How much does a yard of topsoil weigh?

Screened, fairly dry topsoil is around 1.1 short tons per cubic yard, but wet soil or a heavy loam with clay runs noticeably more — a soaked yard can push past 1.5 tons. Because moisture swings it so much, the density is an editable field; use your supplier’s figure when you have it.

How deep should new topsoil go?

For a new lawn, a few inches of good soil over the grade is common; for beds you may want more. You enter the depth — the tool fills it. It works out how much soil covers the depth you choose and does not prescribe a depth, because that depends on what you are growing.

Do I buy topsoil by weight or by volume?

Yards (or cubic metres) is what fills your space; tons or tonnes is often how it is sold and trucked. This tool shows both from the same measurement, so you can match your supplier’s pricing and check the load that turns up against what you ordered.

Should I account for settling?

A little. Freshly spread soil compacts as it is walked, watered and rained on, so ordering exactly the calculated volume can leave you slightly low once it settles. The waste factor covers this — 10% is a sensible starting point for loose soil.

Topsoil calculator

The weight is worked from the density you enter, and soil density changes a lot with moisture. Take the tonnage as an estimate for ordering, confirm the density with your supplier, and keep a little waste for settling.

Enter the area you are covering and how deep, and you get the volume in cubic yards and cubic metres plus the weight in tons or tonnes. Volume is length × width × depth; weight is that volume times the soil's density, which you can set to your supplier's figure.

Worked example

Topping a 30 ft × 15 ft lawn area with 4 inches of soil: 4 inches is 0.333 ft, so the volume is 30 × 15 × 0.333 = 150 cubic feet, about 5.6 yd³. At 1.1 tons per yard that is roughly 6.1 tons. Add 10% for settling and order about 6.2 yd³ — near enough to 6.8 tons.

The formula

weight = length × width × depth × density

Convert the depth from inches to feet, multiply out the cubic feet, divide by 27 for cubic yards, then multiply by the density in tons per yard. Metric uses metres and tonnes per cubic metre throughout.

What this tool assumes

Depth, waste and density are all editable. The default density is a screened topsoil on the drier side; wet or clay-heavy soil weighs more, so override it whenever you can get a real figure from the yard.

Questions

How much does a yard of topsoil weigh?: Screened, fairly dry topsoil is around 1.1 short tons per cubic yard, but wet soil or a heavy loam with clay runs noticeably more — a soaked yard can push past 1.5 tons. Because moisture swings it so much, the density is an editable field; use your supplier’s figure when you have it.
How deep should new topsoil go?: For a new lawn, a few inches of good soil over the grade is common; for beds you may want more. You enter the depth — the tool fills it. It works out how much soil covers the depth you choose and does not prescribe a depth, because that depends on what you are growing.
Do I buy topsoil by weight or by volume?: Yards (or cubic metres) is what fills your space; tons or tonnes is often how it is sold and trucked. This tool shows both from the same measurement, so you can match your supplier’s pricing and check the load that turns up against what you ordered.
Should I account for settling?: A little. Freshly spread soil compacts as it is walked, watered and rained on, so ordering exactly the calculated volume can leave you slightly low once it settles. The waste factor covers this — 10% is a sensible starting point for loose soil.

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