Bulk materials such as soil, mulch, gravel, sand and concrete are priced and delivered by the cubic yard, but the space you are filling is measured in feet and inches. This calculator converts any rectangle, circle, triangle or known area plus a depth into cubic yards, shows the same volume in cubic feet and cubic meters, and estimates cost if you enter a price per yard.
How to use the cubic yards calculator
- Choose the area shape — rectangle, circle, triangle — or Known area if you already have the square footage.
- Enter the dimensions and select units for each. Feet for length and inches for depth is the usual combination.
- Enter the depth or thickness of material.
- Optionally add an extra percentage for waste, settling or compaction, and a price per cubic yard.
- Read the result in cubic yards, with an order quantity rounded up to the next quarter yard.
Cubic yard formulas
First find the area in square feet:
Then multiply by depth and convert:
When the depth is in inches, you can skip a step: cubic yards = square feet × inches ÷ 324, because 12 × 27 = 324.
Worked example
A garden bed 12 ft long and 10 ft wide, filled 6 inches deep:
Area = 12 × 10 = 120 ft²; volume = 120 × 0.5 = 60 ft³
60 ÷ 27 = 2.22 yd³, so order 2¼ yards.
A round bed 10 ft across at 3 inches deep with 10% extra: π × 10² ÷ 4 = 78.54 ft² × 0.25 ft × 1.10 = 21.6 ft³ = 0.80 yd³. At $45 per yard, that is about $36 of material.
Coverage of one cubic yard
| Depth | Area covered by 1 yd³ |
|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 ft² |
| 2 in | 162 ft² |
| 3 in | 108 ft² |
| 4 in | 81 ft² |
| 6 in | 54 ft² |
| 12 in | 27 ft² |
Reading the table backward is a quick sanity check: if you are spreading 3 inches over about 500 square feet, you need roughly 500 ÷ 108 ≈ 4.6 yards.
Unit equivalents
One cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet, 46,656 cubic inches, 0.7646 cubic meters (764.6 liters) and about 202 US gallons. Going the other way, one cubic meter is about 1.31 cubic yards — useful when a supplier quotes metric volumes. For conversions between the two US units only, use the cubic yards to cubic feet converter.
Ordering tips
Suppliers usually sell in half- or quarter-yard increments and may charge a delivery minimum, so round up rather than down. Material weight varies a lot by type: a yard of mulch is light, while a yard of gravel or topsoil can top a ton, which matters for hauling and for the surface it will be dumped on. For material-specific estimates that include weight or bag counts, see the gravel, mulch, topsoil and concrete calculators.
Frequently asked questions
How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard?
27. A cubic yard is a cube 3 feet on each side, and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 cubic feet. That also equals about 0.765 cubic meters or roughly 202 US gallons.
How do I convert square feet to cubic yards?
Multiply the area in square feet by the depth in feet, then divide by 27. If the depth is in inches, a shortcut is square feet × inches ÷ 324. For example, 200 ft² at 3 inches is 200 × 3 ÷ 324 ≈ 1.85 cubic yards.
How much area does one cubic yard cover?
It depends on depth: 324 ft² at 1 inch, 162 ft² at 2 inches, 108 ft² at 3 inches, 81 ft² at 4 inches and 54 ft² at 6 inches.
How many cubic yards fit in a pickup truck?
By volume, a full-size pickup bed holds roughly 2 to 3 cubic yards, but weight is usually the real limit. A yard of gravel or wet soil can weigh well over a ton, more than many half-ton pickups can safely carry, while a yard of mulch weighs far less. Check your truck's payload rating.