Calculate cubic yards for concrete, gravel, soil, mulch and more — from dimensions, square footage, cubic feet or cubic metres, with weight and cost.
Depth has its own unit, independent of the length/width unit above — common in practice (e.g. dimensions in feet, depth in inches).
Material (optional)
Density varies by material grading, moisture and compaction, and between suppliers — these are commonly cited planning figures, not exact engineering values.
Cost (optional)
| Item | Value |
|---|
Written and reviewed by Mohsin Iqbal · Last reviewed August 2026
Multiply length, width and depth (all converted to the same unit), then convert the result to cubic yards. If you already know the area in square feet, multiply by depth in inches and divide by 324. Either way, the calculator above handles the conversion automatically — enter your numbers in whatever units you have them, and it does the rest.
Cubic feet = Length(ft) × Width(ft) × Depth(ft)
Cubic yards = Cubic feet ÷ 27
A cubic yard is a cube 3 feet on every side: 3ft × 3ft × 3ft = 27 cubic feet exactly. That's why dividing by 27 converts cubic feet to cubic yards, and it's an exact conversion, not an approximation.
Square feet cannot be converted to cubic yards without a depth — square feet measures area (two dimensions), cubic yards measures volume (three dimensions), and there's no way to add the missing dimension without knowing it. Once you have a depth, the shortcut is:
Cubic yards = Square feet × Depth (inches) ÷ 324
The 324 comes from combining two conversions: 12 inches per foot, and 27 cubic feet per cubic yard (12 × 27 = 324). Verified: 324 ft² at 1 inch deep = exactly 1 cubic yard; 108 ft² at 3 inches deep also equals exactly 1 cubic yard.
Cubic yards = Cubic feet ÷ 27
This is an exact conversion — 1 cubic yard is defined as precisely 27 cubic feet, since a yard is exactly 3 feet on each side and 3³ = 27.
There is no single, universal conversion between cubic yards and tons — weight depends entirely on the material's density, which varies by material type, moisture content, particle grading and compaction. A cubic yard of mulch weighs a small fraction of a cubic yard of gravel. Always convert through a material-specific density: cubic yards × density = weight. This calculator's material dropdown provides commonly cited planning densities for common materials, and lets you enter a custom figure if your supplier provides one.
| Material | Approx. density |
|---|---|
| Concrete | 2,400 kg/m³ · 4,050 lb/yd³ |
| Gravel | 1,650 kg/m³ · 2,780 lb/yd³ |
| Crushed stone | 1,600 kg/m³ · 2,700 lb/yd³ |
| Sand | 1,600 kg/m³ · 2,700 lb/yd³ |
| Topsoil | 950 kg/m³ · 1,600 lb/yd³ |
| Fill dirt | 1,300 kg/m³ · 2,200 lb/yd³ |
| Mulch | 300 kg/m³ · 500 lb/yd³ |
| Compost | 600 kg/m³ · 1,000 lb/yd³ |
| Road base | 1,700 kg/m³ · 2,870 lb/yd³ |
| Limestone | 1,450 kg/m³ · 2,450 lb/yd³ |
These are commonly cited planning figures, cross-checked against multiple independent construction and landscaping references — not exact engineering values. Real density varies by supplier, moisture content, particle grading and how settled or compacted the material is. Use the custom density option if your supplier provides a specific figure.
Concrete is typically ordered by the cubic yard in the US, with suppliers rounding up to the nearest quarter or half yard since ready-mix trucks can't easily deliver odd fractional amounts. For volume specifically driven by concrete's own placement geometry (like stepped stairs), see our Concrete Calculator, which handles slab, footing and stair shapes directly.
Gravel driveways commonly use 2–4 inches of material, sometimes over a compacted base layer. For gravel-specific outputs like truck loads and bag counts, see our Gravel Calculator.
Mulch is one of the lightest common landscaping materials by volume — a cubic yard of mulch weighs only a few hundred pounds, a fraction of the same volume of soil or gravel. Typical application depth is 2–4 inches for garden beds.
Topsoil density varies significantly with moisture and organic content — dry, loose topsoil sits toward the lighter end of the range, while moist or compacted topsoil can weigh considerably more. Always confirm with your supplier if you're ordering a large or expensive quantity.
Dry sand and wet sand differ noticeably in weight, since sand's fine particles hold moisture readily — wet sand can weigh 20–30% more than dry sand for the same volume. If you're ordering by weight rather than volume, ask your supplier whether their quoted density is for dry or wet material.
