Material weight chart: pounds per cubic yard
How much a cubic yard weighs decides everything downstream — whether your truck can carry it, what the per-ton quote converts to, and whether hauling it yourself is sensible or delivery is the safer call. This chart covers 30+ landscaping and construction materials with a typical loose weight, a realistic range, and a source for every figure. Rows that have a BagTally calculator share its data, so the chart and the calculators can never disagree.
Quick conversions
- 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet
- Tons per yd³ = (lb per yd³) ÷ 2,000
- lb per cubic foot = (lb per yd³) ÷ 27
- Cubic yards per ton = 2,000 ÷ (lb per yd³)
- 1 cubic yard ≈ 40 × 5-gallon loads (5 US gal = 0.668 cu ft)
- kg per m³ ≈ (lb per yd³) ÷ 1.6856
Gravel & stone
Loose, as sold by the yard or ton. Dense-graded bases (crusher run, paver base) compact 15–25% after placement — their calculators order for that. Not sure which gravel your job needs? Start at the gravel calculator.
| Material | lb/yd³ | lb/ft³ | tons/yd³ | yd³/ton | Range (lb/yd³) | Notes & source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crusher Run (ABC / road base) calculator → | 3,000 | 111.1 | 1.50 | 0.67 | 2,850–3,150 | [1] |
| Rip-Rap (placed) | 3,000 | 111.1 | 1.50 | 0.67 | 2,400–3,400 | placed, voids included — NRCS guidance runs 1.2–1.7 tons/yd³ by stone size [1] |
| Pea Gravel (3/8") calculator → | 2,800 | 103.7 | 1.40 | 0.71 | 2,660–2,940 | decorative, not compacted [1] |
| Decomposed Granite calculator → | 2,800 | 103.7 | 1.40 | 0.71 | 2,660–2,940 | [1] |
| Paver Base (Dense-Graded) calculator → | 2,800 | 103.7 | 1.40 | 0.71 | 2,400–3,000 | crushed base w/ fines; 0.5 cu ft / 52.86 lb bag implies ≈2,854 lb/yd³; quarry quotes 2,400–2,800 by rock type [1][2][3] |
| Crushed Granite | 2,600 | 96.3 | 1.30 | 0.77 | 2,410–2,800 | loose; granite runs heavier than limestone (not decomposed granite) [1][2] |
| Asphalt Millings (loose) | 2,600 | 96.3 | 1.30 | 0.77 | 2,410–2,970 | loose recycled pavement; compacts hard once rolled and wetted [1] |
| River Rock (1"–3") calculator → | 2,550 | 94.4 | 1.27 | 0.78 | 2,420–2,680 | decorative, not compacted [1] |
| Crushed Limestone (3/4") | 2,500 | 92.6 | 1.25 | 0.80 | 2,410–2,650 | loose; supplier calculators estimate 2,410, published density tables ≈2,620 [1][2] |
| White Marble Chips | 2,500 | 92.6 | 1.25 | 0.80 | 2,410–2,650 | loose [1][2] |
| #57 Crushed Stone (3/4") calculator → | 2,400 | 88.9 | 1.20 | 0.83 | 2,160–2,640 | clean open-graded #57; drainage/decorative, not compacted [1] |
| Recycled Concrete (RCA) | 2,400 | 88.9 | 1.20 | 0.83 | 2,050–2,600 | loose; supplier calculators often use 2,410, while 3/4"–1.5" crushed concrete runs ≈2,460–2,510 — mortar content and gradation swing it both ways [1][2] |
| Slate Chips | 2,350 | 87.0 | 1.18 | 0.85 | 2,200–2,450 | loose; flat, platy pieces pack differently than rounded gravel [1][2] |
| Lava Rock (landscape, 1–2.5") | 1,400 | 51.9 | 0.70 | 1.43 | 1,250–1,950 | porous and far lighter than solid stone; supplier listings for 3/4" lava gravel run ≈1,950 [1][2][3] |
Sand & soil
Moisture is the swing factor here: the same yard of soil or sand can gain hundreds of pounds after rain.
