size classes, and finer classes need more screen area and slower throughput, which is why #8 usually costs a few dollars more than #57. Washing (for concrete-grade aggregate) adds another step. Decorative stone breaks the ladder entirely: its price reflects rare deposits and freight, not processing. Sizes and what each is for are decoded in the crushed stone sizes guide.

Delivery

Typical 2026 delivery pricing. The fee is per trip — one 10-ton load beats two 5-ton loads by a full delivery fee.
Item	Unit	Low	High	Average
Local delivery (within ~15 mi)Flat fee per truck, not per ton	per trip	$50	$150	$100
Tandem load (~18 tons) deliveredBest per-ton economics for big jobs	per load	$400	$900	$650
Small order surcharge (under 3–5 tons)Some yards fold this into a minimum	per order	$25	$75	$50

Installed cost: driveway base example

Worked example

A 12 × 50 ft single-car driveway gets a 4 inch compacted crusher run base. What does it really cost, installed?

1
Tonnage
600 ft² × 0.333 ft × 140 lb/ft³ = 28,000 lb = 14 tons; +10% waste ≈ 15.5 tons
2
Material
15.5 tons × $22/ton = $341
3
Delivery
One tandem trip = $100
4
Spread + compact
Skid-steer and plate compactor, half day = $300–600

Result: Roughly $750–1,050 all-in — $1.25–1.75 per square foot. Material is barely a third of the bill; the machine time is the real cost.

Where to save

The reliable savings are structural, not negotiated. Bury the cheap stuff: crusher run at $22/ton does the load-bearing work, and a thin dressing of $40 clean stone — or $90 decorative — goes only where eyes and feet land. Buy quarry-direct when you can haul or meet the minimum, because reseller markup is the single largest avoidable line. And order once: every extra trip is $50–150 that buys no stone at all. What does not work is thinning the layer — a 3 inch base that fails costs the whole job again, which makes skimped depth the most expensive discount in the catalog.

Cost questions

How much does crushed stone cost per ton?: In 2026, crusher run and screenings run $15–35 per ton at the quarry, clean #57 stone $25–45, and large clean sizes like #2 and #3 $25–50. Decorative crushed stone — white marble, red granite — jumps to $60–120 per ton. Delivery adds a flat $50–150 per trip in most markets.
Why is crusher run the cheapest product?: It takes the least processing. Clean stone must be crushed, screened to a narrow size band and often washed; crusher run comes off the primary crusher with everything left in. Less screening, no washing, no handling of separated fractions — the savings pass straight to the per-ton price.
How much does a ton of #57 stone cover?: About 80 ft² at 3 inches deep, or 60 ft² at 4 inches, loose. At $35 per ton that is roughly $0.45–0.60 per square foot of material for a typical 3–4 inch layer, before delivery and spreading.
What does installed crushed stone cost?: Material is usually the smallest line. Add $50–150 delivery per load, and $300–800 for machine spreading and plate or roller compaction on a residential job. A typical single-car driveway base lands at $1–2 per square foot installed; hand-spread decorative work runs higher per square foot because labor dominates.
Is it cheaper to buy crushed stone by the yard or by the ton?: Neither is inherently cheaper — they are the same stone measured differently. A cubic yard of #57 weighs about 1.35 tons, so a $40/ton quote equals $54/yd³. The trap is comparing one supplier's ton price against another's yard price without converting; always convert both to dollars per ton before deciding.
How can I cut the cost of a crushed stone project?: Three levers, in order: buy from the quarry rather than a reseller (often 30–50% less per ton), consolidate everything into one delivery (the fee is per trip, not per ton), and use cheap crusher run for buried structural layers, saving clean or decorative stone for the visible top 2 inches only.

Budget your exact project

Enter dimensions and a local price — the calculator returns tons, yards and total cost for any crushed stone size.

Crushed Stone Calculator

Budget the rest of the job

Sources & references

[1]Crushed Stone and Sand & Gravel Statistics and Information — US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2025
[2]The Aggregates Handbook, 2nd ed. — National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, 2013