How much concrete for concrete steps?

Work the section as a triangular number, not a length. A five riser flight at 7 in rise and 11 in tread has four treads, so 1+2+3+4 = 10 step units of 77 sq in, which is 770 sq in of section and, at 48 in wide, 0.79 cubic yards. Ten risers is 45 units and 3.56 cu yd. Add the top landing separately.

Why do more steps cost so much more?

Because each tread stands on every step below it, so the section is a triangle rather than a strip. The volume grows with n(n-1)/2, which for larger flights is close to half the square of the riser count. Twice the steps is roughly four times the concrete, and the last step added is the most expensive one.

Should concrete steps be poured solid or as a shell?

A shell over compacted fill on anything but a short flight, because the solid volume grows with the square and the shell area does not. The fill is doing structural work: it has to be placed in lifts, compacted properly and able to drain, or the treads crack along the nosings.

What strength concrete for exterior steps?

IRC Table R402.2 names exterior steps explicitly, alongside porches, carport slabs and garage floors: 2,500 psi in a negligible weathering region, 3,000 in moderate and 3,500 in severe, with air entrainment mandatory in the last two. That is a direct requirement rather than an analogy, which is unusual for exterior flatwork.

Why is stair formwork so expensive?

A slab is formed at its edges only, while a flight has a formed face at every riser and on both sides, full height, plus a separately finished surface at every tread. A five riser flight at 7 in by 11 in and 48 in wide has 37.0 square feet of formed and finished surface. The forms also have to be braced against wet concrete that is deepest where the form is tallest.

Do concrete steps need a footing?

They need to bear on something that will not move, and what that is depends on the ground and the frost line. Steps sitting on compacted fill over good ground are one thing; steps at the edge of an excavation or spanning to a landing are a structural element and outside this page. Frost depth is local and is not published here.

How much do cement steps cost?

HomeAdvisor's June 2026 guide gives $200 to $600 per step for a step 4 ft wide, $1,800 to $6,000 for a whole poured job and $600 to $2,000 for precast steps. Removing old steps adds $200 to $400. Cement stairs and concrete stairs are the same job.

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Concrete Stairs Calculator

Volume from the stepped section, not from a length

Double the number of steps and you nearly quadruple the concrete. Each step stands on every step below it, so the section of a flight is a triangle rather than a strip, and the volume grows with the square of the count.

Concrete stair takeoff

Risers

no.

Rise per step

Tread depth

Stair width

Poured solid or as a shell

Shell or landing thickness

Top landing depth (0 for none)

Weathering potential

Waste allowance (ours)

Volume from the stepped geometry. Riser and tread dimensions are governed by IRC R311.7 and this page does not check them: the stair construction calculator reads that section in full.

Specification summary

Generated from on . Reopen that address to reproduce these figures exactly.

Entered

Result

Why a flight is not its length times a step

Concrete step prices

As each row states
Item	Low	High	Unit
Step 3 ft wide	$150	$450	per step
Step 4 ft wide	$200	$600	per step
Step 5 ft wide	$250	$750	per step
Step 6 ft wide	$300	$900	per step
Poured steps, whole job	$1,800	$6,000	total
Precast steps, whole job	$600	$2,000	total
Removing old steps	$200	$400	total
Railings	$300	$600	total

Source: HomeAdvisor, how much do concrete steps cost. Last price check: September 13, 2026.

The same page gives $600 to $5,000 in its headline and $400 to $6,000 in its overview.

Worked example

A five riser flight, 7 in rise, 11 in tread, 48 in wide, poured solid in a severe weathering region.

The section is not five steps, it is ten units. Five risers make four treads plus the top landing. The first tread stands one step high, the fourth four high. So the cross-section is 1+2+3+4 = 10 step units of 77 square inches, which is 5 x 4 / 2.
That is 0.79 cubic yards. 770 square inches of section, 48 in wide.
Now build ten risers instead of five. The section goes to 10 x 9 / 2 = 45 units, and the concrete to 3.56 cu yd. Twice the steps, 4.5 times the concrete, and the same arithmetic runs the other way: halving a flight cuts far more than half.
The formwork does not follow the volume. Five risers is 37.0 square feet of formed and finished surface: both sides, the five risers and the four treads.
And in a severe weathering region the mix is specified. Table R402.2 names exterior steps explicitly, which most flatwork on this site only fits by analogy: 3,500 psi and mandatory air entrainment.

The volume is the number to order. The formwork area is the surface that has to be built, braced and finished, and it grows differently.

The formula

The section is a triangular number, which is where the square comes from:

section = R × T × n(n − 1) / 2 volume = section × W

R, T: the rise and tread of one step, which give the area of one step unit
n(n − 1) / 2: how many of those units are under the n − 1 treads: 1 + 2 + ... + (n − 1), with the top riser meeting the landing
W: the stair width, the only term that scales linearly

For large n that triangular number is close to n squared over two, which is why doubling a flight roughly quadruples it. It also means the marginal step is the expensive one: going from nine risers to ten adds nine units, while the second riser added one.

What this page does and does not check

It computes volume and formwork area from the geometry you give it. It does not check the geometry against the code. Riser height, tread depth, the relationship between them and the 3/8 in tolerance across a flight are all in IRC R311.7, and the stair construction calculator on this site reads that section in full.

