How much does a cubic yard of topsoil weigh?
A cubic yard of dry topsoil typically weighs 2,000–2,600 lb (1.0–1.3 US tons), or about 1,187–1,543 kg per cubic metre. Wet topsoil is heavier. Ask your supplier for their figure, because this is a typical range, not a standard.
Topsoil weight in pounds and kilograms
Dry soil; the site's typical range.
| Amount | Pounds | Kilograms |
|---|---|---|
| ½ cu yd | 1,000–1,300 | 454–590 |
| 1 cu yd | 2,000–2,600 | 907–1,179 |
| 3 cu yd | 6,000–7,800 | 2,722–3,538 |
| 1 cu m | 2,616–3,401 | 1,187–1,543 |
Why it varies: the soil science
- Cornell's Soil Health Lab defines bulk density as “the weight of dry material contained in a sampled volume of soil”. It is lower in loose soils and in soils high in organic matter.
- Cornell gives the US conversion as 1 g/cm³ = 62.4 lb/ft³. That makes 1 g/cm³ equal to 1,685 lb per cubic yard.
Dry bulk density in pounds and tons
| Dry bulk density | lb per cu yd | US tons per cu yd |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 g/cm³ | 1,853 | 0.93 |
| 1.2 | 2,022 | 1.01 |
| 1.3 | 2,190 | 1.10 |
| 1.4 (Cornell's worked example) | 2,359 | 1.18 |
| 1.5 | 2,527 | 1.26 |
| 1.6 | 2,696 | 1.35 |
Check your own soil
- Weigh a level 5-gallon bucket of it, subtract the empty bucket, and multiply by 40.4. That gives pounds per cubic yard.
- The 40.4 is worked out like this: a US gallon is 3.785412 L (NIST), so 5 gal is 0.668 cu ft, and 27 ÷ 0.668 = 40.4.
Questions
How many pounds is 3 yards of topsoil?
About 6,000–7,800 lb dry.
How many 40 lb bags of topsoil make a yard?
Bagged soil is sold by volume, so use the cubic feet printed on the bag: 27 ÷ bag cu ft. That is 36 bags of 0.75 cu ft, 27 of 1 cu ft, 18 of 1.5 cu ft, or 14 of 2 cu ft (13.5, rounded up). The topsoil calculator does this for your bag size.
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 7
- Dry soil / topsoil 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
- Liters per US gallon
- 3.785412 L/gal
- NIST Guide to the SI (SP 811), Appendix B.8, gallon (U.S.) (opens in a new tab)nist.gov
- Pounds per US short ton
- 2000 lb/US ton
- NIST Guide to the SI, US short ton (2000 lb) (opens in a new tab)nist.gov
- Kilograms per pound
- 0.45359237 kg/lb
- NIST Guide to the SI, pound conversion; exact definition (opens in a new tab)nist.gov
- Meters per international foot
- 0.3048 m/ft
- NIST, international foot conversion (opens in a new tab)nist.gov
- Selectable topsoil bag sizes
- 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 2 cu ft/bag
- Common retail bag sizes (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension lists 0.75, 1, 1.25 and 2 cu ft; 1.5 cu ft is a common size for bagged garden soil). Check your bag. (opens in a new tab)travis-tx.tamu.edu
Unit conversions and our defaults2
- Liters per cubic meter
- 1000 L/m³
- Metric definition: one liter is one cubic decimeter
- Cubic feet per cubic yard
- 27 cu ft/cu yd
- Geometry: 3 × 3 × 3 feet