Topsoil

Twenty-eight guides on topsoil, one question each. How much you need and what a yard covers, what it weighs and what it costs, where to buy it in bulk and how deep to spread it for a lawn, a bed or sod, and how it differs from garden soil, potting soil and compost. Start with the group that matches the stage you are at rather than reading from the top. Below the post list is the soil science this topic usually skips: what the USDA actually means by topsoil, the bulk density figures that convert cubic yards into tons, the depths that land-grant extension services publish, the herbicide carryover risk a fertility test will not detect, and six widely repeated numbers that no agency publishes at all.

Waldev · Topsoil collection

Topsoil is sold by the cubic yard, delivered by the ton, and defined by nobody

Three facts sit underneath almost every question in this collection, and none of them appears on a delivery invoice. Topsoil is priced and ordered as a volume. It arrives on a truck weighed as a mass. And the word itself carries no legal meaning in the United States, so two suppliers in the same county can sell products with nothing in common and label both of them topsoil.

These 28 guides cover the practical side: how much you need, what a yard covers, what it weighs, what it costs, where to buy it, how deep to spread it, and how it differs from garden soil, potting soil and compost. Below the post list is the part that is usually missing, which is the soil science and the sourcing. What the US Department of Agriculture actually means by topsoil, the bulk density figures that convert cubic yards into tons, the depths that land-grant extension services recommend, and the widely repeated numbers that no agency publishes at all.

If you already know your area and depth, the topsoil calculator will size the order. This page is for the decisions you make before and after that arithmetic.

01 · The soil science

What topsoil is, according to the agency that maps it

The Natural Resources Conservation Service maps every soil in the country, and its Soil Survey Manual does not use the word topsoil as a technical term. What it describes instead is the A horizon, the layer people mean when they say topsoil.

A horizons are mineral horizons that formed at the soil surface or below an O horizon. They exhibit obliteration of all or much of any original rock structure and show one or both of the following: 1. An accumulation of humified organic matter closely mixed with the mineral fraction and not dominated by properties characteristic of V, E, or B horizons; and/or 2. Properties resulting from cultivation, pasturing, or similar kinds of disturbance.

USDA NRCS, Soil Survey Manual, Chapter 3

Strip away the horizon codes and it says something simple. Topsoil is mineral material, meaning ground-up rock, with decomposed organic matter mixed through it. Not layered on top of it, mixed through it. NRCS puts the practical consequence more plainly in its public guide: the A horizon is generally darker than the lower horizons because of varying amounts of humified organic matter, and it is where most root activity occurs and generally is the most productive layer of soil.

Two things follow from that definition, and both come up repeatedly in this collection.

First, the dark color is the organic matter, not the fertility. A very dark load is not automatically a good load. NRCS puts typical mineral soil organic matter at 2 to 5 percent, and the University of Connecticut's soil lab recommends buying topsoil that contains at least 2% organic matter but no more than about 10%. Above that range you are not buying topsoil any more, you are buying something closer to compost, and it will behave differently. It will also settle further as the organic fraction decomposes.

Second, there is no universal depth. NRCS publishes no standard thickness for the A horizon, and the soil profiles in its own teaching material run from around two inches to over a foot depending on the soil series. Anyone quoting a fixed six to ten inches as a USDA figure has invented it. What Is Topsoil? Definition, Uses and Why It Matters and How Is Topsoil Formed and Can You Make Your Own? work through both points.

Texture is the specification that actually matters

The USDA classifies soil into twelve texture classes based purely on the proportion of three particle sizes. The boundaries are fixed by diameter: sand runs from 0.05 to 2.0 millimeters, silt from 0.002 to 0.05, and clay is anything below 0.002. Everything else about a soil, including how it drains, how it holds nutrients and how heavy it is per cubic yard, follows from where it sits in that triangle.

