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Topsoil & Fill Dirt Calculator

Topsoil and fill dirt are sold by the cubic yard, so that is the number this calculator leads with. Enter the area and the depth you want and you get the cubic yards to order, the cubic feet behind them and the bag count if you are buying bagged. Weight appears only if you type in a density from your own supplier — we do not publish one, and the page explains why not.

ft
ft
in
The finished depth you want. How deep it should be is a landscape decision, not an arithmetic one — this tool converts your depth into a quantity.
%
Settling, uneven ground, the wheelbarrow that never quite empties. 10% is a common allowance for loose soil.
ft³
Read it off the bag: US bagged soil is sold by volume, usually 0.75, 1, 1.5 or 2 ft³. Set to 0 to skip the bag count.
lb/ft³
Leave at 0 unless you have a real number. Read it off a delivery ticket: tons billed × 2,000 ÷ (cubic yards ordered × 27).

Results are estimates for planning purposes. Verify with your supplier, engineer, or a qualified professional before ordering material or performing work.

What a cubic yard of soil covers

One number does all of this: 324. A cubic yard spread one inch deep covers 324 square feet, so divide 324 by your depth in inches and you have the coverage.

Depthft² per yd³yd³ per 100 ft²1 ft³ bags per 100 ft²
1 in3240.319
2 in1620.6217
3 in1080.9325
4 in811.2334
6 in541.8550
12 in273.70100

Geometry only, no material assumption: 1 yd³ = 27 ft³, and 27 ft³ spread 1 in deep is 324 ft². Bag counts are rounded up, for 1 cubic foot bags — check the cubic feet printed on yours, because 0.75, 1.5 and 2 ft³ bags are all common.

Why there is no "tons of topsoil" button here

Because the number would be made up. FHWA's own soils manual puts the dry unit weight of a clean fine-to-coarse sand anywhere between 85 and 138 lb per cubic foot — and that is one clean, well-understood material varying on nothing but how densely it is packed. Screened topsoil adds organic content and moisture on top of that. A wet yard and a dry yard off the same pile are different loads on the same truck.

Plenty of calculators publish a single figure anyway. It looks authoritative and it is wrong most of the time, in a direction you cannot predict. So this page leads with cubic yards, which is both exact and the unit your supplier quotes in, and it takes a density only from you.

Getting your own density takes ten seconds. Off any delivery ticket: tons billed × 2,000 ÷ (cubic yards ordered × 27) = lb/ft³. If a supplier bills 12 tons against 10 yards, that is 88.9 lb/ft³ for that material, from that pit, at that moisture. Put it in the optional field and every later conversion is exact instead of typical.

Topsoil, fill dirt, garden soil: use the cheap one for the depth

  • Fill dirt is subsoil. Little organic matter, compacts well, stays where it is put. It exists to take up space and hold a grade. Use it to bring a low spot up to within a few inches of finished grade.
  • Topsoil is the living layer, and it settles. Use it for the last few inches, where roots go. Filling a two-foot hole with topsoil costs several times as much and then sinks.
  • Garden or raised-bed mixes are blends — soil, compost, sometimes sand or bark. They are sold by the same cubic yard and they settle the most, which is why the 10% allowance in this calculator is not generous.
  • Depth is not our call. How deep the soil should be depends on what is being grown, what is underneath it and how it drains. A landscape plan or a local extension service sets that; this page converts it into a quantity.

Where the pile goes

On a jobsite, a delivered pile of fill next to an open excavation is a surcharge load on the wall, and 29 CFR 1926.651(j)(2) requires materials to be kept at least 2 ft back from the edge or held by a retaining device. Loose soil also takes up more room than it did in the ground — the WisDOT study behind our excavation volume calculator measured 4% to 8% for a clean sand and 26% to 58% for clay. Know how big the pile will be before the truck arrives.

How it's calculated

Area
rectangle: A = length × width · circle: A = π / 4 × diameter² · triangle: A = base × height / 2
Volume
V (ft³) = A (ft²) × depth (in) / 12 → yd³ = ft³ / 27
27 cubic feet to the cubic yard. A cubic yard spread 1 inch deep covers 324 ft²; at 4 inches it covers 81 ft².
Volume to order
V order = V × (1 + extra % / 100)
Bags
bags = ceiling( V order (ft³) / bag size (ft³) )
Bagged soil is sold by volume in the United States, so no weight assumption is needed — take the cubic feet off the bag.
Coverage
ft² per yd³ = 324 / depth (in)
Weight, only from your own density
tons = V order (ft³) × density (lb/ft³) / 2,000
No density is published here for topsoil, fill dirt, sand or mulch, and there is a reason. FHWA's own soils manual puts a clean fine-to-coarse sand anywhere between 85 and 138 lb/ft³ on packing alone; screened topsoil moves further again with moisture and organic content.

Frequently asked questions

600 square feet at 4 inches is 200 cubic feet, or 7.41 cubic yards. With a 10% allowance for settling and uneven ground, order about 8.15 cubic yards — or 220 one-cubic-foot bags if you are buying bagged.

324 square feet at 1 inch deep. Divide by the depth in inches for anything else: 162 ft² at 2 inches, 108 at 3, 81 at 4, 54 at 6 and 27 at a full foot. That single number, 324, is the only topsoil figure worth memorizing.

27 if the bags are 1 cubic foot, 36 if they are 0.75, 18 if they are 1.5 and 13.5 if they are 2. Bagged soil in the United States is sold by volume, so the cubic feet printed on the bag is all you need — which is why this calculator asks for it instead of assuming.

Nobody can tell you honestly without weighing yours. FHWA's own soils manual puts a clean fine-to-coarse sand anywhere from 85 to 138 lb per cubic foot on packing alone, and screened topsoil varies more again with moisture and organic content — a wet yard and a dry yard of the same pile are different loads. Get the figure off a delivery ticket: tons billed × 2,000 ÷ (cubic yards ordered × 27) gives you lb/ft³, and this calculator will use it.

Fill dirt is subsoil: it is there to take up space and hold a grade, it has little organic matter, and it compacts and stays put. Topsoil is the living layer, with organic matter in it, and it settles. Use fill to bring a low spot up to within a few inches of grade and topsoil for the last few inches where something has to grow. Filling a two-foot hole with topsoil is expensive and it will sink.

That is a horticultural and design question and this page will not pretend otherwise. It depends on what is being grown, what is underneath, and whether the area drains. A landscape plan, a local extension service or the person doing the planting sets that depth; the calculator converts whatever depth you were given into a quantity you can order.

Yes, and 10% is the usual starting point. Loose soil settles once it is walked on and rained on, the ground is never as flat as it measures, and running out at four in the afternoon costs more than the extra yard did. If the ground is rough or the depth is shallow, go closer to 15%.

Because it is. Soil in a stockpile carries air that soil in the ground does not — the WisDOT study behind our other earthwork tools measured that expansion at 4% to 8% for a clean sand and 26% to 58% for clay. The pile shrinks back as you place and compact it. Order by the volume you need in place, which is what this calculator gives you.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 30, 2026.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated v1