How Much Does a 20×20 Paver Patio Cost

Total Cost for 400 Square Feet

A 20×20 patio covers 400 square feet. Lawn Love lists $3,200 to $9,600 installed. LawnStarter’s December 2024 guide lists $4,000 to $9,600, so the two agree on the ceiling and differ on the floor.

• $3,200 Low end, simple job (Lawn Love, Dec 2025)
• $4,800 Estimated typical total
• $9,600 High end, complex job (Lawn Love, Dec 2025)

Cost per Square Foot

What is the cost per square foot? Installed pavers cost $8 to $24 per square foot, per Lawn Love. HomeAdvisor and Angi report $8 to $25, and up to $50 for high-end stone, as Bob Vila quoted in August 2023. Small jobs cost more per square foot because crew and delivery costs spread over less area.

Cost by Patio Size, 100 to 600 Square Feet

Every row in Lawn Love’s table uses the same $8 to $24 band, so the total scales with area. LawnStarter adds that bigger patios usually cost less per square foot.

Concrete and Brick Pavers

Concrete pavers cost $4 to $6 per square foot before labor and brick pavers $4 to $8, per Lawn Love. Installed, the gap widens. Brick costs $6 to $8 more per square foot than concrete in LawnStarter’s data, or $2,400 to $3,200 more on 400 square feet.

Pavers-only prices from Lawn Love, December 2025. Installed prices from LawnStarter, December 2024.

Natural Stone and Porcelain Pavers

Natural stone pavers cost $7 to $16 per square foot for the stone alone, and flagstone $13 to $30, per Lawn Love. Bob Vila lists installed bluestone at $18 to $30 and installed flagstone at $16 to $30. Stone Centers lists porcelain pavers at $10 to $22 per square foot for the material alone, plus a general $7 to $15 per square foot for professional installation. That is one source, so treat it as a rough guide.

Why Natural Stone Costs More

Natural stone does not always cost more than brick. LawnStarter’s stone range starts at $12 per square foot, below brick’s $14 floor. The premium shows up at the top of the range, for three reasons.

1. The stone costs more: $7 to $16 per square foot against $4 to $6 for concrete pavers, per Lawn Love.
2. Odd shapes, rare colors and large sizes raise the price per stone, per Bob Vila.
3. High-end stone reaches $50 per square foot, per HomeAdvisor and Angi.

Labor

Installers charge $4 to $11 per square foot or $50 to $80 per hour, per HomeAdvisor in Bob Vila’s article. That is $1,600 to $4,400 on 400 square feet. A pro needs 35 to 40 hours for 300 square feet, which scales to about 47 to 53 hours for 400.

• $4 to $11 per square foot, labor only
• $50 to $80 per hour, professional installer
• 47 to 53 pro hours for 400 sq ft, estimated

Pavers and Materials

Pavers alone cost $4 to $16 per square foot from concrete to natural stone, per Lawn Love, so $1,600 to $6,400 for 400 square feet. Suppliers sell them by the pallet, and each pallet covers 100 to 160 square feet.

• $335 to $1,165 per pallet (Lawn Love, Dec 2025)
• 3 to 4 pallets for a 20×20 patio

Base, Sand and Edging

Base materials are small next to the pavers. LawnStarter’s December 2024 DIY averages are $200 for gravel and $21 for paver sand. Lawn Love prices edge restraints at $8 per 6 feet, so the 80 foot perimeter takes 14 and costs about $112. Polymeric sand is $22 per bag. Grading, when needed, runs $770 to $3,000.

Equipment and Permits

A plate compactor rents for $83 per day at Lawn Love and $106 at LawnStarter. LawnStarter lists a sod cutter at $79, a wet masonry saw at $79, a Bobcat at $280 and a jackhammer at $125. Ground-level paver patios generally need no permit, per Bob Vila, though heavy excavation for soil preparation and drainage can trigger one. Fees vary by city.

Shape and Pattern

Odd shapes, rare colors and large sizes raise the price per stone, per Bob Vila, and LawnStarter says complex patterns cost more. Neither gives a dollar surcharge, so ask contractors to price the pattern as its own line.

Sloped Ground and Drainage

Slope is the biggest swing. Bob Vila lists drainage slope work at $1,296 to $6,480 and a French drain at $3,296 to $9,480, close to the $9,600 ceiling for the whole patio. Lawn Love lists site grading at $770 to $3,000.

Soil, Access and Old Patio Removal

Angi prices old concrete removal at $2 to $6 per square foot for slabs up to 6 inches thick, or $800 to $2,400 on 400 square feet. Thicker slabs roughly double that to $1,600 to $4,800. Disposal adds $50 to $100 per ton when the rate leaves it out. Bob Vila says clearing existing landscaping yourself saves labor. The guides used here give no dollar figure for soil type or truck access.

Utility Lines, Buried Material and Extra Soil

A buried utility line, an old foundation piece or soft soil forces extra excavation and base stone. No guide used here gives a rate. The unit math is simple. Each extra inch of gravel base over 400 square feet is 1.2 cubic yards, or about 1.7 to 2.1 tons at 2,700 to 3,400 pounds per cubic yard. Ask for that unit price before work starts.

• 1.2 cu yd gravel for every extra inch of base on 400 sq ft
• $1,350 to $5,700 landscaper design and build, if the yard needs reworking (Bob Vila, Aug 2023)

• Call 811 before any digging so utility lines are marked.
• Ask for per-unit prices on extra excavation and extra base stone.
• Ask who pays to replace plants or sod damaged during grading.