Texture class	Defining proportions, USDA system	What it means for a delivered load
Loam	7 to 27 percent clay, 28 to 50 percent silt, 52 percent or less sand	The classic target. Note it is silt-dominant, not equal thirds.
Sandy loam	7 to 20 percent clay, more than 52 percent sand	Drains fast, easy to work, the texture two extension services recommend buying
Silt loam	50 percent or more silt, 12 to 27 percent clay	Holds water well, crusts and compacts if worked wet
Silt	80 percent or more silt, less than 12 percent clay	Uncommon in delivered topsoil, prone to sealing
Clay loam	27 to 40 percent clay	Heavy, slow draining, hard to spread in anything but dry weather

Texture class definitions from the Oklahoma State University Extension soil classification manual, following the USDA system. The full set of twelve classes also includes loamy sand, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay and clay.

The single most repeated mistake about loam. It is not one third sand, one third silt and one third clay. A loam contains more silt than clay and can be more than half sand by weight. The mental image of equal thirds is wrong in a way that matters, because it makes people reject a perfectly good sandy loam for looking too sandy. What Is Topsoil Made Of? (Screened Topsoil Explained) covers what screening does and does not change about any of this.

02 · The regulatory gap

No federal agency defines the word topsoil, and there is no such thing as certified topsoil

This is the finding that changes how you shop, and it is stated in print by land-grant extension services in at least four states. There is no federal standard for what may be sold under the name.

Since New Hampshire has no legal definition of topsoil and no regulations governing its sale, just what are consumers getting when they buy a load of topsoil?

University of New Hampshire Extension

There are, however, no legal marketing standards for topsoil.

University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension, Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory

Homeowners should understand that there are no legal standards for topsoil. What is sold as topsoil may be no better than what you already have and may even introduce new problems.

North Carolina State Extension

The University of Maryland Extension says the same thing twice, once as there are no quality standards for topsoil and it is not a regulated product in Maryland and again as topsoil sales are not regulated in Maryland. We checked the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides, which govern environmental marketing claims, and they contain nothing about topsoil composition or labeling. We checked state soil amendment registration schemes in Connecticut and Minnesota, and topsoil appears in neither the regulated categories nor the exemptions.

Connecticut legislators noticed the gap. A 2017 bill titled an act concerning the labeling of topsoil sold to consumers was introduced in the state house. We could not retrieve its text or its outcome, so we make no claim about what happened to it, only that somebody in a state legislature thought the absence was worth addressing.

What this rules out. Any product marketed as USDA certified topsoil, or as meeting USDA topsoil standards, is making a claim about a standard that does not exist. The Department of Agriculture certifies organic producers and grades meat and produce. It does not certify bagged or bulk topsoil, and there is no federal specification for the product to meet. Treat the phrase as a marketing decoration rather than information.

The gap is not a scandal so much as a shopping instruction. Because the word means nothing, the supplier's answers to a few specific questions carry all the information, and those questions are in section 06. Which Stores Sell Topsoil? and Where to Buy Topsoil in Bulk Near You cover the retail and bulk routes.

03 · Yards to tons

Bulk density is the number that connects the price you agreed to the truck that arrives

You order three cubic yards. The invoice says four tons. Those are measurements of different things, and the quantity that converts one into the other is bulk density, which NRCS defines as the dry weight of soil divided by its volume. It is reported in grams per cubic centimeter, and almost no supplier will quote you one.

The conversion into US units is fixed, and Penn State Extension states it explicitly: multiply grams per cubic centimeter by 62.4 to get pounds per cubic foot. A cubic yard holds 27 cubic feet, so the whole chain is one multiplication.

Pounds per cubic yard = bulk density in g/cm3 × 62.4 × 27, which simplifies to bulk density × 1,684.8. Divide by 2,000 for US tons.

Typical bulk density by texture, and what a yard weighs

NRCS publishes average bulk densities by texture class in its Soil Organic Matter guide, drawn from Rawls (1983). Running each one through the conversion gives the weight of a dry cubic yard.