| Material | lb/yd³ | lb/ft³ | tons/yd³ | yd³/ton | Range (lb/yd³) | Notes & source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sand (wet) | 3,370 | 124.8 | 1.69 | 0.59 | 3,000–3,510 | saturated — water adds roughly a quarter over dry sand (≈2,700) [1][2] |
| Concrete / Sharp Sand calculator → | 2,700 | 100.0 | 1.35 | 0.74 | 2,565–2,835 | [1] |
| Mason Sand calculator → | 2,500 | 92.6 | 1.25 | 0.80 | 2,375–2,625 | [1] |
| Play Sand calculator → | 2,500 | 92.6 | 1.25 | 0.80 | 2,375–2,625 | not compacted [1] |
| Screened Topsoil calculator → | 2,200 | 81.5 | 1.10 | 0.91 | 2,000–2,400 | as-delivered with typical moisture; bone-dry ≈2,000 lb/yd³, saturated 2,400+ [1][2] |
| Fill Dirt | 2,200 | 81.5 | 1.10 | 0.91 | 1,800–2,800 | dry loose ≈1,900; wet or clay-heavy loads reach 2,800 [1][2] |
| Clay (dry, excavated) | 1,835 | 68.0 | 0.92 | 1.09 | 1,750–2,000 | loose; wet or compacted clay runs well above 2,200 [1] |
| Garden Soil / Compost Blend calculator → | 1,500 | 55.6 | 0.75 | 1.33 | 1,400–1,800 | compost-amended, lighter than screened topsoil; bagged product implies ≈1,440 lb/yd³ [1][2] |
Mulch & organic materials
Light per yard but bulky — these are the materials a pickup usually can carry by the yard.
| Material | lb/yd³ | lb/ft³ | tons/yd³ | yd³/ton | Range (lb/yd³) | Notes & source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composted Manure | 1,100 | 40.7 | 0.55 | 1.82 | 800–1,500 | a compost by feedstock — extension bulk-density range applies; dairy blends with sand bedding run heavier [1][2] |
| Compost (screened) | 1,000 | 37.0 | 0.50 | 2.00 | 800–1,500 | finished compost at ~50% moisture (university extension guidance) [1][2] |
| Shredded Hardwood calculator → | 800 | 29.6 | 0.40 | 2.50 | 500–1,000 | bulk as-delivered (moist); bone-dry runs 500–700 lb/yd³, rained-on 1,000+ [1][2] |
| Dyed Mulch (Black/Brown/Red) calculator → | 800 | 29.6 | 0.40 | 2.50 | 500–1,000 | dyed shredded wood; colorant adds no meaningful weight [1][2] |
| Wood Chips (arborist) | 800 | 29.6 | 0.40 | 2.50 | 550–1,200 | aged/dry chips at the light end; fresh green chips run notably heavier [1][2] |
| Rubber Mulch | 700 | 25.9 | 0.35 | 2.86 | 612–800 | doesn't absorb water; landscape grade is lighter than playground grade [1][2] |
| Leaf Compost | 600 | 22.2 | 0.30 | 3.33 | 500–700 | screened municipal leaf compost — lighter than mixed-feedstock compost [1] |
| Pine Bark (Shredded / Nuggets) calculator → | 500 | 18.5 | 0.25 | 4.00 | 350–800 | lighter than hardwood; dry nuggets 350–500 lb/yd³, fresh or wet loads run heavier [1][2] |
| Peat Moss (dry, loose) | 365 | 13.5 | 0.18 | 5.48 | 320–400 | fluffed loose; compressed bales are 2–3× denser by package volume [1][2] |
Concrete & asphalt (solid)
Solid, in-place weights — what a demolition or saw-cut job hauls away, not a loose bulk product.
| Material | lb/yd³ | lb/ft³ | tons/yd³ | yd³/ton | Range (lb/yd³) | Notes & source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concrete (solid, cured) | 4,050 | 150.0 | 2.03 | 0.49 | 3,700–4,050 | solid slab at ≈150 lb/cu ft — demolition debris, not a loose bulk material [1][2] |
| Asphalt Pavement (in place) | 3,996 | 148.0 | 2.00 | 0.50 | 3,834–3,996 | compacted hot-mix at 142–148 lb/cu ft (Asphalt Institute) [1] |
Bags, buckets and tons
Suppliers quote bulk material by the yard or the ton; big-box stores sell the same materials in bags. Whether converting between them needs this chart at all comes down to what the bag actually tells you, and US bags do it three different ways:
- A volume in cubic feet — mulch, paver base, pea gravel. Converting to cubic yards is geometry only, the same answer for every material.
- A weight in pounds — sand, many crushed stones. Converting to tons is mass only, also the same for every material.
- Coverage — so many square feet at a stated depth, common on bagged soils and composts. That is a volume once you multiply by the depth, and it is the figure to use.
