Cubic Yard Calculator

How to use the cubic yard calculator

Landscape supply yards and ready-mix plants sell bulk material by the cubic yard, while garden centers sell it in bags. This cubic yard calculator turns the measurements of a bed, a path, a slab or a hole into cubic yards, cubic feet and cubic meters, then into bags, an approximate weight and a cost. Every formula it uses is on this page, and all of the math happens in your browser.

1. Pick a shape and measure it. On the Cubic yards tab, choose a rectangle or square, a circle, a ring (such as mulch around a tree), a triangle, or an area you already know. Enter the length, width and depth, each with its own unit: feet, inches, yards, meters or centimeters. You can also type 10' 6", 4 in or 30 cm into any length field.
2. Add every area. Use Add area for each bed or strip, and How many for identical ones, such as post holes. The results add them all up.
3. Allow some extra. The Extra field starts at 0%, the exact volume. Add a percentage for uneven ground, spills, or soil and gravel that will be compacted.
4. Read bags, weight and cost. Pick the bag size printed on the bag, a material for the approximate weight, and your supplier's price per cubic yard, cubic meter, bag or ton. Copy the results, download them as a CSV file or print them.

The Coverage & conversions tab works the other way round: it shows how many square feet a given amount covers at each depth, converts cubic yards to cubic feet, cubic meters and liters, and finds the depth an amount gives over an area. Switch Units to Metric to lead with cubic meters, square meters and kilograms.

How to calculate cubic yards

A cubic yard is a cube 3 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep, so it holds 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 cubic feet. To find cubic yards, work out the volume in cubic feet and divide by 27:

cubic feet  = length (ft) × width (ft) × depth (ft)
cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27
depth (ft)  = depth (in) ÷ 12

1. Measure the length and width in feet. Use a tape measure along the edges of the area. Round up to the next half foot rather than down.
2. Measure the depth in inches. Measure how thick the layer will be, and take a few readings where the ground is uneven.
3. Convert the depth to feet. Divide the depth in inches by 12: 3 inches is 0.25 feet and 4 inches is about 0.33 feet.
4. Multiply to get cubic feet. Multiply the length by the width by the depth, all in feet. The answer is the volume in cubic feet.
5. Divide by 27 to get cubic yards. One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Add any extra for waste or compaction, then round up to what your supplier sells.

Example: a garden bed 12 ft long and 10 ft wide, covered 3 inches deep, is 12 × 10 × 0.25 = 30 cubic feet. Divided by 27, that is 1.11 cubic yards, or 0.85 cubic meters. In bags, it is 15 bags of 2 cubic feet or 10 bags of 3 cubic feet. That is the example the calculator opens with.

Cubic yard formulas for each shape

Every shape works the same way: find the area of the top surface in square feet, multiply by the depth in feet, and divide by 27. Only the area formula changes.

rectangle  area = length × width
circle     area = π × (diameter ÷ 2)²
ring       area = π × ((outer ÷ 2)² − (inner ÷ 2)²)
triangle   area = ½ × base × height
volume (yd³)    = area (sq ft) × depth (ft) ÷ 27

Circle: a round bed or a tree ring

A round bed 8 ft across has a radius of 4 ft and an area of π × 4² = 50.27 sq ft. Filled 4 inches deep (0.333 ft), it holds 16.76 cubic feet, which is 0.62 cubic yards. To find cubic yards for a circle, always start from the diameter you can measure across the middle and halve it.

Ring: mulch around a tree

A ring of mulch 6 ft across, leaving 2 ft bare around the trunk, covers π × (3² − 1²) = 25.13 sq ft. At 3 inches deep that is 6.28 cubic feet, or 0.23 cubic yards. Leaving a gap at the trunk matters: Penn State Extension's advice is "For tree health, keep all mulch material away from the trunk."

Triangle: a corner bed

A triangular bed with a 10 ft base and a height of 8 ft (measured square to the base) has an area of ½ × 10 × 8 = 40 sq ft. At 2 inches deep it takes 6.67 cubic feet, or 0.25 cubic yards.

A known area

If you already know the area, from a plan or the square footage calculator, choose Area known and enter it with a depth. A 500 sq ft lawn top-dressed 2 inches deep needs 83.33 cubic feet, or 3.09 cubic yards.