Permits and Neighborhood Rules

An at-grade paver patio carries no structural load, so building codes generally treat it like other at-grade surfaces, per Permits Guide. Permits start to matter once the project adds a roof, attaches to the house or rises more than 30 inches above grade. Bob Vila adds that heavy excavation for soil preparation and drainage can trigger one. Rules differ by city, so ask the local building department.

Setbacks, utility easements, impervious surface limits and HOA rules can apply even when no permit is needed. Ask the local office and the HOA before work starts.

National Ranges

Lawn Love lists $8 to $24 per square foot nationally and HomeAdvisor and Angi list $8 to $25. No city in LawnStarter’s table has a floor below $15, so a $3,200 quote for 400 square feet is unlikely in any of them.

NYC Prices

New York is the highest in the table. LawnStarter lists $21 to $31 per square foot overall, $25 to $34 with a professional and $15 to $20 for DIY. The $21 floor is 2.6 times the national $8 floor.

LawnStarter, December 2024. Totals multiplied by 400.

DIY Materials and Equipment Rental

One day of all five LawnStarter rentals costs $669. Small supplies are cheaper, and the pavers are the biggest DIY expense.

LawnStarter, December 2024. Pavers are not in this list.

Professional Installation

Labor runs $4 to $11 per square foot, per HomeAdvisor in Bob Vila’s article, and LawnStarter’s all-in professional average is $20 to $27. A pro needs 35 to 40 hours for 300 square feet and a DIY builder 40 to 50. That scales to about 47 to 53 and 53 to 67 hours on 400 square feet.

When DIY Stops Saving Money

Lawn Love calls DIY possible but not recommended and says it can cost as much as hiring a pro. Its DIY example for 280 square feet totals $5,402 to $5,652, with $4,620 spent on pavers. Bob Vila says tools and materials add up and pros may get volume discounts. Three situations erase the savings.

1. The site needs grading or drainage work, which adds $770 to $6,480 before any paver is laid.
2. The job needs the Bobcat and the jackhammer, which add $405 per day.
3. The base is compacted poorly and needs redoing, which repeats the gravel, the sand and the rental.

Is a 20×20 Paver Patio Worth It?

Is a 20×20 paver patio worth the cost? Bob Vila cites a return of about 80% and says a patio can add 8 to 10% to a home’s value. The article gives no local data behind those figures, so treat them as rough. A clearer test is yearly cost: $3,200 to $9,600 over 25 years is $128 to $384 per year, before sealing.

An Itemized Quote Checklist

A complete quote names each of these lines with a price or a note that it is included.

• Excavation depth and grading, with grading priced on its own
• Base depth, at least 4 inches compacted, and the stone type
• Bedding sand at 1 inch
• Geotextile fabric
• Paver type, size, color and pattern
• Edge restraints on all four sides
• Polymeric joint sand
• Old slab removal and disposal, if the site needs it
• Drainage work, if the site slopes
• Permits and who pays for them

Red Flags in a Low Quote

A quote under $8 per square foot, or under $3,200 for 400 square feet, falls below both Lawn Love’s and HomeAdvisor’s floor. The lowest floor in LawnStarter’s ten-city table is $15.

• A base thinner than the ICPI’s 4 inch minimum
• No grading line, when grading runs $770 to $3,000
• Unstated disposal, when hauling costs $50 to $100 per ton
• One lump sum with no paver type named

Common Mistakes That Inflate Costs

1. Skipping the drainage check, when slope work costs $1,296 to $6,480.
2. Leaving old slab removal out of the budget, which adds $800 to $2,400.
3. Ordering pavers with no allowance for 10% cuts and breakage.
4. Choosing brick over concrete without pricing the $2,400 to $3,200 gap.
5. Starting work before checking permits, setbacks and HOA rules, which can force a redesign or removal.

Ways to Save Without Weakening the Base

Savings come from the surface and the scope, never from the base. Keep the base at the ICPI’s 4 inch minimum and cut elsewhere.

Can I Lay Pavers Over an Existing Concrete Slab?

Yes, pavers can go over a slab that is structurally sound and slopes enough to drain. Installers typically want a slope of at least 2%, or one quarter inch per foot, so water does not sit between the slab and the pavers. A few hairline cracks are acceptable. Major cracks are not.

• Sand-set method: a thin bedding layer of coarse sand over the slab, then the pavers
• Bonded method: pavers adhered with thin-set mortar, which suits thin pavers and tight height limits
• Height change: the surface rises by the paver thickness plus the bedding layer, so check door thresholds and steps

No source found here prices a slab overlay. It avoids old slab removal, which costs $800 to $2,400 on 400 square feet, per Angi.

What Is the Cheapest Paver Material for a Patio?

Interlocking pavers are the cheapest at $3 to $6 per square foot and concrete pavers follow at $4 to $6, both before labor, per Lawn Love. Installed, concrete pavers cost $8 to $16 per square foot in LawnStarter’s data, or $3,200 to $6,400 on 400 square feet.

How Much Does a 20×30 Paver Patio Cost?

A 20×30 paver patio costs $4,800 to $14,400 installed, per Lawn Love’s December 2025 table. That is 600 square feet at $8 to $24 per square foot, or $1,600 to $4,800 more than a 20×20.

• $3,200 to $9,600 20×20, 400 sq ft
• $4,800 to $14,400 20×30, 600 sq ft
• +$1,600 to +$4,800 the extra 200 sq ft, estimated