4,000 PSI Concrete Cost 2026: $132.00 to $175.00 Per Cubic Yard
Four thousand PSI is the mix contractors commonly use for driveways and garage floors. On four ready-mix price lists we read on 13 October 2026 it costs $132.00 to $175.00 per cubic yard before tax, with the middle of the four at $149.00. That is $4.95 to $10.00 a yard more than 3,000 PSI on the same lists, or $55 to $117 on a whole two-car garage floor.
The Price of Going From 3,000 to 4,000 PSI
On each list the step is small: $4.95 a yard at Supreme Concrete, $6.00 a yard at Minimix Concrete, $8.00 a yard at Gehring Construction & Ready-Mix, $10.00 a yard at Scenic City Ready Mix. Gehring’s list shows why: its SG-3000 is a 6-bag mix and its SG-4000 a 7-bag mix, so the extra strength is mostly extra cement.
For a whole slab, multiply by the yards ordered. A 24x24 garage floor at 6 inches is 10.67 cubic yards, about 11.2 to 11.7 with overage, so 4,000 PSI adds $55 to $117 to the concrete bill. Our garage slab prices and 6-inch slab prices already use 4,000 PSI.
Code-Mandated and Recommended Applications
The International Residential Code sets minimum compressive strength in Table R402.2, and it is worth reading that table the way it is actually laid out: by where the concrete sits, then by the weathering potential of the region (negligible, moderate or severe, from Table R301.2(1)). Basement slabs and interior slabs on grade, except garage floor slabs, are 2,500 PSI in every weathering category. Garage floor slabs share a row with porches, carport slabs and steps exposed to the weather, and that is the row that moves with climate: 2,500 PSI where weathering is negligible, 3,000 PSI moderate, 3,500 PSI severe. Vertical work exposed to the weather runs 2,500 PSI negligible and 3,000 PSI for both moderate and severe.
So 3,500 PSI is the highest figure the residential table reaches for any slab, and 4,000 PSI appears only as a trade-off: the footnote permits the total air content of a garage floor with a steel-troweled finish to be reduced to not less than 3 percent, provided the specified strength is raised to not less than 4,000 PSI. That footnote is one reason interior garage floors are so often poured at 4,000. Beyond it, 4,000 PSI on a residential job is a specification choice, and a common one for driveways and garage floors. Jurisdictions amend the IRC, so confirm your local table rather than assuming the model values apply unchanged.
Driveways sit outside the IRC altogether, so the mix for a driveway is set by local rules, if any, and by the contract. If you want 4,000 PSI, write it on the quote: the price difference above is small enough that it should not be the reason to accept less.
When the Code Calls for Air-Entrained Concrete
Air entrainment is a separate decision from strength. An admixture added at the plant puts tiny, evenly spread air voids in the concrete, which give freezing water room to expand. IRC R402.2 says concrete subject to moderate or severe weathering “shall be air entrained as specified in Table R402.2”, and the table’s footnote sets total air content at “not less than 5 percent or more than 7 percent” for the exposed uses it marks.
The garage-floor exception above is the only place the table lets air content drop, to 3 percent, and only at 4,000 PSI or more with a steel-troweled finish. None of the four price lists we use publishes a separate charge for air entrainment, so ask the supplier whether it is included in the quoted price.
Slabs That Will See De-Icing Chemicals
IRC R402.2 has one more rule for slabs exposed to salt. For garage floor slabs, and for exterior porches, carport slabs and steps that will be exposed to deicing chemicals, it caps how much fly ash, other pozzolans, silica fume, slag or blended cement the mix may contain, by reference to Section 19.3.3.4 of ACI 318. In practice that means telling the supplier the slab will see de-icing salts, so the mix they send meets that limit.
2,500 to 5,000 PSI: The Published Price Ladder
| Strength | Supreme (Los Angeles) | Minimix (Pequannock) | Gehring (Columbus) | Scenic (Tennessee) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,500 PSI | $123.75 | not listed | $144.00 (5.5 bag) | not listed |
| 3,000 PSI | $127.05 | $136.00 | $148.00 (6 bag) | $165.00 |
| 3,500 PSI | $130.35 | $139.00 | $152.00 (6.5 bag) | $170.00 |
| 4,000 PSI | $132.00 | $142.00 | $156.00 (7 bag) | $175.00 |
| 4,500 PSI | not listed | $144.00 | not listed | not listed |
| 5,000 PSI | $137.50 | $148.00 | not listed | not listed |
Per cubic yard before tax, read 13 October 2026. Mixes: Supreme Concrete, 1-inch rock mixes (50/50 except 3,500 PSI, listed as "1 rock"); Minimix Concrete, 3/4 mix; Gehring Construction & Ready-Mix, sand gravel (SG) mixes (list dated 2026-01-01); Scenic City Ready Mix, delivered, 8+ yard orders (list dated 2024-08-03). Each supplier’s steps are small next to the gap between suppliers, so shopping around matters more than the strength. Across the industry, the BLS producer price index for ready-mix rose 2.3% from August 2025 to August 2026.
Sources: ready-mix price lists from Supreme Concrete, Minimix Concrete, Gehring Construction & Ready-Mix, Scenic City Ready Mix; BLS PPI ready-mix concrete via FRED; IRC R402.2 and Table R402.2 with footnotes (2018 IRC as adopted in Minnesota, UpCodes). All read 13 October 2026. Garage-floor volume from our cost model.