How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard, and what one yard covers
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, exactly. A yard is 3 feet, and a cube 3 ft on each side holds 3 × 3 × 3. The same 27 cubic feet covers 324 square feet an inch deep or 81 square feet at 4 inches. It takes 14 bags of 2 cubic feet or 54 bags of half a cubic foot to fill it.
How to calculate cubic yards from square feet, with the formula and worked examples
In brief
- 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet = 46,656 cubic inches = 0.7646 cubic meters.
- Cubic feet to cubic yards: divide by 27. Cubic yards to cubic feet: multiply by 27.
- One cubic yard covers 324 sq ft at 1 in, 162 at 2 in, 108 at 3 in, 81 at 4 in, 54 at 6 in.
- Bags per yard: 54 of 0.5 cu ft, 36 of 0.75, 27 of 1, 18 of 1.5, 14 of 2, 9 of 3.
Three different yards
The word yard names three measurements, and the mix-up is where most ordering mistakes start. A yard of length is 3 feet, the width of a doorway and a bit. A square yard is a 3 ft by 3 ft square, 9 square feet, the unit carpet and sod are sold by. A cubic yard is a 3 ft cube, 27 cubic feet, the unit concrete, gravel, mulch and topsoil are sold by. When a supplier says "a yard of gravel", they mean the cube. NIST's table of customary units puts it in one line: 27 cubic feet equals 1 cubic yard, exactly. The same yard is 46,656 cubic inches or 0.7646 cubic meters.
Cubic feet to cubic yards
Divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards; multiply cubic yards by 27 to get cubic feet. A few values come up on nearly every job:
| Cubic feet | Cubic yards | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.037 | one bag of garden soil |
| 3 | 0.11 | one large bag of mulch |
| 10 | 0.37 | five 2 cu ft bags |
| 27 | 1 | the cube |
| 40 | 1.48 | a 20 by 4 ft bed, 6 in deep |
| 54 | 2 | two cubes |
| 100 | 3.70 | a 10 by 10 ft slab, a foot thick |
| 135 | 5 | a small dump truck load |
| 200 | 7.41 | a full-size dump truck |
Going the other way, 2 cubic yards is 54 cubic feet, 5 yards is 135 and 10 yards is 270. If a quote is in cubic meters, multiply the yards by 0.7646.
What one cubic yard covers
Spread evenly, 27 cubic feet covers an area that shrinks as the layer gets thicker. The quick rule: divide 324 by the depth in inches, because 27 cubic feet times 12 inches per foot is 324.
| Depth | One cubic yard covers | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 in | 648 sq ft | lawn top-dressing |
| 1 in | 324 sq ft | thin mulch top-up, compost over a bed |
| 2 in | 162 sq ft | mulch on a flower bed |
| 3 in | 108 sq ft | mulch under shrubs, gravel on a path |
| 4 in | 81 sq ft | a patio slab, a gravel driveway surface |
| 6 in | 54 sq ft | topsoil for a new lawn, a driveway base |
| 8 in | 40.5 sq ft | a thick base course |
| 12 in | 27 sq ft | filling a raised bed a foot deep |
Read the table the other way to size an order. A 10 by 20 ft area at 3 inches is 200 ÷ 108 = 1.85 cubic yards. The gravel, mulch and topsoil calculators do that division for any shape and depth, and add the loose-versus-settled allowance each material needs.
How many bags make a cubic yard
Bagged material is labeled in cubic feet, so the bag count for a yard is 27 divided by the bag size. Sakrete's all-purpose gravel and Quikrete's decorative stone come in half-cubic-foot bags. Scotts topsoil comes in 0.75 cubic feet, and Miracle-Gro garden soils in 0.75, 1, 1.5 and 2. Mulch comes in 1.5, 2 and 3 cubic feet.
| Bag size | Bags in one cubic yard | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 cu ft (bagged gravel, decorative stone) | 54 | 54 |
| 0.75 cu ft (topsoil) | 36 | 36 |
| 1 cu ft (garden soil) | 27 | 27 |
| 1.5 cu ft (mulch, raised bed soil) | 18 | 18 |
| 2 cu ft (mulch, garden soil) | 13.5 | 14 |
| 3 cu ft (mulch) | 9 | 9 |
A pallet of fifty-six half-cubic-foot gravel bags, the pallet count Sakrete prints, is 28 cubic feet, one yard and two bags over. Bags of concrete mix are different. The bag is labeled by weight, and its yield is printed on the data sheet: 0.60 cubic feet for an 80 lb bag. So a yard of concrete is 45 bags, worked out in the guide on bags of concrete per yard.