Material	Bulk density, g/cm3	Pounds per cubic foot	Pounds per cubic yard	US tons per yard
Organic matter	0.22	13.7	371	0.19
Soils formed in volcanic ash	0.80	49.9	1,348	0.67
Red clayey soils	1.10	68.6	1,853	0.93
Silt loam	1.20	74.9	2,022	1.01
Silty clay loam	1.40	87.4	2,359	1.18
Loam	1.45	90.5	2,443	1.22
Clay loam	1.45	90.5	2,443	1.22
Sandy loam	1.50	93.6	2,527	1.26
Loamy sand	1.54	96.1	2,595	1.30
Silty clay	1.55	96.7	2,611	1.31
Sand	1.56	97.3	2,628	1.31
Sandy clay loam	1.63	101.7	2,746	1.37

Bulk density figures from USDA NRCS, Soil Organic Matter guide, Table 2, average bulk density for organic matter and soil textures (Rawls, 1983). Weight columns calculated from those densities using the 62.4 conversion stated by Penn State Extension.

The flat one ton per yard rule is wrong for most real topsoil. Two thousand pounds per cubic yard implies a bulk density of about 1.19 grams per cubic centimeter, which corresponds to a light silt loam and nothing else on that table. Mineral topsoil runs roughly 2,000 to 2,750 pounds per dry cubic yard depending on texture, and a sandy load sits near the top of that range. If a supplier converts your yards to tons using a flat figure, ask which one they used. How Much Does a Yard of Topsoil Weigh? and How Many Yards of Topsoil in a Ton? both run the conversion in the other direction.

Every published density is a dry weight, and you pay freight on water

This is the detail that explains most disputes about a delivered load. NRCS defines bulk density as the oven-dry weight of soil per unit of volume, and defines gravimetric water content as the weight of soil water per unit of dry soil weight. Put those together and delivered weight equals dry weight multiplied by one plus the water content.

Soil delivered after three days of rain therefore weighs meaningfully more than the same soil delivered in August, at exactly the same volume and exactly the same quality. No agency publishes an adjustment factor for this, so we are not going to invent a percentage. What is worth knowing is the direction and the mechanism. If you are buying by the ton, wet weather works against you. If you are buying by the yard, it does not, which is one practical argument for ordering by volume where the supplier offers both.

Organic matter has a bulk density of 0.22, roughly one seventh that of mineral sand. That is why a compost-rich blend weighs so much less per yard than screened mineral topsoil, and why comparing two suppliers on price per ton can be misleading if one is selling a blend. Compare price per yard, then ask what is in it. How Much Does Topsoil Cost? Price per Yard, Ton and Bag works through the pricing units.

04 · Coverage

One cubic yard covers 324 square feet at one inch, and everything else divides from there

This part is exact arithmetic rather than soil science, and it is worth having in your head because it turns a landscaping estimate into a check you can do standing in the driveway. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Spread one inch deep, which is one twelfth of a foot, it covers 27 times 12 square feet.

Depth	Arithmetic	Coverage from one cubic yard	Yards needed per 1,000 sq ft
1 inch	324 ÷ 1	324 sq ft	3.1
2 inches	324 ÷ 2	162 sq ft	6.2
3 inches	324 ÷ 3	108 sq ft	9.3
4 inches	324 ÷ 4	81 sq ft	12.3
6 inches	324 ÷ 6	54 sq ft	18.5
8 inches	324 ÷ 8	40.5 sq ft	24.7
12 inches	324 ÷ 12	27 sq ft	37.0

The formula is 324 divided by the depth in inches. Three separate extension publications land on the same answer from different directions. Connecticut states that twelve cubic yards covers about a thousand square feet four inches deep, which is 972 by this table. Maryland states that three cubic yards of compost covers a thousand square feet one inch deep, also 972. Maryland also gives 8.33 cubic feet per hundred square feet at one inch, which is exactly a hundred divided by twelve.

A yard does not cover 100 square feet at three inches. It covers 108. The hundred is a rounding-down convention that suppliers use to build in a margin, and it is a sensible one, but it is not the arithmetic. Over a large job the difference compounds: on 5,000 square feet at three inches you need 46.3 yards by the real figure and would order 50 using the rounded one. How Much Area Does a Yard of Topsoil Cover? and How Much Topsoil Do I Need? cover the calculation with worked examples.