Which matters more on concrete than on timber. A wooden stair with a riser out of tolerance can be shimmed. A poured one cannot be adjusted at all once it has gone off, and the commonest way a concrete stair fails inspection is a first or last riser that differs from the rest because the landing was not where the drawing said.

Table R402.2 names exterior steps directly, which is unusual: most of the exterior flatwork on this site fits that row only by analogy. Steps are in the text alongside porches, carport slabs and garage floors, so the strength requirement is not an inference here.

Reinforcement is not on this page. A flight of steps spanning between a footing at the bottom and a landing at the top is a structural element, and how it is reinforced depends on that span and on what is underneath. Steps poured on well compacted ground are a different problem from steps bridging a void.

Solid or a shell, and what the fill has to do

The calculator works a flight either solid or as a shell, because the difference grows quickly with height.

A shell is the treads, the risers and the two sides, poured over fill. The solid volume grows with the square of the riser count and the shell's surface does not, so the saving is small on a short flight and large on a tall one. Enter your shell thickness and the calculator prints both.

The fill carries the treads. NRMCA's guidance for flatwork is that the subgrade be uniformly compacted, and none of the sources this site has read sets a separate fill specification for a stair shell. Ask the designer or the building department what the fill under yours has to be.

Why the formwork area matters as much as the volume

The calculator prints formwork area beside the volume because the two measure different work.

A slab is formed at its edges only and floated as one surface.

A flight is formed almost everywhere. Every riser is a formed face, every tread is a finished surface, and both sides are formed full height. On a five riser flight at 7 in by 11 in and 48 in wide that is 37.0 square feet around 0.79 cubic yards of concrete.

And the treads are separate surfaces. Each one is floated and edged on its own, while the concrete is still workable.

The volume tells you what to order. The formwork area is the part of the job the volume does not show.

Frequently asked questions

How much concrete for concrete steps?: Work the section as a triangular number, not a length. A five riser flight at 7 in rise and 11 in tread has four treads, so 1+2+3+4 = 10 step units of 77 sq in, which is 770 sq in of section and, at 48 in wide, 0.79 cubic yards. Ten risers is 45 units and 3.56 cu yd. Add the top landing separately.
Why do more steps cost so much more?: Because each tread stands on every step below it, so the section is a triangle rather than a strip. The volume grows with n(n-1)/2, which for larger flights is close to half the square of the riser count. Twice the steps is roughly four times the concrete, and the last step added is the most expensive one.
Should concrete steps be poured solid or as a shell?: A shell over compacted fill on anything but a short flight, because the solid volume grows with the square and the shell area does not. The fill is doing structural work: it has to be placed in lifts, compacted properly and able to drain, or the treads crack along the nosings.
What strength concrete for exterior steps?: IRC Table R402.2 names exterior steps explicitly, alongside porches, carport slabs and garage floors: 2,500 psi in a negligible weathering region, 3,000 in moderate and 3,500 in severe, with air entrainment mandatory in the last two. That is a direct requirement rather than an analogy, which is unusual for exterior flatwork.
Does this calculator check the riser height against the code?: No. Riser height, tread depth and the 3/8 in tolerance across a flight are in IRC R311.7, and the stair construction calculator on this site reads that section in full. It matters more on concrete than on timber, because a poured riser cannot be shimmed afterwards.
Why is stair formwork so expensive?: A slab is formed at its edges only, while a flight has a formed face at every riser and on both sides, full height, plus a separately finished surface at every tread. A five riser flight at 7 in by 11 in and 48 in wide has 37.0 square feet of formed and finished surface. The forms also have to be braced against wet concrete that is deepest where the form is tallest.
Do concrete steps need a footing?: They need to bear on something that will not move, and what that is depends on the ground and the frost line. Steps sitting on compacted fill over good ground are one thing; steps at the edge of an excavation or spanning to a landing are a structural element and outside this page. Frost depth is local and is not published here.
How much do cement steps cost?: HomeAdvisor's June 2026 guide gives $200 to $600 per step for a step 4 ft wide, $1,800 to $6,000 for a whole poured job and $600 to $2,000 for precast steps. Removing old steps adds $200 to $400. Cement stairs and concrete stairs are the same job.

Check these numbers yourself

2018 Seattle Residential Code, Chapter 4 FoundationsSeattle Department of Construction and Inspections. Read 2026-09-09. Source of Table R402.2, whose exterior flatwork row names steps directly rather than by analogy.
NRMCA Concrete in Practice CIP 14, Finishing Concrete FlatworkNational Ready Mixed Concrete Association. Source of the uniformly compacted subgrade guidance. Read 2026-09-16.

How every figure here is verified: Sources & Method. Who builds this: Lucas Pradella, and the method is on About. Found something wrong? Tell us and it gets fixed or removed.

Figures on this page last checked against the source documents on 2026-09-09. Codes are amended locally; confirm against the edition your jurisdiction enforces.

Related calculators

Guides that use this calculator

How to Pour Concrete Stairs the riser math the code enforces, the concrete it implies, and why a per-step price cannot be right

More of them: all guides.

This computes volume and formwork, not compliance. Riser and tread dimensions are governed by IRC R311.7 and are not checked here, which matters more on concrete than on timber because a poured riser cannot be adjusted afterwards. Reinforcement, bearing and frost depth are all outside this page, and a flight spanning to a landing rather than bearing on ground is an engineered element.