The ranges below are observed market prices from national cost guides updated between 2025 and 2026, with Madison's own permit and utility charges added from City pages. They are not quotes. Two local conditions move a price more than anything else: how much crushed stone the soil needs under the asphalt, and whether the job crosses into the public terrace. Where a per-square-foot range is converted to a whole driveway, the size used is stated in the row.
| Service | Typical Madison Range |
|---|---|
| New asphalt driveway on prepared ground, per sq ft | $7 - $13 per sq ft |
| Tear out and replace an existing asphalt driveway, per sq ft | $8 - $15 per sq ft |
| Two-car replacement, 20 x 30 ft (600 sq ft assumed) | $4,800 - $9,000 |
| Overlay or resurfacing over a sound base, per sq ft | $3 - $7 per sq ft |
| Pothole or small hot or cold patch, per repair | $100 - $500 |
| Saw-cut, full-depth patch, per sq ft | $4 - $12 per sq ft |
| Excavation and grading ahead of new pavement, per sq ft | $5 - $10 per sq ft |
| Crushed stone for the base, per ton | $30 - $60 per ton |
| New asphalt parking lot, per sq ft | $2.50 - $7 per sq ft |
Free quote
What Changes the Price?
Subgrade class. WAPA's design guide pairs good sand or gravel with 6 to 8 inches of base under a home driveway and poor, silty soil with 9 to 12 inches plus an extra inch of asphalt. On Dane County loess that difference means more excavation, more stone at $30 to $60 a ton, and more trucking.
Removal and haul-off. Tearing out old asphalt adds about $1 to $2 per square foot for demolition, hauling and disposal, which accounts for most of the gap between the new-driveway and replacement ranges. Concrete removal runs higher, $2 to $6 per square foot, when an old apron or walk comes out with it.
Job size and minimums. Every job carries fixed costs: moving a paver, roller and crew, and buying hot mix by the truckload. HomeGuide notes that some contractors set minimum charges of $2,000 or more, so a short apron or a few patches can cost more per square foot than a full driveway.
Right-of-way work. An apron in the Madison terrace needs the $50 Street Terrace Permit, a City-prequalified contractor and construction to City standards, including a saw-cut curb. A concrete apron built 7 inches thick prices near HomeGuide's range for 6-inch heavy-duty concrete, $8 to $20 per square foot, rather than its 4-inch range.
Treat these as a way to test a quote, not as a quote. A contractor who has probed the base, measured the area and checked the permits will price a specific job, and any gap from these ranges should be explainable in terms of soil, access, thickness or right-of-way work. The replace-or-resurface guide helps decide which line of the table applies to a given driveway.
Fees Madison and its neighbors charge for driveway work
The City of Madison's Street Terrace Permit for a residential apron serving fewer than five parking stalls costs $50, paid online, and the City takes 5 to 7 working days to review it. Commercial driveway approaches handled through Traffic Engineering cost $100 per approach, with a $50 renewal if the work is not finished within a year. Grading that triggers an Erosion Control Permit adds $100 for the simplified checklist, available when less than 20,000 square feet is disturbed and slopes stay under 6 percent, or a $200 base fee plus half a cent per square foot disturbed for a full plan.
Neighboring communities set their own fees. Stoughton charges $35 for a private driveway permit and $50 when the work includes a driveway, sidewalk or apron in the right-of-way. Monona prices its right-of-way permit by item, including $40 for each driveway opening and an $80 staff review and inspection fee. None of these is large next to the paving bill, but each adds lead time, so they belong in the schedule as well as the budget.
What new pavement adds to a Madison stormwater charge
Madison bills stormwater monthly on the Municipal Services Utility Bill in three parts, at 2025 rates: a flat $2.95 per parcel, $0.000267 per square foot of pervious area such as lawn, and $0.003533 per square foot of impervious area such as pavement and roofs. Both areas are measured from aerial imagery, and the City puts the typical homeowner's charge at $12.71 a month.
Widening a driveway by 10 feet along a 30-foot run turns 300 square feet of lawn into pavement. At those rates the impervious charge on that strip is about $1.06 a month and the lawn charge it replaces about 8 cents, a net increase near $0.98 a month, or roughly $12 a year. A 30,000-square-foot parking lot, the size Angi uses for about 100 spaces, carries roughly $106 a month in impervious charges on its own.
Asphalt Paving Pricing Questions
Why can two quotes for the same Madison driveway differ by thousands?
Usually because they describe different driveways under the asphalt. One may price 6 inches of base and 3 inches of asphalt, the other 9 to 12 inches of base and 4 inches of asphalt for a silty subgrade, which is what WAPA's guide recommends on poor soil. Ask each contractor for the base depth, asphalt thickness, number of lifts and mix type in writing, then compare the sections rather than the totals.
Is a concrete apron more expensive than an asphalt one?
Per square foot, usually. HomeGuide lists 6-inch concrete, its heavy-duty grade, at $8 to $20 per square foot, while asphalt replacement runs $8 to $15 in Angi's figures, and the City of Madison's concrete driveway section is 7 inches thick. An apron is a small area next to the whole driveway, though, so the difference on the total is modest compared with the permit, the curb saw cut and any minimum charge.
Get Exact Madison Pricing
Free quote