Two related conversions come up constantly. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so a bagged product sold in 0.75 cubic foot bags takes 36 bags to make a yard and one sold in 1 cubic foot bags takes 27. And a cubic yard of soil is a cube three feet on each side, which is smaller than most people picture and heavier than most people expect. How Many Cubic Feet Are in a Yard of Topsoil?, How Many Bags of Topsoil in a Yard? and How Big Is a Yard of Topsoil? handle those three separately.

05 · Depth

How deep, by project, from the people who publish the recommendations

Depth is where cost is decided, because doubling the depth doubles the order. Extension services are unusually consistent here, and the consensus for a new lawn is firmer than most homeowners assume.

Project	Recommended depth	Source
New lawn, minimum	6 inches	Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station: lawns grow best on a minimum of six inches of well-drained topsoil
New lawn, prepared soil	6 inches or more	Illinois Extension, with amendments incorporated 6 to 8 inches deep
Tilling depth when amending	4 to 6 inches	University of Maryland Extension
Raised bed, leafy greens and beans	8 inches minimum	University of Maryland Extension
Raised bed, tomatoes, peppers, squash	12 to 24 inches	University of Maryland Extension
Raised bed, general	6 to 8 inches of topsoil	NC State Extension
Raised bed height, typical build	6 to 12 inches	Illinois Extension
Woody plants	More than six inches	Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Note what the lawn figure means for an order. Six inches over 2,000 square feet is 37 cubic yards, which is two or three truckloads and not a weekend of bagged product. That gap between the recommended depth and what people actually buy is why so many new lawns sit on two inches of soil over compacted subgrade and struggle in their second summer. How Deep Should Topsoil Be? Depth Guide by Project works through the trade-off when the full depth is out of budget.

Mixing ratios for beds, where the answer is not pure topsoil

Every extension service we checked recommends a blend rather than straight topsoil for raised beds, and the ratios are close to each other.

Minnesota Extension: around two thirds to one half topsoil and one half to one third plant-based compost. It also specifies the texture to look for, which is loam or sandy loam, and to avoid very sandy or clay soil.
Maryland Extension: compost and purchased topsoil in a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio, targeting organic matter at 25 to 50 percent by volume, which is 5 to 15 percent by weight.
Illinois Extension: a 1:1 mixture of compost and garden or topsoil.

For existing beds rather than new ones, Maryland's guidance is to incorporate 2 to 4 inches of compost into new plant beds that are high in clay or have thin topsoil, then maintain with one inch of compost per year. That maintenance figure is a useful sanity check: one inch over a thousand square feet is about three cubic yards, once a year. Can You Use Topsoil in a Garden or Raised Bed? and Topsoil vs Compost (and How to Mix Them) cover the blending in detail.

Do not layer, incorporate. New Hampshire Extension is explicit about this: incorporate both the organic matter and the purchased topsoil into the top few inches of your existing soil rather than simply spreading the new soil on top. A sharp boundary between two soils of different texture blocks water movement across it, so a layer of imported loam sitting on clay can leave roots sitting in a perched water table. This is the most common way a good load of topsoil produces a bad result. How to Spread Topsoil Over Grass, With a Spreader and to Level covers the mechanics.

On settling, and why we are not giving you a percentage

Beds and fresh loads do settle. Illinois Extension attributes it to decomposition of the compost or other organic matter, and Minnesota notes that soil will settle as the season progresses. Neither publishes a number, and neither does Maryland or NC State. The commonly quoted advice to add 10 to 20 percent for settling has no extension source behind it that we could find.

What the mechanism tells you is more useful than a made-up percentage. Settling is driven by the organic fraction breaking down, so a high-compost blend settles more than screened mineral topsoil, and a bed you filled with a 1:1 compost mix will drop further in its first year than one filled with sandy loam. Plan to top up rather than to over-order. Should You Compact Topsoil Before Seeding? (Settling Explained) covers when deliberate compaction helps and when it causes the problem in section 03.