Several areas and odd shapes

Split an irregular area into rectangles, triangles and circles, and add one row for each. A 12 × 10 ft bed plus a 20 × 3 ft strip along the walk, both 3 inches deep, come to 180 sq ft and 45 cubic feet, or 1.67 cubic yards. With 10% extra the order is 1.83 cubic yards. Where the depth varies, measure it in several places and use the average depth.

Cubic feet, cubic yards and cubic meters

The calculator's conversions come straight from the legal definitions of the units. Since 1959, the yard has been defined as exactly 0.9144 meters, so the foot is exactly 0.3048 meters and the inch exactly 2.54 centimeters. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes these in Handbook 44, Appendix C and in the conversion tables of Special Publication 811. Everything else follows from them:

To turn cubic feet into cubic yards, divide by 27. To turn cubic yards into cubic feet, multiply by 27. Cubic meters to cubic yards: multiply by 1.30795. Cubic yards to cubic meters: multiply by 0.7646. The calculator keeps the full exact factors and rounds only what it shows.

How much does a cubic yard cover?

Spread 1 inch deep, one cubic yard covers 27 × 12 = 324 square feet. Deeper layers cover proportionally less, so the quick rule is 324 ÷ depth in inches:

The Coverage & conversions tab builds the same table for any amount, in inches or centimeters, and gives the depth an amount reaches over your area. For example, 2 cubic yards spread over 300 sq ft come to 2.16 inches deep.

How many bags make a cubic yard?

Bagged mulch, soil and compost are labeled by volume, in cubic feet or liters. Divide 27 by the bag size in cubic feet and round up to a whole bag:

Bags sold by weight, such as sand or gravel in 40, 50, 60 or 80 lb bags, are counted from the material's weight per cubic yard: the calculator works out the weight, then divides by the bag weight. At the approximate 2,400 lb per cubic yard listed for loose, dry sand, a cubic yard is about 48 bags of 50 lb. Because real densities vary, treat weight-based bag counts as a rough guide.

Premixed concrete bags are different. They are sold by weight, but how much concrete a bag makes depends on the mix and the water added, so the bag prints its own yield. Choose Custom size and enter that yield. If your bag says it yields 0.60 cubic feet, a cubic yard takes 27 ÷ 0.60 = 45 bags.

How much does a cubic yard weigh?

Suppliers of gravel and sand often sell by the ton, so you need the weight per cubic yard to convert. There is no single answer: moisture, grain size and compaction all change it. The calculator's starting figures come from public estimating tables and are labeled approximate. Always use the figure from your supplier or delivery ticket when you have one.

The first four rows are from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) table "Weights and Volumes for Project Estimates", which lists earth at 2,100 lb per cubic yard ("Loose/Dry. +30% if compacted."), gravel or crushed stone at 2,600 ("Increase 20% if wet") and sand at 2,400 ("Increase 20% if damp and 30% if wet/compacted."). The same table warns that its density values "are rough estimates only". The concrete row uses 0.145 kips per cubic foot (145 lb/ft³), the unit weight the Federal Highway Administration lists for plain normal-weight concrete up to 5,000 psi in its proposed revisions to the bridge design specifications (FHWA-HRT-05-057).

To convert cubic yards to tons, multiply by the pounds per cubic yard and divide by 2,000. Five cubic yards of topsoil at 2,100 lb per cubic yard weigh about 10,500 lb, or 5.25 tons (4,763 kg). Check the weight limit of whatever will carry the load before it is delivered.

Yards of dirt, topsoil, mulch, gravel, sand and concrete

The volume math is the same for every material; what changes is how deep you spread it, how it is sold and how much it settles.

Mulch

Penn State Extension's guidance for mulching trees is to "Apply a 2- to 4-inch layer of organic mulch and no more; use less if the soil is poorly drained." At 3 inches, one cubic yard of mulch covers 108 sq ft. Mulch is sold by the cubic yard in bulk or in bags of a few cubic feet, rarely by weight, so the weight figure matters only for hauling it.

Topsoil and dirt

Topsoil, fill dirt and garden soil are sold by the cubic yard. Loose soil settles and compacts after it is spread and watered, so a bed filled level with loose soil ends up lower. If you are filling a hole or raising a grade that will be compacted, order more than the measured volume; see ordering extra below.

Gravel and sand

Gravel and sand are sold by the cubic yard or by the ton. Use the weight figures above to convert, or better, ask the supplier what their material weighs. For gravel types, driveway and base depths, use the gravel calculator.

