How much is a ton of gravel in 2026?

At the gate: crusher run $15–30, #57 stone $25–45, pea gravel $30–60, river rock $45–130, decorative stone $50–200. Add a $50–150 delivery fee per trip. Regional spread is wide — quarry-dense areas sit at the low end, stone-poor regions 30–50% higher for identical material.

What is the difference between gate price and delivered price?

Gate price is what you pay picking material up at the quarry scale; delivered price adds trucking. On small orders the gap is enormous: 3 tons of $25 crusher run is $75 at the gate but $175 delivered with a $100 fee — an effective $58 per ton. Always compare quotes as delivered totals for your specific tonnage.

How much area does a ton of gravel cover?

Common gravel covers about 114 ft² at 2 inches deep, 76 ft² at 3 inches, and 57 ft² at 4 inches. Lighter pea gravel stretches a little further (about 125 ft² at 2 inches); dense compacted crusher run covers less. Coverage is how you convert a per-ton price into a per-square-foot budget.

How many tons of gravel do I need?

Square feet × (depth in inches ÷ 12) × density in lb/ft³ ÷ 2,000, plus 10% for settling. For common gravel a quick shortcut is cubic yards × 1.4. A 300 ft² path at 3 inches needs about 4.3 tons; a full single-car driveway build runs 20–25 tons across its layers.

Do quarries give volume discounts?

Routinely. Pricing is tiered by load: the minimum-order rate might be $32 per ton, a full 18-ton tri-axle $26, and 100+ tons quoted individually. Tiers are rarely advertised — ask the scale house directly for the full-truck rate and the next price break above your takeoff.

Is buying gravel by the ton better than by the yard?

Tons are more precise because they come off a certified truck scale, while a loose yard depends on the loader operator's bucket. Quarries sell by the ton; landscape yards often sell by the yard. Neither is cheaper by nature — but you must convert to one unit before comparing quotes, at roughly 1.4 tons per cubic yard for common gravel.

Gravel · Cost Series

Gravel cost per ton

The ton is the industry's native unit — it comes off a certified scale and it is how every quarry quotes. Here is what a ton costs in 2026, what it covers, and how to compare it against yard-priced quotes.

MaterialsCalc Editorial TeamConstruction Estimating EditorsJuly 16, 2026

Contents

1.Price per ton by type (2026)
2.Gate price vs delivered price
3.Comparing quotes stated in different units
4.What a ton actually covers
5.Negotiating volume breaks

Price per ton by type (2026)

US gate prices per ton, mid-2026, before delivery. The full type-by-type breakdown lives in the price guide.
Item	Unit	Low	High	Average
Recycled concrete aggregateCheapest base material available	per ton	$10	$20	$15
Crusher runBase workhorse; compacts near-solid	per ton	$15	$30	$23
#57 crushed stoneClean stone for drainage and surfaces	per ton	$25	$45	$35
Pea gravelRounded; paths, patios, play areas	per ton	$30	$60	$45
River rockWashed decorative; freight-heavy	per ton	$45	$130	$88
Decorative specialty stoneMarble chips, lava, polished pebble	per ton	$50	$200	$125

These are scale-house numbers. What you actually pay per ton depends on the two subjects the rest of this page covers: how the trucking is charged, and how big your order is.

Gate price vs delivered price

Every quarry has two prices. The gate price is per ton across the scale, loaded into whatever you drove in. The delivered price adds a $50–150 per-trip trucking fee — a fixed cost that gets divided by your tonnage. Small orders therefore pay wildly more per ton than the sticker suggests: $25 stone delivered as a 3-ton load with a $100 fee is really $58 a ton, while the same stone on a full 18-ton tri-axle is $31.

Comparing quotes stated in different units

Worked example

Supplier A quotes #57 stone at $34 per ton delivered. Supplier B quotes $44 per cubic yard delivered. Which is cheaper for a 10-ton job?

1
Put both in tons
#57 runs ≈1.35 tons per loose cubic yard
2
Convert Supplier B
$44 ÷ 1.35 = $32.60 per ton equivalent
3
Compare like for like
$34.00 (A) vs $32.60 (B) per ton
4
Check the job total
10 tons: A = $340, B ≈ $326

Result: Supplier B wins by about $14 — the opposite of what the raw stickers ($34 vs $44) suggest. Never compare a ton price against a yard price without converting; the density factor is the whole answer.

The conversion factor changes with material — 1.3 for pea gravel, 1.35–1.4 for clean stone, up to 1.9 for compacted crusher run. The cost-per-cubic-yard guide works the same comparison from the other direction.

What a ton actually covers

Common gravel at 105 lb/ft³ loose. Pea gravel stretches ~10% further; compacted crusher run covers ~15% less.
Depth	Coverage per ton	Typical use
2 inches	≈114 ft²	Decorative top-dressing over fabric
3 inches	≈76 ft²	Paths, patios, play areas
4 inches	≈57 ft²	One compacted driveway lift
6 inches	≈38 ft²	Heavy-duty base, parking pads

Negotiating volume breaks

Quarry pricing is tiered, and the tiers are rarely posted. Three questions to the scale house move most quotes: What is the full-truck rate? — an 18-ton tri-axle load routinely prices 15–25% under the minimum-order rate. Where is the next price break? — if your takeoff says 14 tons and the break is at 16, the extra two tons of base stone often cost less than the price difference on the whole order. And can you piggyback? — a truck already delivering to your area quotes cheaper freight. None of this is haggling; it is asking for the price sheet the contractors use.

Frequently asked questions

Turn tons into a total

Enter dimensions and your local per-ton price — the calculator handles density, waste and delivery.

Gravel Cost Calculator

Continue the cost series

Gravel Cost Per Cubic YardYard pricing — and converting it to tons.Guide Gravel Price Guide2026 pricing across every common type.Guide Gravel Delivery CostFlat fees, minimums and free-delivery thresholds.Guide

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