06 · Buying

The questions that carry all the information, because the label carries none

Since the word topsoil is not defined, what you are really buying is the supplier's answer to a handful of questions. Extension services publish a fairly specific buying spec, and it is short enough to memorize.

What to ask for	The published spec	Source
Texture	Sandy loam or fine sandy loam	UConn calls these perhaps the ideal textures for topsoils; UNH says loam or sandy loam is best
Organic matter	2% to 10%	UConn: at least 2 percent but no more than about 10 percent
pH	5.5 to 7.5	UNH: a topsoil with a pH between 5.5 and 7.5 is acceptable
A soil test	Ask to see one	Maryland: ask for soil test results and information on the origin of the soil
Origin	Ask where it came from	Maryland and Minnesota both make this a purchase condition

UNH gives the reason texture is the one to insist on: it is possible to raise or lower pH and add nutrients, but very difficult to change a soil's texture. Everything else on that list is fixable after delivery. Texture is not.

What to walk away from

The warnings in extension literature are blunter than anything a supplier will tell you.

Very dark grayish soil. UConn notes these may have been dredged from wetland areas, and that such soils are often very acidic and poorly structured. Dark is not automatically good.
Foul smell, grayish mottling, chalky or sticky texture. Maryland lists all of these as reasons to reject a load, along with soil very high in sand or clay.
Unknown origin near old industrial or residential sites. Minnesota warns about soil-borne plant pathogens and contaminants including lead and pesticides. UConn recommends testing for heavy metals such as lead if you intend to grow vegetables.
Anything from a site with a cropping history. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station notes that many soils are of questionable origin such as river bottom dredgings, factory wastes and construction wastes, and that good field soils may contain herbicides used for previous crops.

The line that should change how you think about soil tests. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station states plainly that soil fertility tests will not detect the presence of herbicides. A clean nutrient panel tells you about pH, phosphorus and potassium. It tells you nothing about the risk in the next section, and that risk is the one that kills a whole season of tomatoes.

UNH suggests the cheapest possible due diligence, which is to take a sample home, plant a few seeds in it and see if they germinate okay. That costs nothing and catches most of what a fertility test misses.

07 · The real risk

Persistent herbicide carryover, the failure mode nobody warns you about at the yard

Three herbicides used on pasture and hay fields survive an animal's digestive tract, survive composting, and survive in soil for years. NC State Extension and Oregon State Extension both document the problem in detail, and it is the single most damaging thing that can arrive in a load of soil or compost of unknown origin.

The compounds are aminopyralid, clopyralid and picloram. Oregon State states that clopyralid and aminopyralid are examples of herbicides that persist through the composting process, and that it can take from two to five years for the herbicide to completely degrade. NC State puts the persistence range wider still, from as few as 30 days to, in some field reports, several years for complete deactivation and breakdown. Hay has been reported to retain residual herbicide activity after three years' storage in a dry, dark barn.

What it does, and to what

NC State lists the most sensitive plants as beans, tomatoes, peas, potatoes, peppers and flowers in general. That is most of a home vegetable garden. The symptoms it lists are poor seed germination, death of young plants, twisted, cupped and elongated leaves, misshapen fruit and reduced yields.

The delay is what makes it cruel. NC State notes that on tomatoes the damage may not appear until the plants first set fruit, five to seven weeks after the plant went into the mix. By then the bed is planted, the season is committed, and the soil is impossible to return.

The bioassay, which takes three weeks and costs nothing

Both universities publish the same test, and it is the only practical way to check a load before you commit a growing season to it.

Fill pots with the soil or mix you want to test, and fill the same number of pots with a known-clean commercial potting mix as a control.
Plant three pea or bean seeds in each pot, water them, and grow them for two to three weeks. NC State's benchmark is that there should be at least three sets of true leaves by then.
Compare the two sets. Oregon State's watch-list over 14 to 21 days is distorted or cupped leaves. Poor germination, twisting or cupping against a healthy control is your answer.

