Cubic Yard Calculator

How to calculate cubic yards

Cubic yards measure 3D volume — how much mulch, soil, gravel, or concrete fills a space. Find the area, multiply by depth in feet, then divide cubic feet by 27.

1. Measure the footprint

   For a rectangle, multiply length × width. For a circle, use π × radius².

2. Multiply by depth

   Convert depth to feet (inches ÷ 12). Area × depth = cubic feet.

3. Divide by 27

   Cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27. Suppliers often sell bulk materials by the cubic yard.

Cubic yard formula

Cubic feet to cubic yards

Divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards. Multiply cubic yards by 27 to get cubic feet. One cubic meter is about 1.308 cubic yards.

Coverage chart by depth

Approximate square feet covered by 1 cubic yard:

Common materials measured in cubic yards

Mulch, topsoil, sand, gravel, crushed stone, and ready-mix concrete are often ordered by the cubic yard. For gravel weight (tons) and material density, use the gravel calculator.

Cost per cubic yard

Enter an optional price per cubic yard to estimate material cost: cost = yd³ × price. Delivery fees and tax are usually extra.

Related tools

Measure area first with the square footage calculator, or estimate gravel tons with the gravel calculator.

Length times width times depth

Cubic yards measure volume. You need three dimensions. Length times width gives an area. Multiply by depth, with every measurement in the same unit, and you have a volume. Divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards, because a yard is 3 feet and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. A shortcut used on job sites is square feet times depth in inches, divided by 324. The 324 is 27 × 12. It is the same formula, not a different one. A bed 20 feet by 10 feet and 3 inches deep is 200 square feet times 3, divided by 324, which is about 1.85 cubic yards.

Depth is the dimension people leave in inches while the other two sides are in feet. Convert depth to feet by dividing by 12 before you multiply, or use the inch shortcut on purpose. Three inches is 0.25 feet, not 3 feet. Treating inches as feet orders twelve times too much material. This calculator asks for the units so that conversion is visible. Check the unit next to the depth before you read the yard total.

Cubic feet, cubic meters, and coverage

One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Two cubic yards are 54 cubic feet. A supplier who speaks in feet and a supplier who speaks in yards are describing the same pile if those numbers match. A cubic meter is larger than a cubic yard. One cubic meter is about 1.308 cubic yards. If a datasheet lists coverage in cubic meters, convert before you compare it with a yard quote. Coverage on this page is the area a given volume will cover at the depth you chose. If you already know the area and the depth, the volume is determined. Coverage becomes useful when you are checking the reverse: how far a delivered yard will spread if you keep the depth constant.

Mulch, topsoil, and sand are often sold by the cubic yard for a small landscape load. The volume formula does not change with the material. What changes is how the material settles and whether you wanted a compacted depth or a loose depth. This page computes the geometric volume of the hole or the bed you described. It does not apply a compaction percentage. When the material is gravel and the quote is in tons, move to the gravel calculator, which multiplies yards by a density and can add waste and compaction. Ordering mulch from the gravel page, or gravel from this page alone, drops either the weight or the plain volume you actually needed.

Worked beds and a cost line

A rectangular planter 8 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 6 inches deep is 16 square feet times 0.5 feet, which is 8 cubic feet. Divide by 27 and you need about 0.30 cubic yards. Six inches is half a foot. Typing 6 as if it were feet would ask for 12 times that volume. A circular area uses the circle’s area, pi times radius squared, then times depth. Measure the diameter, halve it, and confirm the radius is in the same unit as the depth after conversion.

An optional cost multiplies yards by a price per yard. That product is the material line. Delivery, tax, and a minimum load fee are not inside it. Many yards will not deliver a fraction of a yard without a short-load charge. Round up to a number you can actually buy, and keep the calculator’s exact figure in your notes so you know how much of the load is spare. Spare is not the same as a waste factor you forgot to measure. If the bed is irregular, split it into rectangles, compute each volume, and add the yards.

Depth that is not uniform

A bed that is 2 inches at one end and 6 inches at the other is not a 6-inch bed. Use an average depth only when the change is a steady slope and you are willing to accept an estimate. Several spots measured with a ruler, then averaged, beat a single optimistic number. Low spots in a driveway or a yard should be measured as their own rectangles. A thin average over a whole driveway hides a hole that needs most of the material.

Existing soil that will be removed is a volume too. If you excavate 4 inches and then place 4 inches of new material, those can be similar volumes only when the area matches and the new material is not supposed to sit higher than the old grade. Compaction means the material you place may shrink after it is tamped. This cubic-yard page does not shrink the number. Add material for compaction on the gravel calculator when the product is stone and the specification calls for a compacted thickness. For mulch that is meant to look fluffy, the loose volume you calculated is often the volume you wanted.

Checking the order against the sketch

Write length, width, and depth on a sketch with the units spelled out. Type those three numbers and read cubic yards, cubic feet, and cubic meters. Multiply the two plan dimensions by the depth in feet yourself. Divide by 27. If your hand result and the page disagree, a unit is wrong. If they agree and the supplier’s quote is in tons, you still need a density. Do not divide tons by a guessed weight. Ask the supplier what tonnage they use per cubic yard for that product, or use the gravel calculator’s material list and treat it as a planning figure that the supplier can replace.

Square footage remains the right tool when there is no depth: flooring, a roof plane, a wall. Days and ages are unrelated. A landscape estimate that mixes square feet of edging with cubic yards of soil should keep those lines separate. This page is the volume line. The price per yard, times the yards, is only as good as the depth you measured.

A check with 324

The inch shortcut is worth doing once by hand so the screen is not a black box. Square feet times depth in inches, divided by 324, equals cubic yards. For 100 square feet at 4 inches, 400 ÷ 324 is about 1.23 cubic yards. The long way is 100 × (4 ÷ 12) = 33.33 cubic feet, and 33.33 ÷ 27 is the same 1.23. If your project is 1,000 square feet at the same depth, scale by ten: about 12.3 cubic yards. Scaling works only when the depth stays the same. A deeper bed is not a bigger footprint. Change the depth and rerun the division. When the numbers match the page, order from the yard figure and keep the square-foot figure only as the area you measured.

Cubic yard FAQs