Guides · Estimating
How Many Tons in a Cubic Yard? Weight Conversions for Every Material
By the MyBuildCalcHub team · Figures verified against our audited estimating engine · Updated
One pile, two units
A cubic yard is a volume, a 3×3×3 ft cube, 27 cubic feet, and a ton is 2,000 pounds of weight. Suppliers use both because each is exact in its own world: a quarry's truck scale prints weight to the pound, while a landscape yard's loader bucket delivers volume by the scoop. The bridge between them is density, and density is why "how much does a yard weigh?" has no single answer. Angular crushed stone packs with air voids; fine sand nests nearly solid; water hiding in wet material is weight you'll pay for. Convert with one line of math: tons = yards × density (t/yd³), or in reverse, yards = tons ÷ density.
The conversion table, both directions
| Material | Tons per cubic yard | Cubic yards per ton |
|---|---|---|
| Gravel (¾" crushed stone) | 1.40 | 0.71 |
| Pea gravel | 1.40 | 0.71 |
| Sand (dry) | 1.35 | 0.74 |
| Sand (wet) | 1.50 | 0.67 |
| Crushed limestone | 1.45 | 0.69 |
| Decomposed granite | 1.40 | 0.71 |
| Topsoil (screened, moderate moisture) | ~1.0–1.3 | ~0.8–1.0 |
| Bark mulch | ~0.3–0.5 | ~2–3 |
The aggregate figures are the standard planning densities used across the industry (and inside our calculators); the topsoil and mulch rows are ranges because organic materials swing wildly with moisture, a soaked yard of topsoil can outweigh a dry one by hundreds of pounds. When a supplier's ticket states a density, use theirs: it reflects their actual quarry and moisture that week.
Worked examples in both directions
Yards to tons: a 20 × 10 ft pad under 3 inches of crushed stone is 50 cubic feet = 1.85 yd³; at 1.40 t/yd³ that's 2.6 tons (2.7 with the 5% waste allowance). Tons to yards: a supplier's "10-ton delivery" of the same stone is 10 ÷ 1.40 = 7.1 cubic yards, enough to cover about 770 sq ft at 3 inches deep, since a single ton at that depth blankets roughly 77 sq ft. Comparing quotes from two suppliers who price in different units? Convert both to the same unit first; a "cheap" per-ton price on wet material is how you pay stone prices for water.
Quick sanity anchors worth memorizing
Three numbers cover most job-site conversations. A yard of gravel is about 1.4 tons, call it "a ton and a half" for mental math and you'll land close on any crushed stone. A ton of gravel covers about 77 square feet at 3 inches, so a 10-ton delivery blankets roughly 770 square feet, a realistic two-car parking area per lift. And a 5-gallon bucket holds about 0.67 cubic feet, which means roughly 40 buckets to a cubic yard, the number that ends any plan to move a delivery by bucket. Anchors like these won't replace the calculator, but they'll flag a mis-keyed decimal instantly: if the tool says your patio needs 40 tons, one of you has slipped a digit, and it isn't the formula.
Why weight matters even when you buy by volume
Even on a by-the-yard order, the tons figure is worth computing, because weight is what your logistics feel. A half-ton pickup genuinely carries about a quarter to a third of a cubic yard of gravel, not the heaping bed-full optimism suggests; a full yard of crushed stone in the bed is roughly triple the truck's payload rating. Weight also drives delivery reality: a 10-yard aggregate load arrives on a truck that can exceed 25 tons combined, which is why drivers won't cross septic fields and why dumping on the street side of a soft lawn is often the right call. For a full driveway build, where three different stones arrive in three deliveries, see our 3-layer driveway system guide, and pad each layer with the standard waste allowance before you phone in the tonnage.
Frequently asked questions
How many tons are in a cubic yard of gravel?
A cubic yard of gravel weighs about 1.4 tons for typical crushed stone or pea gravel. Crushed limestone runs around 1.45, dry sand about 1.35, and wet sand roughly 1.5 tons per cubic yard, the material and its moisture decide the exact figure.
How many cubic yards are in a ton?
One ton of gravel is about 0.71 cubic yards, divide 1 by the density (1 ÷ 1.4). Rule of thumb: a ton of crushed stone covers roughly 77 square feet at a 3-inch depth.
Why do suppliers sell some materials by the ton and others by the yard?
Weight is what trucks measure (a scale ticket is exact), so quarries sell dense stone by the ton. Light, fluffy materials like mulch are absurd to weigh, moisture alone can double it, so those sell by volume. Both describe the same pile; density is the bridge between them.