How many tons are in a cubic yard of dirt?
A cubic yard of dry fill dirt is typically 1.0–1.3 US tons. Going the other way, 1 ton is about 0.77–1.0 cubic yard. Suppliers often quote dirt by the ton, so use the table to turn a ton price into the yards you actually get. Damp or packed dirt weighs more.
Tons to yards
Dry fill dirt; the site's typical range.
| Tons ordered | Cubic yards |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.77–1.00 |
| 5 | 3.85–5.00 |
| 10 | 7.69–10.00 |
| 15 | 11.54–15.00 |
| 20 | 15.38–20.00 |
Loose versus packed
A compacted soil has more soil particles in the same volume as a loose soil, so its bulk density is higher. Dirt dumped from a truck is loose. The same dirt rammed into a trench holds more weight per yard.
Questions
How many yards of dirt make 1 ton?
About 0.77–1.0 cubic yard.
How much will 1 ton of dirt cover?
1 ton is 0.77–1.0 yd, which is about 20.8–27 cu ft. At 3 in deep that covers about 83–108 sq ft. Use the cubic yard calculator for your own area.
Related pages
Sources
Densities are a typical range — ask your supplier. Weight varies with moisture and gradation.
Values marked with a link come from the linked source, which opens in a new tab. Unit conversions and our own defaults are listed separately. Every value the site uses is in the methodology source register.
Where the numbers come from 2
- Dry fill dirt density range
- 1 – 1.3 US tons/cu yd
- Typical range; no primary standard exists, and weight varies with moisture and gradation. Confirm with your supplier.
- Pounds per cubic foot for 1 g/cm³
- 62.4 lb/ft³ per g/cm³
- Cornell Soil Health Lab, Fact Sheet 22-17, Soil Bulk Density (February 2022): "1 g/cm3 = 62.4 lb/ft3" (opens in a new tab)soilhealthlab.cals.cornell.edu · PDF
Unit conversions and our defaults2
- Cubic feet per cubic yard
- 27 cu ft/cu yd
- Geometry: 3 × 3 × 3 feet
- Inches per foot
- 12 in/ft
- Unit definition: one foot contains twelve inches