Cubic yard calculator
Enter length, width and depth for the volume in cubic yards, cubic feet and cubic metres. Pick a material and it converts that volume to a weight.
Cubic yards from length, width and depth
Enter your measurements.
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, or 0.7646 cubic metres. It is a volume, so there is no single number of tons in one: a cubic yard of mulch is about 0.21 US tons and a cubic yard of concrete is about 2.02.
How to calculate cubic yards
- Measure length, width and depth in feet. For a depth in inches, divide by 12.
- Multiply the three together for cubic feet.
- Divide by 27 for cubic yards.
A 10 foot by 12 foot area at 4 inches deep is 10 times 12 times 0.333, which is 40 cubic feet, which is 1.48 cubic yards.
How many cubic feet in a cubic yard?
27. A yard is 3 feet, and a cubic yard is 3 by 3 by 3.
How many cubic yards to tons?
There is no fixed answer, because a cubic yard of wet topsoil and a cubic yard of dry bark weigh nothing like the same. Multiply the volume by the material's bulk density. The table below does it for every material on this site, using figures published by named suppliers.
| Material | Tons per cubic yard | Cubic yards per ton | kg per cubic metre |
|---|---|---|---|
| ConcreteUS | 2.02 | 0.49 | 2400 |
| Road baseAU | 1.64 | 0.61 | 1950 |
| MOT Type 1UK | 1.6 | 0.62 | 1900 |
| HardcoreUK | 1.56 | 0.64 | 1850 |
| Crushed concreteUS | 1.56 | 0.64 | 1850 |
| BallastUK | 1.52 | 0.66 | 1800 |
| Crusher dustAU | 1.52 | 0.66 | 1800 |
| Cobbles and pebblesUK | 1.46 | 0.69 | 1727 |
| Stone dustUS | 1.45 | 0.69 | 1720 |
| RiprapUS | 1.4 | 0.71 | 1661 |
| Mason sandUS | 1.4 | 0.71 | 1661 |
| Sharp sandUK | 1.39 | 0.72 | 1650 |
| Decomposed graniteUS | 1.38 | 0.73 | 1632 |
| Pea gravelUS | 1.35 | 0.74 | 1606 |
| GravelUS | 1.35 | 0.74 | 1602 |
| Building sandUK | 1.35 | 0.74 | 1600 |
| AggregateUK | 1.35 | 0.74 | 1600 |
| Slate chippingsUK | 1.31 | 0.77 | 1550 |
| Road baseUS | 1.3 | 0.77 | 1542 |
| SandUS | 1.3 | 0.77 | 1538 |
| Blue metalAU | 1.29 | 0.78 | 1525 |
| River rockUS | 1.28 | 0.78 | 1513 |
| Crushed stoneUS | 1.28 | 0.78 | 1513 |
| Paver sandUS | 1.26 | 0.79 | 1495 |
| Play sandUS | 1.23 | 0.82 | 1454 |
| Fill dirtUS | 1.2 | 0.83 | 1424 |
| TopsoilUS | 0.99 | 1.01 | 1170 |
| Garden soilUS | 0.94 | 1.07 | 1112 |
| ScoriaAU | 0.78 | 1.28 | 925 |
| CompostUS | 0.57 | 1.76 | 674 |
| Wood chipUS | 0.28 | 3.6 | 330 |
| MulchUS | 0.21 | 4.75 | 250 |
Every figure is the midpoint of a published range. The ranges, and the suppliers behind them, are on the sources page.
Cubic yards to cubic metres
Multiply by 0.7646. Going the other way, a cubic metre is 1.308 cubic yards. UK and Australian suppliers sell by the cubic metre and the tonne, so a US figure has to be converted before ordering there.
What a cubic yard looks like
A cubic yard fills a space 3 feet on every side. A standard short-bed pickup holds roughly one cubic yard of mulch, and far less of stone, because a cubic yard of stone weighs over a ton and a half.