Trouble starts when you cross between weight and volume — turning a pack weight into cubic yards, or a bag volume into tons. That needs the material's density, and it is where DIY orders go wrong.
Volume bags: how many per cubic yard
Mulch, paver base and pea gravel normally state cubic feet outright; bagged soils more often state coverage, which becomes cubic feet once you multiply by the stated depth. Either way you end up with a volume, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet — so this is pure geometry, and the answer is the same whether the bag holds mulch or crushed stone.
One condition attached: it holds when the stated cubic feet are loose material in the state you will spread it. Compressed products break it — baled peat moss and compressed bales of mulch are packed at well above their loose density (the peat row on this chart notes bales running 2–3× denser by package volume), so if a label's cubic feet describe the compressed bale, it covers considerably more than that once broken up and fluffed. Read what the label actually gives you — many state coverage rather than a volume at all. If it gives an expanded cubic-foot yield, that is the number to divide 27 by. If it gives coverage instead, that is square feet at a stated depth, not a volume — either turn it into one (coverage area × that depth) or just plan your bag count straight from the coverage at the depth you are spreading.
| Bag size | Bags per yd³ | Buy this many |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 cu ft | 54 | 54 |
| 0.75 cu ft | 36 | 36 |
| 1 cu ft | 27 | 27 |
| 1.5 cu ft | 18 | 18 |
| 2 cu ft | 13.5 | 14 |
| 3 cu ft | 9 | 9 |
Always round up — you cannot buy nine tenths of a bag, and the last bag is the one that covers the corner you underestimated. These counts assume loose, uncompressed bags.
Weight bags: how many per ton
Sand and many crushed stones are sold by weight instead. A US short ton is 2,000 lb, so this is also material independent: a ton is 40 fifty-pound bags whether it holds #57 stone, mason sand or crusher run. Density never enters a weight-to-weight conversion.
| Bag size | Bags per ton | Bags per half ton |
|---|---|---|
| 40 lb | 50 | 25 |
| 50 lb | 40 | 20 |
| 60 lb | 33.3 | 16.7 |
| 80 lb | 25 | 12.5 |
Crossing over: why lb/yd³ ÷ bag weight misfires
The tempting shortcut is to take a material's bulk lb/yd³ from the chart above, divide by what a bag weighs, and call that bags per yard. That crosses from weight into volume, so it is only right when the bagged product happens to have the same density as the bulk pile — and for bagged soils and mulches it often doesn't.
Screened topsoil shows it failing. Bulk topsoil runs about 2,200 lb per cubic yard, so the shortcut says 55 bags of 40 lb topsoil* fill a yard. But that bag does not print a volume — it claims coverage, up to 4.5 sq ft at 2 in, which works out to about 0.75 cubic feet. Take the label at its word and 27 ÷ 0.75 = 36 bags — around 19 fewer than the shortcut, an overshoot of roughly 53%.
Read that 36 as a floor rather than an exact count: up to is a maximum, so a bag delivering less than its stated coverage means you need more than 36, and the gap to 55 narrows. And there is no matching ceiling: the label caps how far a bag goes, not how little, so 55 is not an upper bound either. The practical move is to buy against the label's own figure and check the first bag against the area it actually covers before committing to the rest.
Bagged paver base shows the near-miss. Its 0.5 cu ft bag is listed at 52.9 lb*, which implies about 2,850 lb per cubic yard against the 2,800 this chart lists for the bulk product — close enough that the shortcut nearly works, but it still lands 1 bag short of the 54 the stated volume gives. Near-miss is not the same as safe: buy on the bag's stated volume.
Why the gap exists is worth being precise about, because "the same material, just packed" is not quite what a bag contains. Bagged and bulk stock can reach you at different moisture levels simply because they are processed and stored differently, and it runs in either direction — bags are not necessarily moisture-proof, and a bulk pile may be tarped or may have been rained on. The bagged product is often screened or blended differently from what a yard sells loose, and a bag's stated cubic feet describe it at whatever fill state the packer settled it to, which need not match a loose yard off a pile. Any of those moves lb per cubic foot, up or down. So compare each bag against its own stated volume rather than assuming it matches the pile. That is the split BagTally's calculators make per material — it is why the topsoil calculator counts bags by volume while the sand calculator counts them by weight.