Maryland Extension confirms the same compounds have contaminated manure and commercial compost in recent years, so this is not a hypothetical risk confined to farm soil. Neither publication states a concentration threshold in parts per billion, so we are not publishing one. The test is qualitative and it is enough.

This is also the strongest practical argument for asking about origin, since the question that matters is whether the material came from ground that was in pasture or hay production. Does Topsoil Have Weed Seeds? Using It Over Weeds and Fabric covers the more visible contamination problem, which is far easier to deal with than this one.

08 · Scale

How fast the country is losing topsoil, and why nobody can tell you how fast it forms

The erosion figures are worth knowing because they are the answer to why any of this matters, and because the direction of travel is better than most coverage suggests. USDA's National Resources Inventory measures erosion on non-federal rural land, and the 2022 edition was published in September 2025.

Measure, US cropland	1982	2022	Change
Water erosion, sheet and rill	3.89 t/ac/yr	2.67 t/ac/yr	Down
Wind erosion	3.24 t/ac/yr	2.08 t/ac/yr	Down
Combined	7.13 t/ac/yr	4.75 t/ac/yr	-34%
Cropland area, non-federal rural	—	364.3m acres	—

USDA NRCS, 2022 National Resources Inventory Summary Report, published September 2025. The report states the water and wind figures separately and gives the 34 percent decline directly; the combined row is the sum of the two published rates. The NRI does not publish a national annual tonnage, so we are not calculating one.

The 500 years per inch figure has no source. It is on a very large number of pages and it is not in any USDA, NRCS or extension publication we could find. Penn State Extension says the opposite in plain terms: while we have a poor understanding of soil formation rates, T values were established many years ago as a practical measure of an acceptable soil loss level. A USDA Agricultural Research Service paper compiling historical estimates spans four orders of magnitude, from a 1890 figure of 240 to 500 years per inch for limestone weathering, which is rock weathering and not soil formation, up to a 1909 estimate of a foot per 10,000 years. The 500 appears to be a misremembered tombstone study. The honest version is that formation rate depends entirely on parent material and climate, and that USDA's tolerable soil loss framework exists precisely because the rate is not well known.

What Is Topsoil Erosion? Causes, Effects and Prevention covers the mechanism at garden scale, where the same physics applies to a bare slope after a rainstorm.

09 · Corrections

Six figures this topic repeats that no agency publishes

Each of these appears across most of the pages covering topsoil. We went looking for a primary source behind each one at USDA, NRCS, ARS, the FTC and a dozen extension services. Here is what came back.

"A cubic yard of topsoil weighs one ton." That implies a bulk density around 1.19, which matches a light silt loam and nothing else. NRCS averages put loam at 2,443 pounds and sand at 2,628 pounds per dry yard. The real range for mineral topsoil is roughly 2,000 to 2,750 pounds dry, and wet soil weighs more again.
"It takes 500 years to form an inch of topsoil." No USDA or extension source states it. The nearest primary material spans 240 years to 10,000 years per foot and is mostly about rock weathering.
"A yard covers 100 square feet at three inches." It covers 108. The rounding is a sensible ordering margin, not a measurement.
"Add 10 to 20 percent for settling." Extension services confirm settling happens and none of them publishes a percentage. The amount depends on how much organic matter is in the mix.
"The A horizon is typically 6 to 10 inches deep." NRCS publishes no universal range and its own profile examples run from about two inches to over a foot.
"USDA certified topsoil" or "meets USDA topsoil standards." There is no federal standard for topsoil, so there is nothing to certify against and nothing to meet.

One more that is not wrong so much as a false premise: "topsoil must contain a minimum percentage of organic matter to be sold as topsoil." There is no sale standard at all. UConn's 2 to 10 percent range is a buying recommendation from a soil lab, not a legal requirement, and no supplier is obliged to meet it. Does Topsoil Have Fertilizer or Nutrients in It? covers what is actually in a typical load.

10 · The collection

All 28 topsoil guides, grouped by the stage of the job

The archive above runs newest first. These groups follow a project from working out what the material is through to spreading it. Anything that turns into arithmetic hands off to the topsoil calculator, area measurement is covered by the square feet collection, and the other outdoor volume tools sit in home calculators.