Concrete

Ready-mix concrete is ordered by the cubic yard. A 10 × 10 ft slab 4 inches thick is 33.33 cubic feet, or 1.23 cubic yards. At 145 lb per cubic foot it weighs about 4,833 lb (2.42 tons). In premixed bags that yield 0.60 cubic feet each, it is 56 bags. Slab thickness, base, reinforcement and joints depend on the job and on local building codes, so check those with your building department or a qualified contractor; this calculator only works out the volume.

How much extra to order

The calculator's extra starts at 0%, so the main figure is exactly the volume you measured. How much to add depends on the material and the site, so it is your call. Some reasons to add more:

• Compaction. Soil, sand and gravel that are rolled or tamped pack more material into the same space. CalRecycle's table puts compacted earth about 30% heavier per cubic yard than loose, dry earth, which means a compacted cubic yard can take roughly 1.3 cubic yards of loose soil.
• Uneven ground. Low spots hold more than the measured depth. Measure the depth in several places and use the average, or add a few percent.
• Spills and waste. Material is lost on tarps, driveways and in the wheelbarrow, and bulk suppliers usually deliver in fixed steps, so you may round up anyway.

With 10% extra, the 12 × 10 ft bed from the example goes from 1.11 to 1.22 cubic yards, and from 15 to 17 bags of 2 cubic feet.

Metric: cubic meters

Switch Units to Metric and the results lead with cubic meters, square meters and kilograms, and new areas start in meters and centimeters. You can still mix units in any row.

A 4 × 3 m area filled 10 cm deep is 4 × 3 × 0.1 = 1.20 cubic meters, which is 1.57 cubic yards or 42.38 cubic feet. One cubic meter spread 10 cm deep covers 10 square meters.

How we calculate

Every figure in the tool and on this page comes from the same code, and the examples above are checked against it automatically.

• Lengths. Every measurement is converted to feet first: inches ÷ 12, yards × 3, centimeters ÷ 30.48, meters ÷ 0.3048. These follow the exact NIST definitions.
• Areas. Rectangle = length × width; circle = π × (diameter ÷ 2)²; ring = π × ((outer ÷ 2)² − (inner ÷ 2)²); triangle = ½ × base × height.
• Volume. Area × depth × how many, summed over every area, in cubic feet. Cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27; cubic meters = cubic feet × 0.028316846592; liters = cubic meters × 1,000. The extra multiplies the total by (1 + extra ÷ 100).
• Bags. Volume ÷ bag volume, or weight ÷ bag weight for bags sold by weight, rounded up to a whole bag.
• Weight. Cubic yards × pounds per cubic yard; tons = pounds ÷ 2,000; kilograms = pounds × 0.45359237. The material figures are approximate.
• Cost. Your price × the quantity it is per (cubic yards or cubic meters unrounded, whole bags, or tons), plus delivery. Nothing is filled in for you, because prices vary by region, season and supplier.
• Rounding. Results are kept at full precision and rounded only for display: volumes to two decimals, liters and pounds to whole numbers.

Your measurements stay on your device

The calculator runs entirely as JavaScript in your browser tab. Nothing you enter is uploaded: the page's Content-Security-Policy allows connections only back to this site, and the tool has no code that sends anything anywhere. It remembers your last areas, units and settings in your browser's local storage, on your device only. There is no account and no cookie.

Sources

• National Institute of Standards and Technology: NIST Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C, General Tables of Units of Measurement: 1 yard = 0.9144 meter, 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet, 1 pound = 453.59237 grams and 1 short ton = 2,000 pounds, all exact.
• NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.9, Factors for units listed by kind of quantity: exact factors for the foot, inch and yard, and the cubic foot and cubic yard in cubic meters.
• NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B, Section B.6, on the 1959 definition of the yard as exactly 0.9144 meter.
• CalRecycle, Solid Waste Cleanup Program: Weights and Volumes for Project Estimates, as adopted in a City of Lemon Grove, California, resolution: approximate pounds per cubic yard for earth, gravel or crushed stone, sand and wood chips.
• Federal Highway Administration: FHWA-HRT-05-057, Appendix D, Proposed Revisions to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, Table 3.5.1-1: 0.145 kcf for normal-weight concrete.
• Penn State Extension: Mulching Landscape Trees, on mulch depth and keeping mulch off the trunk.

Reviewed by microplugins · Last updated October 2026

This is an educational tool, not engineering, construction or landscaping advice. Material weights are approximate and vary with moisture and compaction; confirm quantities, weights and delivery limits with your supplier, and check slab, base and drainage requirements with your building department or a qualified professional.