Coverage depends entirely on how deep you're spreading it — the same cubic yard covers four times as much area at 1 inch deep as it does at 4 inches deep.
| Depth | 1 cubic yard covers |
|---|---|
| 1 inch | 324 ft² |
| 2 inches | 162 ft² |
| 3 inches | 108 ft² |
| 4 inches | 81 ft² |
| 6 inches | 54 ft² |
| 8 inches | 40.5 ft² |
| 12 inches (1 foot) | 27 ft² |
| Conversion | Value | Exact or rounded? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cubic yard | = 27 cubic feet | Exact |
| 1 cubic yard | ≈ 0.764555 cubic metres | Rounded (exact value: 0.9144³) |
| 1 cubic metre | ≈ 1.30795 cubic yards | Rounded |
| 1 cubic yard | ≈ 764.55 litres | Rounded |
| 1 cubic yard | ≈ 201.97 US gallons | Rounded |
The cubic feet and cubic yard relationship (27) is exact, since both units are defined from the same foot/yard length relationship (1 yard = 3 feet exactly). The metric conversions are rounded, since a yard (0.9144m exactly, by international agreement) doesn't divide evenly into metres.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 12ft × 10ft | 120.00 ft² |
| Cubic yards | 120 × 4 ÷ 324 | 1.481 yd³ |
| Recommended order (+5% waste) | 1.481 × 1.05 | 1.556 yd³ |
| Weight (concrete) | 1.556 yd³ × density | 2,854 kg (3.146 US tons) |
Area 480 ft², 4.444 yd³ calculated, 4.889 yd³ recommended with 10% waste, weight 6,167 kg (6.798 US tons) of gravel.
Area 160 ft², 1.481 yd³ calculated, 1.556 yd³ recommended with 5% waste, weight only 357 kg (0.393 US tons) — the same volume as the concrete example above, but mulch's much lower density means a fraction of the weight.
Area 450 ft², 8.333 yd³ calculated, 9.167 yd³ recommended with 10% waste, weight 6,658 kg (7.339 US tons).
5% is a reasonable default for a simple, regular area. Waste covers spillage, minor site irregularities and trim losses at edges — it's a genuinely different concept from compaction, which is how much a material's volume changes once it settles or is compacted (relevant for soil, gravel and road base, largely irrelevant for poured concrete). This calculator applies waste as a straightforward percentage on top of the calculated volume; it does not assume the same compaction behaviour for every material, since that varies by what you're ordering.
A cubic yard is a unit of volume equal to a cube measuring 3 feet on every side — length, width and height. It equals exactly 27 cubic feet, and is the standard unit for ordering bulk materials like concrete, gravel, soil and mulch in the US.
Multiply length, width and depth (converted to the same unit, typically feet), then divide the result in cubic feet by 27. If you know area in square feet and depth in inches instead, multiply the two and divide by 324.
Exactly 27. A cubic yard is a cube 3 feet on each side, and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 cubic feet.
It depends on depth: 324 ft² at 1 inch deep, 162 ft² at 2 inches, 108 ft² at 3 inches, 81 ft² at 4 inches, and 27 ft² at a full 12-inch (1 foot) depth. The same volume covers less area the deeper you spread it.
Calculate your area, decide on a depth, and use area(ft²) × depth(in) ÷ 324 for the cubic yards, or use this calculator's dimension mode to work it out directly from length, width and depth in whatever units you have.
You can't directly — square feet measures area, cubic yards measures volume, and a depth is required to bridge the two. Once you have a depth in inches, multiply area by depth and divide by 324.
Divide by 27 — this is an exact conversion, since 1 cubic yard is defined as precisely 27 cubic feet.
There's no single answer — it depends entirely on the material's density. A ton of mulch takes up far more volume than a ton of gravel, because mulch is much less dense. Always convert through a material-specific density figure rather than assuming a universal ratio.
Again, it depends on the material — roughly 2 US tons for concrete, 1.4 for gravel, 0.8 for topsoil, and well under 0.3 for mulch, using commonly cited planning densities. Actual weight varies by moisture, grading and compaction.
Roughly 2,780 lb (about 1,650 kg), using a commonly cited planning density — though this varies by stone type, size and moisture content. Confirm with your supplier for a large order.
Roughly 1,600 lb (about 950 kg) for topsoil as a planning estimate, though real-world figures span a wide range depending on moisture and organic content — moist topsoil can weigh considerably more than dry, loose topsoil.
Around 500 lb (about 300 kg) as a planning estimate — mulch is one of the lightest common landscaping materials by volume, since it's organic and full of air pockets.
Calculate your slab or footing's volume in cubic feet (length × width × depth, all in feet), then divide by 27. A 12ft × 10ft slab at 4 inches deep needs about 1.48 cubic yards before waste.
5% is a reasonable default for a simple, regular area, covering spillage and minor trim losses. This is separate from compaction, which affects how much a material's volume changes once it settles — relevant for soil and gravel, largely irrelevant for poured concrete.
A square yard measures area (length × width, two dimensions) — like the size of a patch of lawn. A cubic yard measures volume (length × width × depth, three dimensions) — like how much soil is needed to cover that same patch to a certain depth. They're not interchangeable without knowing the depth.