Cubic Yard Calculator
Find how many cubic yards of soil, gravel, rock, or other loose material you need to fill an area to a given depth. Enter each area's shape, size, and depth. For a concrete slab, use the Concrete Calculator.
Add areas, or subtract openings such as a flower bed.
- Choose US or Metric. You can still change the unit of any single field, for example feet for the length and inches for the depth.
- Pick the shape of the area and enter its dimensions. For a shape that is not listed, choose Known area and enter the area directly.
- Enter the depth, which is how thick the layer of material will be. Use Quantity when several areas have the same size, such as four identical post holes.
- Use Add section for each extra area. Set a section to Subtract for parts inside an area that do not need material, such as a flower bed in a patio.
- Optionally, add a waste allowance and a price per cubic yard, cubic foot, or cubic meter to estimate the cost.
Dimension and depth fields accept these formats:
-
Whole numbers and decimals, such as
12or10.5 -
Fractions, such as
3/4 -
Mixed numbers, such as
6 1/2
Choose ft + in as the unit to enter a length such as 12 ft 6 in in two fields. Quantity takes a whole number, and the waste allowance and price take whole numbers or decimals.
Cubic yard formula
The volume of an area filled to an even depth is:
Volume = area × depth
Convert every dimension to the same unit before you multiply. With dimensions in feet, the result is in cubic feet. A cubic yard is 3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft, so divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards.
- 1 yd³ = 27 ft³
- 1 yd³ = 0.764554857984 m³ (1 m³ ≈ 1.307951 yd³)
- 1 ft = 12 in = 0.3048 m, and 1 in = 2.54 cm
The area of each shape is calculated as follows.
| Shape | Area |
|---|---|
| Rectangle | length × width |
| Circle | π × diameter² ÷ 4 (or π × radius²) |
| Triangle (base and height) | base × height ÷ 2 |
| Triangle (three sides) | Heron's formula: √(s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)), where s = (a + b + c) ÷ 2 |
| Trapezoid | (parallel side A + parallel side B) ÷ 2 × height |
| Ring | π × (outer diameter² − inner diameter²) ÷ 4 |
| Rectangular border | outer length × outer width − (outer length − 2 × border width) × (outer width − 2 × border width) |
| Known area | the area you enter |
With several sections, the calculator adds the volumes of the sections set to Add, subtracts those set to Subtract, and then adds the waste allowance: total = net volume × (1 + waste % ÷ 100).
Examples
A rectangular slab or bed
An area of 10 ft × 10 ft filled 4 in deep: 4 in is 1/3 ft, so the volume is 10 × 10 × 1/3 = 33.33 ft³. Dividing by 27 gives 1.23 yd³ (0.94 m³). With a 10% waste allowance, the total is 1.36 yd³, and at $45 per cubic yard the cost is about $61.11.
A circle
A round area 6 ft across, 3 in deep: π × 6² ÷ 4 × 0.25 = 7.07 ft³, or 0.26 yd³.
Subtracting an area
A 20 ft × 15 ft area, 4 in deep, is 100 ft³. A round flower bed 4 ft across inside it, at the same depth, is 4.19 ft³. Subtracting it leaves 95.81 ft³, or 3.55 yd³.
Metric dimensions
An area of 5 m × 4 m, 10 cm deep: 5 × 4 × 0.1 = 2 m³, or 2.62 yd³.
FAQ
27. A cubic yard is a cube 3 ft on each side, and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27.
Divide inches by 12 to get feet before multiplying, or simply choose in as the depth unit and the calculator converts it for you.
No. A square yard measures area (length × width), and a cubic yard measures volume (length × width × depth). You need the depth to get cubic yards.
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