Asphalt or Concrete for a Dallas Driveway?

Asphalt, on the day. A Texas paving company lists basic paving at $3 to $6 per square foot, mid-range at $6 to $10 and premium at $10 to $15, and says in its own words that these are typical ranges across Texas, reviewed in March 2026, statewide figures and not a market study of Dallas. A national concrete guide puts asphalt installation at $3 to $6 per square foot against $5 to $8 for plain gray concrete. The concrete number is firmer here because Dallas–Fort Worth contractors publish it: $7 to $14 per square foot for a standard broom-finish driveway, or $6 to $14 in a Dallas cost model. No DFW asphalt contractor we checked published a Dallas price, so treat every asphalt figure on this page as a Texas or national range, the way how we price sets out, with the dates on price updates.

Concrete, two to three times as long. A properly installed concrete driveway lasts 25 to 30 years in this climate according to a DFW contractor, and a North Texas concrete company puts it at approximately 25 to 40 years or more depending on installation, maintenance and site conditions. Asphalt generally only lasts 10 to 15 years before it needs replacing, says a national guide. Heat is why the gap is wider here than in a cool state. Asphalt can soften during periods of extreme heat, while properly designed and installed concrete performs well at high temperatures, and DFW heat is not theoretical: the record is 71 days of 100 degrees or more in a calendar year, set in 2011, the longest run is 42 straight days from June 23 to August 3, 1980, and in an average year the first 100-degree day lands on July 1 and the last on August 27.

It moves under both, and neither material stops it. The Blackland Prairie soil under much of Dallas expands up to 30 to 40 percent in volume when wet and contracts hard in drought, pushing up and sideways on whatever sits on top. Houston Black clay, mapped across the same prairie, opens cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide as it dries and holds them open 90 to 150 cumulative days in most years. Concrete answers that with mass and steel: 5 inches minimum for Dallas driveways and patios, and #4 rebar on 18-inch centers, because wire mesh alone will not hold against the movement. Asphalt flexes instead of cracking, which reads like an advantage until the subgrade under it drops and takes the surface down with it. Either way the base work and the drainage decide how long the driveway lasts, not the top layer. Why concrete cracks here goes further into the soil.

Asphalt needs sealing on a schedule; concrete mostly needs watching. Driveway sealing runs $1 to $2 per square foot including labor, or $400 to $800 for 400 square feet, and a driveway should be resealed on a 2 to 10 year cycle depending on the sealant and the climate. Resurfacing asphalt costs $1 to $3 per square foot, or $400 to $1,800 on average. Concrete sealing is similar, at $1 to $3 per square foot installed or $575 to $1,700 for a two-car driveway, and a sound concrete slab with a worn surface can be resurfaced for $3 to $10 per square foot rather than replaced. The cheapest upkeep in Dallas costs nothing at all: watering the soil 12 to 18 inches out from the slab edge during dry spells does more to prevent cracking than any sealer. Concrete repair in Dallas has the leveling and resurfacing numbers.

Concrete, by a wide margin: a Dallas cost model notes flatly that concrete is more popular than asphalt in DFW. That is not an argument by itself, but it shapes the market you are buying in, including how many companies will bid. The City of Dallas registers both trades in one class, its concrete/asphalt/paving contractor class, which covers paving residential driveways, so the registration question is the same whichever surface you choose, and the drive approach at the street still needs a paving permit issued only to a bonded paving contractor. On resale, a national guide argues the case for concrete, saying its durability, lower maintenance requirements and longer lifespan against asphalt add to its ultimate value. We found no Dallas-specific resale figure worth printing, so that is where the honest comparison stops. Check the registration and the permit before the price: how to choose a concrete contractor lists the questions, and slab and approach permits covers the street.