Cubic Yard Calculator

How to use the cubic yard calculator

What this calculator does

This calculator estimates the volume of a rectangular prism, cylinder, triangular prism, or a space with a known base area and depth. It reports the result in cubic yards and converts the same canonical volume to cubic feet, cubic meters, and liters. An optional material price produces an estimated total cost. The result is a geometric estimate; it does not determine soil density, truck payload, compaction, swell, settling, or a supplier's minimum order.

When to use it

Use it when planning mulch for a garden bed, gravel for a driveway, concrete for a slab or cylindrical footing, soil for a raised area, or excavation for a trench. It is also useful for checking a supplier quote expressed in cubic yards against measurements taken in feet and inches.

How to calculate

1. The calculator opens with a complete demonstration: a 20 ft by 10 ft rectangular area that is 6 in deep, priced at $60 per cubic yard. The first result and Excel workbook are available immediately.
2. Choose a Shape. The dimension labels update to match that geometry.
3. Replace the demonstration measurements with positive decimal values. The displayed units are fixed to familiar construction measurements: feet for horizontal dimensions, inches for depth, and square feet for a known area.
4. Optionally enter Material price per cubic yard. Leave it blank when you only need volume.
5. Read Volume, the converted units, the formula summary, and the conversion table. Select Download Excel to export the current validated inputs and results.
6. Select Reset to clear the demonstration and all calculated content. Download Excel becomes unavailable until a complete valid set of dimensions is entered again.

Input guide

Shape is required. Rectangular prism uses length × width × depth. Cylinder uses diameter and height. Triangular prism uses triangle base × triangle height ÷ 2, then multiplies by prism length. Known area × depth multiplies a square-foot area by a depth in inches. Choose the closest honest geometry rather than forcing an irregular project into a misleading shape.

Length / Diameter / Triangle base / Area, Width / Prism length, and Depth / Height / Triangle height are required when visible. Enter ordinary decimal notation such as 20, 12.5, or 0.75; commas, scientific notation, and mixed fractions are rejected to avoid ambiguous interpretation. Values must be greater than zero. Increasing any required linear dimension increases volume proportionally, while a cylinder responds to the square of its diameter.

Material price per cubic yard is optional and accepts a nonnegative U.S. dollar amount such as 60 or 84.50. It multiplies the unrounded cubic-yard result. A blank price displays “Not entered”; a zero price produces $0.00 and may represent free material rather than missing data.

Output guide

Volume is the primary cubic-yard estimate. Cubic feet, Cubic meters, and Liters are exact conversions of the same computed volume, not separate estimates. Total price equals cubic yards multiplied by price per cubic yard. The summary pills repeat the current shape, yardage, and cost. The conversion table shows the factor applied to cubic feet and the current value in each unit.

Worked example

The startup example has length 20 ft, width 10 ft, and depth 6 in. Six inches equals 0.5 ft, so the rectangular volume is 20 × 10 × 0.5 = 100 ft³. Because one cubic yard contains 27 cubic feet, 100 ÷ 27 = 3.703703... yd³, displayed as 3.70 yd³. At $60 per cubic yard, the estimated material cost is 3.703703... × $60 = $222.22.

Learn more

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes the legally recognized relationships between U.S. customary and SI units in its guidance on volume units. For concrete planning, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association's Concrete in Practice resources explain practical ordering and placement considerations.