Short answer: in 2026, a professionally installed permeable paver driveway in the Boston area runs about $35 per square foot. A typical 400-square-foot city driveway (10×40) lands near $14,000; a two-car drive around 720 square feet runs about $25,200. If there's old asphalt to remove first, budget roughly $5,300 for an 1,800 sq ft surface, hauling and disposal included. Those are our real installed numbers, not a national average.
That's the honest number from someone who's been quoting these jobs in Somerville, Medford, Cambridge and Boston for 37 years. Below is what a driveway costs by size, where the money actually goes, what asphalt really costs you over twenty years, and the two line items city homeowners never see coming — the curb cut and the haul-away.
Paver driveway cost by size (2026, installed)
| Driveway | Square feet | Typical installed range* |
|---|---|---|
| Parking pad (10×20) | 200 sq ft | $6,500 – $7,500 |
| One-car city drive (10×40) | 400 sq ft | $13,000 – $15,000 |
| Wide single (12×40) | 480 sq ft | $16,000 – $18,000 |
| Two-car drive (18×40) | 720 sq ft | $24,000 – $27,000 |
| Large suburban drive (20×50) | 1,000 sq ft | $33,000 – $37,000 |
*Permeable paver driveway at about $35/sq ft installed on a proper vehicle-rated base. Ranges reflect access, grading and what comes out of the hole. Asphalt removal is extra — see below. Every American Elm project starts with a free on-site written estimate.
Paver driveway vs. asphalt: the real comparison
| Surface | Installed cost/sq ft | Straight talk |
|---|---|---|
| Asphalt (blacktop) | $7 – $13* | Cheapest up front. Cracks and ruts in freeze-thaw, softens in summer, and it's typically resurfaced or replaced on a 15–20 year cycle. |
| Poured concrete | $8 – $16* | One big slab. When our ground moves it cracks, and a cracked slab is a replacement, not a repair. |
| Permeable pavers | about $35 | Our installed rate. Drains rain straight through instead of into your basement or the street, flexes with frost instead of cracking, repairs in sections, and earns Somerville Green Score credit. |
*Asphalt and poured concrete shown for comparison — general market ranges, not our installed work. Our real installed rate is about $35/sq ft for a permeable paver driveway. Your free written estimate gives the exact number.
The honest framing isn't "pavers cost more than asphalt." It's "asphalt gets bought twice." A blacktop drive in this climate wants sealcoating every few years and a major redo somewhere around year 15–20 — and it sheds every drop of rain toward your foundation or the street the whole time. A paver driveway is bought once, built on a base designed for wheel loads, and any section that ever settles gets lifted and reset in a day. The long version is on our paver & permeable driveway page, and permeable vs. regular pavers covers how the drainage actually works.
Where the money goes
A driveway is not a patio with cars on it — it's a different structure. For a typical Greater Boston permeable paver driveway at about $35 a square foot:
- Excavation & disposal. A vehicle-rated base means a deeper dig than any patio, and everything that comes out of the hole pays tipping fees.
- The base — the biggest share. Open-graded crushed stone, placed and compacted in lifts, deep enough to carry a vehicle through a New England freeze-thaw cycle. For a permeable system this doubles as the stone reservoir that stores rainwater while it soaks in.
- Pavers & bedding. Driveway-rated pavers, set on an open-graded bedding layer — not sand — for permeable systems.
- Edges, joints & cleanup. Edge restraint that holds under a turning tire, stone-filled joints that keep the surface draining.
Removing the old asphalt
Most driveway jobs in Somerville, Medford and Cambridge start with an old blacktop drive that has to come out and go to a disposal facility. For an 1,800 square foot driveway, remove and haul including disposal runs about $5,300. Smaller drives cost less, but not proportionally — the excavator, the truck and mobilization cost the same whether the drive is 400 feet or 1,800.
Curb cuts, aprons and permits
The part of the job nobody budgets for is the part at the street. For the driveway surface on your own property, you often don't need a permit at all. But anything touching the public way does:
- A new or widened curb cut needs a curb cut and sidewalk permit from the city engineering department — and work at the street can't start until it's issued
- Apron reconstruction (the stretch between sidewalk and street) is usually built to the city's spec, not yours
- The building permit is a $250 pass-through — we don't mark it up, and we handle the paperwork
Full detail on what needs a permit and what doesn't: permits for patios, walls and driveways in Massachusetts.