What five gallons holds
Five US gallons is 0.668 cubic feet of material, so it takes about 40 such loads to move a cubic yard. For a level, untamped pail, the chart's loose bulk density is the right planning estimate — multiply the lb/ft³ column by 0.668. The typical figure and the spread across each row's density range:
| Material | lb/ft³ | Typical per 5 gal | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| #57 Crushed Stone (3/4") | 88.9 | ≈59 lb | 53–65 lb |
| Screened Topsoil | 81.5 | ≈54 lb | 50–59 lb |
| Shredded Hardwood | 29.6 | ≈20 lb | 12–25 lb |
These are the contents only — add the pail itself, and note that a nominal "5-gallon" bucket's brim-full capacity is often more than five gallons and varies by maker, so a heaped pail of wet stone can exceed the range above. Whether you should fill one that far is a separate question from whether the arithmetic says you can.
FAQ
How do I convert pounds per cubic yard to tons?
Divide by 2,000 (a US short ton). A material at 2,800 lb per cubic yard is 1.4 tons per cubic yard; going the other way, multiply tons per yard by 2,000. The chart shows both columns already converted, so you can read whichever your supplier quotes.
Why do different sites list different weights for the same material?
Four reasons. Moisture: wet material can weigh 20–50% more than the same yard dry. Rock type and gradation: granite runs heavier than limestone, and fine material packs tighter than coarse. State: loose as-delivered is lighter than the same material compacted in place. And supplier rounding: some supplier calculators apply one flat per-yard estimate across many different products. That is why every row here shows a typical loose value plus a range and the state it describes, with the source linked.
How much does a cubic yard of dirt weigh?
It depends which "dirt." Screened topsoil as delivered runs about 2,200 lb — just over a ton. Fill dirt runs about 1,800–2,000 lb dry and up to 2,800 lb wet or clay-heavy. Dry excavated clay sits near 1,835 lb. Moisture is the swing factor: a rained-on load carries hundreds of pounds more per yard than the same soil dry, which matters for both hauling and price-per-ton orders.
What are the heaviest and lightest materials on this chart?
Solid cured concrete tops the chart at about 4,050 lb per cubic yard, with in-place asphalt pavement next around 4,000. Among loose landscaping materials, wet sand leads at roughly 3,370. The lightest is dry loose peat moss at roughly 365 lb — about a tenth of concrete. The practical takeaway: a yard of stone, sand, or soil is a 1–2 ton order you plan delivery around, while a yard of mulch or peat is something one person can move a bag at a time.
How many 50 lb bags are in a ton?
Exactly 40 — a US short ton is 2,000 lb, so this is weight divided by weight and the material never enters it. It is the same 40 bags for #57 stone, mason sand or crusher run. What the material does change is how much GROUND that ton covers, and how many bags fill a cubic yard: going from a pack weight to a volume needs the material's density, which is the conversion worth being careful with.
How many cubic yards are in a ton?
This one depends on the material, because a ton of bark takes up far more room than a ton of stone. Divide 2,000 by the material's lb per cubic yard — the yd³/ton column above has it worked out for every row. #57 Crushed Stone (3/4") comes to 0.83 cubic yards per ton and Pea Gravel (3/8") to 0.71, screened topsoil about 0.91, while shredded hardwood mulch is about 2.5 at its typical density — which is a large part of why mulch is normally quoted by the yard and stone by the ton.
How much does 5 gallons of gravel or soil weigh?
Five US gallons is 0.668 cubic feet, so multiply the material's lb per cubic foot by 0.668. That is roughly 59 lb of #57 crushed stone, 54 lb of screened topsoil, or about 20 lb of shredded hardwood mulch, before adding the container. Those use each row's typical density; at the heavy end of the same ranges the stone figure reaches about 65 lb. It takes roughly 40 such loads to shift a cubic yard, which is usually the number that settles whether to move it by hand.
Can a half-ton pickup carry a cubic yard?
Check the payload figure on the door-jamb sticker, not the truck's nickname. Many half-ton pickups carry roughly 1,200–1,900 lb as optioned, and max-payload configurations can exceed 2,000 lb — passengers and gear count against that sticker number. A yard of most stone, sand, or soil (2,200–3,400 lb) is past nearly all of them, so plan a delivery or split the load; a yard of most mulches (500–1,000 lb) is usually fine. Stay under payload and GVWR — overloading is a safety problem before it is a suspension problem.
Weights are planning estimates for loose material unless noted — moisture, gradation, and regional rock type all move the number, which is why each row carries a range. How we source and verify densities is documented on the methodology page; confirm final quantities with your supplier before ordering.