Two worked beds
A 10 by 5 ft bed dug 6 inches deep holds 10 × 5 × 0.5 = 25 cubic feet. That is 25 ÷ 27 = 0.93 cubic yards: one yard delivered, or thirteen 2 cubic foot bags. A round bed 8 ft across at 4 inches is 3.1416 × 4 × 4 × 0.333 = 16.8 cubic feet. That is 0.62 cubic yards, or nine 2 cubic foot bags. In both cases the delivered yard is the smallest bulk order most yards sell. So the choice between bags and bulk comes down to price per cubic foot, not volume.
Why the order is more than the volume
Twenty-seven cubic feet of space does not always take 27 cubic feet of material. Concrete is ordered a few percent over the plan quantity. Crushed stone is placed loose and loses about a quarter of its depth under the roller. Mulch and topsoil settle a little. How to calculate cubic yards covers each allowance and how an order rounds to the way the material is sold. The calculators carry the allowances for you, so the number on the shopping list is the order, not the finished volume.
Questions about cubic feet and cubic yards
Is 3 cubic feet the same as a cubic yard?
No. A yard is 3 feet long, but a cubic yard is a 3 ft cube, which holds 27 cubic feet. Three cubic feet is 3 ÷ 27 = 0.11 of a cubic yard, about one large bag of mulch.
How long is a cubic yard in feet?
Three feet on each side: 3 ft long, 3 ft wide and 3 ft tall. Spread out, the same volume is a 9 ft by 9 ft square 4 inches deep. It is also a trench 27 ft long, a foot wide and a foot deep.
How many cubic yards is 10 cubic feet?
Ten cubic feet is 10 ÷ 27 = 0.37 cubic yards. Five 2 cubic foot bags of mulch, or ten 1 cubic foot bags of soil, make up that 10 cubic feet.
How much area does one cubic yard cover?
It depends on the depth. Divide 324 by the depth in inches. That is 324 sq ft at 1 inch, 162 at 2 inches and 108 at 3 inches. It is 81 at 4 inches, 54 at 6 inches and 27 sq ft at a foot deep.
Should I buy exactly 27 cubic feet for a one-yard job?
Add some. The ready-mix trade's own guidance is to order 4 to 10 percent more concrete than the plan dimensions give. Loose gravel placed as a base compacts by about a quarter of its loose depth. So the order has to be deeper than the finished layer.
8 source documents
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Handbook 44, 2026 edition, Appendix C, General Tables of Units of Measurement: units of volume, cubic yard conversions. Read 2 November 2026.
- Mississippi State University Extension, Mulches for the Landscape, Publication 2301 (one cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet, worked example). Read 2 November 2026.
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, How to Determine the Amount of Mulch Needed for a Garden Bed (divide cubic feet by 27; common bag sizes). Read 2 November 2026.
- Sakrete (Oldcastle APG), Product Guide, 2021 edition: All-Purpose Gravel 0.5 cu ft bag. Read 2 November 2026.
- The Quikrete Companies, Hardscapes product line: stones, pebbles and rock in 0.5 cu ft bags. Read 2 November 2026.
- Scotts Miracle-Gro, Scotts Premium Topsoil 0.75 cu ft and Miracle-Gro Garden Soil in 0.75, 1, 1.5 and 2 cu ft bags. Read 2 November 2026.
- National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, CIP 31, Ordering Ready Mixed Concrete (order 4 to 10 percent over the plan quantity). Read 2 November 2026.
- Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies, Driving Surface Aggregate Handbook, April 2025 (6 in loose compacts to about 4.5 in). Read 2 November 2026.