Topsoil Calculator
A topsoil calculator tells you how much soil you need to fill a bed or level a lawn. It takes the area and the fill depth, and returns the volume in cubic yards and 40 pound bags, plus the cost. Type the size below and set the depth. Everything runs in your browser, with no signup.
Updated for 2026Your bed or lawn
How much one cubic yard of topsoil covers
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet and weighs about 1.1 tons. The area it covers depends on the depth. Tap a row to set that depth.
| Depth | Area per cubic yard | Bags per yard | Use |
|---|
How the topsoil volume is calculated
Topsoil is sold by volume in cubic yards, or in bags. Multiply the area by the fill depth, with the depth converted from inches to feet, then divide by 27 to get cubic yards:
There are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard. A 40 pound bag of topsoil holds about 0.75 cubic feet, so a cubic yard is about 36 bags. Screened topsoil weighs roughly 1.1 tons per cubic yard. Bulk delivery is far cheaper than bags for filling a bed; bags suit small top ups.
- Bed20 ft × 10 ft
- Area (20 × 10)200 ft²
- Fill depth4 in (0.333 ft)
- Volume (200 × 0.333)66.7 ft³
- Cubic yards (66.7 ÷ 27)2.47 yd³
- Bags (66.7 ÷ 0.75)89 bags
- Bulk cost (2.47 × $30)$74
- Bagged cost (89 × $4)$356
Frequently asked questions
How much topsoil do I need?
How many bags is a cubic yard?
How much does a cubic yard of topsoil weigh?
How deep should topsoil be?
Does this calculator store my numbers?
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