Structures are commonly founded on layered soil deposits. In this study, settlement due to a circular load on a two-layer soil system overlying a rock stratum or a stiff soil deposit is estimated and compared with the values obtained using Steinbrenner's and Finite element approaches. Design tables are proposed for settlements due to uniform circular loading (of radius equal to a) applied on two-layer soil system for top-layer thickness H1 = 0. 2a-6. 0a, bottom-layer thickness H2 = 1. 0a-6. 0a, moduli ratio of top and bottom layers E1/E2 = 0. 01-100 and Poisson's ratio v = 0. 2-0. 5. The settlement factors from the study were also compared with the Ueshita and Meyerhof's values for a finite top layer overlying a semi-infinite bottom layer. Results were compared with the observed settlement of a structure resting on a layered soil profile overlying a rock stratum. Proposed settlement of the two-layer system shows good agreement with these studies. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.