The parking pad option
In Somerville and Cambridge, a full driveway isn't always the goal — sometimes it's one legal off-street spot. A typical 10×20 parking pad is 200 square feet: around $7,000 in permeable pavers, plus the curb cut and permit if the street connection is new. Done in permeable pavers it drains, it doesn't rut, and it doesn't count against your lot's impervious coverage the way asphalt would.
What moves the price up or down
- Access. Machine access keeps material moving by the bucket. A drive pinched between two houses where everything stages from the street adds labor.
- Slope. A pitched drive needs grading, sometimes a low wall, and careful water management at the garage door.
- What's under the asphalt. Sometimes it's a usable gravel base; sometimes it's construction debris from 1965. We know when we open it up.
- Drainage problems you already have. If the driveway currently sends water into your basement, fixing that is the whole point — a permeable system often solves it outright. If your yard floods too, start at why your yard floods.
How long does it take?
- Parking pad or small single drive: 3–5 working days
- Full one-car city drive with asphalt removal: 5–8 working days
- Two-car drive with curb cut or apron work: 2–3 weeks including permit lead time
Weather moves all of it. We don't set a base in standing water.
How to read a driveway quote
Same rule as patios, higher stakes. Ask every contractor to put these in writing:
- Excavation depth and base thickness — and whether the base is rated for vehicles, not foot traffic
- Open-graded stone or dense-graded — for a permeable system this is the difference between a driveway that drains and an expensive one that floods
- Compaction method — plate compactor in lifts, documented
- Who pulls the curb cut permit and whether apron work is in the number
- Asphalt removal and disposal — included or extra
- Edge restraint type — it has to hold under a turning tire
- Written warranty on settling and rutting
- License and insurance certificates — actual copies
You'll learn more from those eight answers than from the price. The full homeowner's checklist is here: was my paver job installed correctly?
Want a real number for your driveway?
Every range above is a range because your driveway is not a spreadsheet. We'll come out, measure, walk the access route, look at the curb cut and where the water goes, and give you an itemized written estimate — free, no pressure, no hidden costs.
Get a Free Quote 📞 (781) 859-530437 years across Greater Boston. Unilock Authorized Contractor. NDS Certified drainage. Licensed and insured.
Paver driveway cost FAQs
How much does a paver driveway cost in Massachusetts in 2026?
About $35 per square foot installed for a permeable paver driveway on a proper vehicle-rated base. A typical 400 sq ft city driveway comes in near $14,000; a two-car drive around 720 sq ft runs about $25,200. Every job gets a free written estimate with the exact number.
How much does it cost to remove an old asphalt driveway?
For an 1,800 sq ft driveway, removal and hauling including disposal runs about $5,300. Smaller drives cost less, but not proportionally — the machine, the truck and mobilization cost the same either way.
Are paver driveways worth it compared to asphalt?
Asphalt is cheaper up front, but it cracks and ruts in freeze-thaw and typically gets resurfaced or replaced on a 15–20 year cycle. A paver driveway flexes with the ground instead of cracking, repairs in sections, and permeable versions solve drainage and earn Somerville Green Score credit.
Why do driveways need a more expensive base than patios?
A driveway carries vehicles, not furniture. That means a deeper compacted base built for wheel loads — plus an open-graded stone reservoir for a permeable system. The base is most of the cost and all of the lifespan.
Do I need a permit for a paver driveway?
For the surface on your own property, often not. Anything at the street — a new or widened curb cut, or apron reconstruction — needs a curb cut and sidewalk permit from the city engineering department. We handle the paperwork; the building permit is a $250 pass-through.
Does a parking pad cost less than a full driveway?
Yes. A typical 10×20 pad is 200 square feet — around $7,000 in permeable pavers, plus the curb cut and permit if the street connection is new.
How long does a paver driveway last?
Built on a proper vehicle-rated base, decades — and any settled section can be lifted and reset instead of repaved. The base is what fails first when it's built wrong.