Start here: what topsoil is

The five guides that answer the definition questions, including where it comes from and what is actually in a screened load.

What Is Topsoil? Definition, Uses and Why It MattersThe A horizon in plain language, and why the word carries no legal weight.
What Is Topsoil Made Of? (Screened Topsoil Explained)Sand, silt, clay and organic matter, plus what screening removes and what it does not.
How Is Topsoil Formed and Can You Make Your Own?Weathering, biology and time, and whether you can shortcut any of it.
Does Topsoil Have Fertilizer or Nutrients in It?Usually not, and why a soil test is the only way to know.
What Is Topsoil Erosion? Causes, Effects and PreventionThe national picture from USDA, scaled down to a bare slope in a yard.

How much do I need

Seven guides on sizing the order. Start with the first one, then check the volume conversions.

How Much Topsoil Do I Need? How to Calculate ItArea times depth, with the unit conversions people get wrong.
How Deep Should Topsoil Be? Depth Guide by ProjectThe extension recommendations in the table above, project by project.
How Much Area Does a Yard of Topsoil Cover?324 divided by the depth in inches, worked through at every common depth.
How Big Is a Yard of Topsoil? What It Looks LikeA three foot cube, which is smaller on the driveway than people picture.
How Many Cubic Feet Are in a Yard of Topsoil?Twenty-seven, and why that number matters for bagged product.
How Many Bags of Topsoil in a Yard? (Bag-to-Yard Chart)36 bags at 0.75 cubic feet, 27 at one, and where bagged stops making sense.
How Many Yards of Topsoil Fit in a Dump Truck or Pickup?Truck capacities by class, and the weight limit that binds before the volume does.

Weight, tons and price

Three guides on the conversion that causes most delivery disputes.

How Much Does a Yard of Topsoil Weigh? (Full Weight Chart)Bulk density by texture, and why a flat one ton per yard is wrong.
How Many Yards of Topsoil in a Ton? Tons-to-Yards GuideThe same conversion run backwards, for suppliers who quote by weight.
How Much Does Topsoil Cost? Price per Yard, Ton and BagComparing three pricing units, and why per-ton comparisons mislead.

Buying and delivery

Three guides on where to get it and what happens to it in storage.

Where to Buy Topsoil in Bulk Near You (and How It's Delivered)Bulk suppliers, delivery minimums and where the truck can actually tip.
Which Stores Sell Topsoil? Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart and MoreThe retail bagged options, and the volume at which bulk wins.
Does Bagged Topsoil Go Bad? Storage and Shelf LifeWhat changes in a sealed bag over a winter, and what does not.

Topsoil against everything else

Three comparisons, and the three products are genuinely different rather than differently branded.

Topsoil vs Garden Soil: What's the Difference?One is a mineral soil, the other is usually amended. What that changes.
Topsoil vs Potting Soil: What's the Difference?Why topsoil in a container fails, and what potting mix contains instead.
Topsoil vs Compost (and How to Mix Them)The extension mixing ratios, and why compost is the amendment not the base.

Lawns, seed and sod

Four guides for the most common reason people order topsoil at all.

Do You Need Topsoil to Grow Grass?When the existing soil is fine, and when six inches is the honest answer.
Should You Put Topsoil Down Before or After Grass Seed?Sequencing, seed-to-soil contact, and the burial depth that kills germination.
Do You Need Topsoil Before Laying Sod?Preparing a bed that sod roots into rather than sits on.
How to Spread Topsoil Over Grass, With a Spreader and to LevelTopdressing depth, leveling technique and the incorporate-do-not-layer rule.

Gardens, beds and problems

Three guides for beds, weeds and the settling question.

Can You Use Topsoil in a Garden or Raised Bed?Straight topsoil against a blend, with the published ratios.
Does Topsoil Have Weed Seeds? Using It Over Weeds and FabricThe visible contamination problem, and whether fabric underneath helps.
Should You Compact Topsoil Before Seeding? (Settling Explained)When firming helps, and the bulk density at which roots stop growing.

