Topsoil Calculator

Estimate topsoil volume in cubic yards and cubic feet, plus approximate weight and bag counts. The calculator supports feet, yards, or meters and adjusts density guidance for garden beds, new lawns, and raised beds.

How to use this calculator

Choose the unit of measurement, enter length, width, and depth, then select soil application. The result shows cubic yards first, followed by cubic feet, tons, coverage area, 40 lb bags, 60 lb bags, and recommended depth guidance.

Formula

For feet:

$cubic\ yards = length \times width \times depth \div 27$

For yards, length times width times depth is already cubic yards. For meters, the calculator multiplies cubic meters by 1.30795.

For a 10 ft by 10 ft area at 0.5 ft deep, volume is 1.85 cubic yards or 50 cubic feet. For a new lawn density of 2,200 lb per cubic yard, weight is about 2.04 tons, equal to about 102 forty-pound bags.

Soil planning

Depth matters: topdressing a lawn is very different from filling a raised bed. If you are amending rather than filling, compare with the compost calculator. After soil is placed, estimate surface cover with the mulch calculator.