Tons to Cubic Yards Calculator (Dirt, Soil & Sand)
Quarries and landscape yards sell by the ton or by the cubic yard, and the conversion depends on the material and how wet it is. Pick the material, enter tons (or cubic yards), and the calculator converts using The Engineering ToolBox's bulk densities: about 76–80 lb per cubic foot for loose dirt and loam, 100–110 for clay and 97–119 for sand. For gravel and crushed stone, use the cubic yards to tons calculator, which has a density for each stone type.
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Cubic yards per ton by material
| Material | lb/ft³ | lb per yd³ | yd³ per ton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt, loose dry | 76 | 2,052 | 0.97 |
| Dirt, loose moist | 78 | 2,106 | 0.95 |
| Topsoil (loam) | 80 | 2,160 | 0.93 |
| Clay, dry | 100 | 2,700 | 0.74 |
| Clay, wet | 110 | 2,970 | 0.67 |
| Sand, dry | 97 | 2,619 | 0.76 |
| Sand, wet | 119 | 3,213 | 0.62 |
Densities are The Engineering ToolBox's bulk figures for dirt, loam, clay and sand. Cubic yards per ton is 2,000 lb divided by the weight of one cubic yard.
Worked example: 10 tons of moist fill dirt
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Pounds | 10 × 2,000 | 20,000 lb |
| Weight of a cubic yard | 78 × 27 | 2,106 lb |
| Cubic yards | 20,000 ÷ 2,106 | 9.5 yd³ |
Converting gravel or crushed stone? The cubic yards to tons calculator has a density for each stone type. To work out how much dirt a job needs in the first place, use the fill dirt calculator or the topsoil calculator.
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Frequently asked questions
- How many yards of dirt are in a ton?
- About 0.97 cubic yards of loose dry dirt per ton, and 0.95 yd³ of loose moist dirt, using The Engineering ToolBox's 76 and 78 lb per cubic foot. Clay is denser: about 0.74 yd³ per ton dry and 0.67 wet.
- How many yards of soil are in a ton?
- About 0.93 cubic yards of topsoil (loam, 80 lb/ft³) per ton, so 10 tons is roughly 9.3 yards. Wet or clay-heavy soil weighs more, so a ton fills less.
- How many yards of sand are in a ton?
- About 0.76 cubic yards of dry sand per ton (97 lb/ft³) and about 0.62 yd³ of wet sand (119 lb/ft³). Ask whether the sand was weighed wet; stockpiled sand usually holds water.
- How many yards of fill dirt does a dump truck hold by weight?
- At 78 lb per cubic foot, moist fill dirt weighs about 1.05 tons a yard, so a 15-ton load is about 14.2 yd³. Many tandem trucks reach their legal weight before the bed is full, which is why haulers quote 10–14 yards of dirt.
- How do I convert tons to cubic yards?
- Multiply tons by 2,000 to get pounds, then divide by the material's weight per cubic yard (pounds per cubic foot × 27). For 10 tons of moist dirt: 20,000 ÷ (78 × 27) = 9.5 yd³.
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