11 · Questions

Topsoil questions, answered from published sources

How much does a cubic yard of topsoil weigh?

It depends on texture. Using USDA NRCS average bulk densities, a dry cubic yard runs about 2,022 pounds for silt loam, 2,443 for loam and 2,628 for sand. The flat one ton per yard rule matches only a light silt loam and understates most mineral topsoil.

How much area does a yard of topsoil cover?

324 square feet at one inch deep, and 324 divided by the depth in inches at any other depth. That is 162 square feet at two inches, 108 at three, 81 at four and 54 at six. The commonly quoted 100 square feet at three inches is a rounding, not the arithmetic.

Is topsoil regulated in the United States?

No federal agency defines or regulates it. Extension services in New Hampshire, Connecticut, North Carolina and Maryland all state in print that there are no legal standards for topsoil in their states. There is no USDA certification for the product.

How deep should topsoil be for a new lawn?

Six inches is the figure extension services publish. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station says lawns grow best on a minimum of six inches of well-drained topsoil, and Illinois Extension recommends six inches or more of prepared soil.

What should I ask a topsoil supplier?

Texture, organic matter, pH and origin. Extension guidance points to sandy loam or loam, organic matter between 2 and 10 percent, and pH between 5.5 and 7.5. Maryland Extension advises asking for soil test results and where the soil came from.

Can topsoil contain herbicide that damages plants?

Yes. Aminopyralid, clopyralid and picloram persist through composting and can take two to five years to degrade. A fertility test will not detect them. NC State and Oregon State both recommend a pea or bean bioassay against a clean control before planting.

How many cubic feet are in a yard of topsoil?

Twenty-seven, because a cubic yard is a cube three feet on each side. That means 36 bags at 0.75 cubic feet each, or 27 bags at one cubic foot each, make up a single cubic yard.

Does topsoil settle, and how much should I add for it?

It settles, mostly as organic matter decomposes, but no extension service publishes a percentage to add. A high-compost blend settles more than screened mineral topsoil. Plan to top up in the second season rather than over-ordering at the start.

12 · Sources

Every figure on this page, and where it came from

All soil science on this page comes from USDA agencies or land-grant university extension services. Nothing is sourced from a supplier, a landscaping company or an aggregator.

What topsoil is. USDA NRCS, Soil Survey Manual, Chapter 3, for the A horizon definition, and From the Surface Down for the soil profile.
Bulk density and organic matter. USDA NRCS, Soil Organic Matter, Table 2, for the average densities by texture, and the Bulk Density Soil Health Guide for the root-restricting thresholds.
The 62.4 conversion. Penn State Extension, What Is an Acre Furrow Slice of Soil?, which states the factor and works it through.
Texture classes. Oklahoma State Extension soil classification manual B-819 for the class definitions, and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources for the particle size boundaries.
No legal standard. University of New Hampshire Extension, NC State Extension, University of Maryland Extension, and the University of Connecticut Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory.
Depths and mixing ratios. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Illinois Extension, University of Maryland Extension and University of Minnesota Extension.
Herbicide carryover. NC State Extension, Herbicide Carryover in Hay, Manure, Compost, and Grass Clippings, and Oregon State Extension EM 9307.
Erosion. USDA NRCS, 2022 National Resources Inventory Summary Report, published September 2025, and Penn State Extension on tolerable soil loss.

Where to go next

Size an order with the topsoil calculator. To measure the area first, the square feet collection covers every shape, and the home calculators page holds the mulch, dirt and cubic yard tools. The pool collection handles the other big backyard project, and everything else is on the Waldev homepage.

Scope note. This page reports published soil science and extension guidance as of August 2026. Soils vary enormously by region and by site, and no general recommendation replaces a soil test on your own ground or advice from your county extension office, which is usually free. If you are growing food on a site with unknown history, test for lead and other heavy metals before planting. Nothing here is a guarantee about any supplier's product.