Cubic Yard Calculator
Landscape yards, quarries and ready-mix plants all sell by the cubic yard. Enter the length and width (or the diameter of a round bed, or a total area) and the depth in inches, and the calculator returns cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic meters and how many bags of your chosen size the same volume fills. It uses the exact definition of 27 cubic feet to the yard from NIST Handbook 44.
What you'll need
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Worked example: 12 × 10 ft bed, 3 in deep
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 12 × 10 | 120 sq ft |
| Depth in feet | 3 ÷ 12 | 0.25 ft |
| Cubic feet | 120 × 0.25 | 30 cu ft |
| Cubic yards | 30 ÷ 27 | 1.11 yd³ |
How far one cubic yard goes
| Depth | Covers | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 sq ft | Topdressing a lawn |
| 2 in | 162 sq ft | Gravel path top layer, mulch top-up |
| 3 in | 108 sq ft | New mulch or decorative stone bed |
| 4 in | 81 sq ft | Gravel patio, concrete slab |
| 6 in | 54 sq ft | Driveway base, new topsoil |
A cubic yard is a cube 3 ft on each side: 27 cubic feet, or 0.7646 cubic meter (NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C). Coverage is 324 sq ft divided by the depth in inches, whatever the material. What changes between materials is the weight — a yard of mulch is light, a yard of gravel is about 1.4 tons — so convert with the cubic yards to tons calculator for stone or the tons to yards calculator for dirt and sand.
Sized your order? The gravel calculator, mulch calculator and topsoil calculator add prices, bags and delivery for each material. Measuring a bag or bin rather than a bed? Use the cubic feet calculator.
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Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate cubic yards?
- Multiply length (ft) × width (ft) × depth (ft), then divide by 27. Depth in inches goes in as inches ÷ 12. A 12 × 10 ft bed 3 in deep is 12 × 10 × 0.25 = 30 cu ft, and 30 ÷ 27 = 1.11 cubic yards.
- How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard?
- Exactly 27 — a cube 3 ft on each side (3 × 3 × 3). NIST Handbook 44 also gives 1 cubic yard = 0.764 554 857 984 cubic meter.
- How much area does a cubic yard cover?
- 324 sq ft at 1 in deep, 162 sq ft at 2 in, 108 sq ft at 3 in, 81 sq ft at 4 in and 54 sq ft at 6 in. Divide 324 by the depth in inches.
- How many bags make a cubic yard?
- 27 bags of 1 cu ft, 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft (so 14), 9 bags of 3 cu ft and 54 bags of 0.5 cu ft. Bulk delivery usually wins once a job needs more than a yard or two.
- How do I calculate cubic yards for a circle?
- Area = 3.1416 × (diameter ÷ 2)², then multiply by the depth in feet and divide by 27. A round bed 10 ft across and 3 in deep is 78.5 sq ft × 0.25 = 19.6 cu ft, or 0.73 cubic yards.
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