Topsoil Calculator

Measure the area first

Measure length and width in feet for each area you're covering. If the space is a simple rectangle or square, that's your whole job. For an L-shaped bed, a yard with a curved border, or multiple planting areas, break the space into rectangles, measure each one separately, and add the areas together before running the calculator. It doesn't need to be exact to the inch — round curved edges to their average width and you'll be close enough for ordering purposes.

How deep should the topsoil be?

Depth depends entirely on what you're doing, and it's the single biggest lever on how much soil you need:

• Topdressing an existing lawn: 1/4 to 1/2 inch, raked in to improve soil without smothering grass
• New lawn or sod bed: 4 to 6 inches, tilled into the existing grade
• Garden beds: 6 to 12 inches, depending on what you're planting and how poor the native soil is
• Raised beds: fill to the full depth of the box

The formula (and a worked example)

The calculator is doing this math: cubic yards = (length in feet x width in feet x depth in feet) / 27, where depth in feet = depth in inches / 12.

Raised bed example: a 4x8 ft box filled 12 inches deep is 4 x 8 x 1 = 32 cubic feet. Divide by 27 and you get about 1.19 cubic yards — call it 1.2 cubic yards, or roughly 32 bags if you're buying by the bag instead of bulk.

Garden bed example: a 10x20 ft bed at 8 inches deep (0.667 ft) works out to 10 x 20 x 0.667 = 133.3 cubic feet, or about 4.9 cubic yards.

How much does that actually weigh?

This is where cubic yards stop being an abstract number. Moist topsoil runs about 2,200 lb per cubic yard; dried out, it can drop to around 1,800 lb. Wet soil — right after rain, or delivered on a rainy day — can weigh 20-30% more than dry soil, so don't assume the low end.

For comparison: sandy loam runs about 2,250 lb per cubic yard, fill dirt is similar at roughly 2,200 lb loose but compacts to 2,500-2,700 lb per cubic yard once packed down, and compost is noticeably lighter at around 1,080 lb per cubic yard.

At roughly a ton per cubic yard, most half-ton pickups can only carry about two-thirds of a cubic yard of topsoil in a single load once you account for the truck's own payload rating and a safety margin — the bed will look nowhere near full. See our yards-to-tons conversions guide for the full breakdown by material and truck class.

Topsoil vs. fill dirt vs. compost

These three get mixed up constantly, but they serve different jobs. Topsoil contains organic matter and is meant to grow things in — lawns, gardens, planting beds. Fill dirt is subsoil with little to no organic content; it's meant for raising grade, filling holes, or building a structural base, not for planting directly into. Compost is an amendment, not a standalone growing medium — it's meant to be blended into existing soil (typically 20-30% by volume) to add nutrients and organic matter, not used on its own as fill.

Ordering and hauling tips

Order about 10% more than your calculated volume to cover settling, an uneven base, and minor measurement error — running short mid-project usually costs more than the extra material would have. Ask whether the topsoil is screened or unscreened: screened soil has rocks and debris removed and is worth it for lawns and garden beds; unscreened is cheaper and fine for large-scale fill.

Once a job crosses about 2 cubic yards, delivery is almost always the better call over hauling it yourself. Beyond the weight issue, multiple truck trips burn time and fuel, and most suppliers deliver bulk topsoil for a flat fee that beats the cost of your own gas and wear on the truck.