Calculate cubic yards of soil, mulch, gravel, sand, or concrete from your area and depth, with material cost and weight estimates.
- All Construction Calculators
- Soil Volume Calculator
- Fill Dirt Calculator
- Paver Base Calculator
- Paver Calculator – How Many Pavers Do I Need?
- Gravel Calculator
- Cubic Yard Calculator
- Cubic Inch Calculator (L x W x H + Converter)
Yard Calculator Formula
The calculator works in three modes. Each mode uses one of the formulas below.
To find the cubic yards of material needed for an area and depth:
Raw CY = A × D / 27
To find how much area a known amount of material will cover:
To convert any volume to cubic yards:
- CY: volume in cubic yards
- A: project area in square feet
- D: material depth in feet
- W: waste or settling allowance as a percent
- Vcuft: a volume that has already been converted to cubic feet
One cubic yard is 3 ft by 3 ft by 3 ft, which equals 27 cubic feet, so every formula divides cubic feet by 27 to reach cubic yards. In the first mode you enter the shape and size of your project, set the depth, and the calculator multiplies area by depth and divides by 27. When ordering options are enabled, adjusted CY = raw CY × (1 + W / 100). Bulk order = ceil(adjusted CY / selected increment) × selected increment. Bags round the adjusted cubic feet upward by bag size before bulk-order rounding; cost and weight use the rounded bulk order. The coverage mode reverses the math so you can see how far a delivered amount will spread at a chosen depth. The conversion mode takes a volume in other units, converts it to cubic feet, and then to cubic yards. Optional inputs let you add a price per cubic yard for a cost estimate and a material density to estimate weight in tons.
Illustrative Depths and Material Weights
These source tables are rough illustrations, not project specifications or verified delivery weights. Depth depends on the project and finish requirements; bulk density varies with material, moisture and compaction. Confirm the supplier’s actual density before evaluating loads or structural limits.
| Material | Typical Depth | Common Use |
|---|---|---|
| Bark or wood mulch | 3 to 4 in | Beds, around trees |
| Topsoil | 2 to 6 in | New lawns, raised beds |
| Gravel | 2 to 3 in | Paths, driveways |
| Sand | 1 to 2 in | Paver base, leveling |
| Material | Approx. Weight per Cubic Yard | Approx. Tons per Cubic Yard |
|---|---|---|
| Bark mulch | 800 lb | 0.4 |
| Topsoil | 2,100 lb | 1.05 |
| Sand | 2,400 lb | 1.2 |
| Gravel | 2,800 lb | 1.4 |
| Concrete | 4,050 lb | 2.03 |
Example Problems
Example 1. You are mulching a rectangular bed that is 20 ft long and 10 ft wide at a 3 in depth. The area is 20 times 10, which is 200 sq ft. A 3 in depth is 0.25 ft. Multiply 200 by 0.25 to get 50 cubic feet, then divide by 27 to get about 1.85 cubic yards. Without ordering options, the raw result is about 1.851852 yd³. With ordering enabled, 0% allowance and 0.1 yd³ increments give 1.9 yd³; whole-yard increments give 2 yd³. The initial enabled settings of 10% allowance and 0.1 yd³ increments instead give 2.1 yd³.
Example 2. You have 4 cubic yards of gravel and want to know the coverage at a 2 in depth. A 2 in depth is exactly 1/6 ft. Multiply 4 by 27 to get 108 cubic feet, then divide by 1/6 to get 648 sq ft of coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard? There are 27 cubic feet in one cubic yard, because a cubic yard is 3 ft on each side and 3 times 3 times 3 equals 27.
Why should I add a waste allowance? Bulk materials settle, compact, and spill during spreading, and the ground is rarely perfectly flat. Choose an allowance appropriate to the project and supplier guidance; no fixed percentage guarantees that an order will be sufficient. Ordering options begin at 10% when enabled, and the allowance can be changed from 0% through 100%.
How do I turn cubic yards into tons? Multiply the cubic yards by the material weight per cubic yard, then divide by 2,000. For example, 3 cubic yards at an entered bulk density of 2,800 lb/yd³ gives 8,400 lb, or 4.2 U.S. short tons. The actual density must be confirmed for the delivered material.
Unit definitions: NIST Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C. One yard is exactly 0.9144 m; one yd³ is 0.764554857984 m³ or 27 ft³. One U.S. liquid gallon is 0.003785411784 m³; one U.S. short ton is 2,000 lb. Material cost estimates exclude delivery, tax and other fees.
