How many yards of topsoil in a ton? The short answer is that one ton of topsoil is a little less than one cubic yard, usually about 0.7 to 0.9 of a yard, because a cubic yard of topsoil weighs roughly 2,000 to 2,700 pounds while a ton is a flat 2,000 pounds. Turn that around and one cubic yard works out to about 1.1 to 1.35 tons, so the two units are close but not equal, and the gap between them is exactly what trips people up when a supplier quotes a delivery in tons and you have been planning in yards. The reason there is a range at all is moisture and soil type: dry, sandy, screened topsoil is lighter and gives you more yardage per ton, while damp, clay-heavy soil is denser and gives you less. This guide converts tons to cubic yards and yards to tons in both directions, gives you a full conversion chart for 1 through 10 tons and yards, and answers the questions that ride alongside it, from how many cubic feet and bags and wheelbarrows are in a ton to how many tons a dump truck can carry and why buying by the yard is usually fairer than buying by the ton.
If a supplier has quoted your topsoil in tons but you sized the job in yards, work out the volume you actually need first with the Dirt Calculator or the Topsoil Calculator, then use the conversions below to translate between tons and cubic yards with confidence.
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How many yards of topsoil are in a ton?
One ton of topsoil is roughly 0.7 to 0.9 of a cubic yard, and if you want a single figure to plan around, about 0.8 of a yard per ton is a sensible working average for ordinary, slightly moist screened topsoil. In other words, a ton does not quite fill a full cubic yard. It falls a bit short, which surprises people who assume the two units are interchangeable. They are close cousins, but a ton is a measure of weight and a yard is a measure of volume, and topsoil weighs a little more than a ton per yard, so a ton buys you a little less than a yard.
The reason you see a range of 0.7 to 0.9 rather than one fixed number is that topsoil is a natural material with no constant density. A ton of dry, sandy topsoil takes up more space than a ton of wet or clay-heavy topsoil, because the dry soil is lighter per cubic foot, so it takes more volume to reach 2,000 pounds. Dry topsoil at around 2,000 pounds per yard gives you close to a full yard per ton, while wet or dense topsoil at 2,700 pounds per yard gives you only about 0.74 of a yard for the same ton. That is a meaningful difference over a large order.
For quick mental math, treating a ton as about three-quarters of a yard is close enough for most home projects, and it errs slightly on the safe side. If a supplier tells you a delivery is five tons, you can expect roughly four cubic yards of material once it is spread, give or take depending on moisture. To turn your project into a volume first so you know how many yards you actually need, run your length, width, and depth through the Dirt Calculator, then convert that yardage into tons using the figures in this guide.
How many tons are in a yard of topsoil?
Going the other direction, one cubic yard of topsoil weighs about 1.1 to 1.35 tons, with roughly 1.2 tons being a fair working average for typical, slightly moist screened soil. Since a cubic yard weighs somewhere between 2,000 and 2,700 pounds and a ton is 2,000 pounds, the yard always comes out a little over a ton. The rule of thumb that a yard of topsoil is about a ton is handy for rough sanity checks, but it is on the low side, and if you order strictly by that rule you will usually come up a bit short.
This is why the direction of your conversion matters. If you are converting yards to tons, use 1.2 to 1.35 tons per yard so you order enough weight, especially if the soil is likely to be delivered damp. If you are converting tons to yards, use 0.75 to 0.85 of a yard per ton so you do not overestimate the volume you are getting. Rounding in the wrong direction on a large job can leave you a full yard short, which means a second delivery fee and a stalled project.
A quick worked example makes it concrete. Say you calculate that a raised bed needs 3 cubic yards of topsoil. At about 1.2 tons per yard, that is roughly 3.6 tons, so if your supplier sells by weight you would order somewhere between 3.5 and 4 tons to be safe. If instead the supplier quoted you 3.6 tons and you wanted to check the volume, multiplying by 0.8 gives about 2.9 yards, close to your original 3 yard figure. For a fuller breakdown of what a yard of topsoil weighs at different moisture levels, the companion guide on how much a yard of topsoil weighs lays out the full weight chart, and the Dirt Calculator will give you both the volume and an estimated weight in one step.
Why the tons-to-yards conversion is a range, not a fixed number
If topsoil had one fixed density, a ton would always equal the same number of yards and this article could be one sentence long. It does not, and the two factors that move the number are moisture and composition. Of the two, moisture usually shifts things the most, and it is the one most people forget when they compare quotes.
Water is the main driver. Topsoil is riddled with tiny air spaces between its particles, and those spaces fill with water when the soil is wet. Because water weighs about 62 pounds per cubic foot, a yard of soil that has soaked up a lot of it can gain several hundred pounds without taking up any more room. That extra weight is why the same soil is denser after rain, and it is why a ton of wet topsoil gives you noticeably less volume than a ton of dry topsoil. When you buy by the ton, part of what you are paying for on a wet day is water, and that water evaporates or drains away, leaving you with less soil than the tonnage suggested.
Composition is the second factor. Sandy topsoil is relatively light and drains fast, so it sits at the lower end of the weight range and gives you more yardage per ton. Clay-heavy topsoil is dense and holds water, so it sits at the higher end and gives you less. Topsoil rich in organic matter, such as a blend with a lot of compost or leaf mould, is lighter again, because organic material is far less dense than mineral soil. Screened topsoil that has been passed through a mesh to remove rocks and clumps is more uniform and slightly fluffier than raw soil straight from the ground. All of this is why a good supplier sells by the cubic yard when they can: a yard is a fixed volume no matter how wet or dense the soil is, while a ton shifts in volume with every one of these variables. If you sell or buy by weight, always ask about moisture and soil type before you trust the conversion.
Topsoil tons-to-yards conversion chart
The chart below converts common quantities of topsoil in both directions. The left block turns tons into cubic yards using a typical density of about 2,400 pounds per yard, which corresponds to roughly 0.83 of a yard per ton, and the right block turns cubic yards into tons at the same density, roughly 1.2 tons per yard. These are estimates for average, slightly moist screened topsoil. For very dry soil expect a bit more yardage per ton, and for wet or clay-heavy soil expect a bit less, so treat these as a planning midpoint rather than a guarantee.
| Tons of topsoil | Approx. cubic yards | Cubic yards | Approx. tons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ton | ~0.8 yd | 1 yard | ~1.2 tons |
| 2 tons | ~1.7 yd | 2 yards | ~2.4 tons |
| 3 tons | ~2.5 yd | 3 yards | ~3.6 tons |
| 4 tons | ~3.3 yd | 4 yards | ~4.8 tons |
| 5 tons | ~4.2 yd | 5 yards | ~6 tons |
| 10 tons | ~8.3 yd | 10 yards | ~12 tons |
Reading the chart shows why the two units drift apart as the numbers grow. One ton and one yard are almost the same, so the gap looks trivial at small sizes, but by the time you reach 10 tons you are looking at only about 8.3 cubic yards, nearly two full yards short of what the tonnage might suggest to someone who assumes tons and yards are equal. On a large landscaping job that difference is the space between finishing the beds and running out of soil halfway through. When you are unsure which state your soil will arrive in, plan with the typical figures here and keep the wetter, denser end of the range in mind as your worst case. To turn your own area into a yardage before reading across the chart, run the numbers through the Dirt Calculator or the Cubic Yard Calculator.
How many cubic feet are in a ton of topsoil?
A ton of topsoil holds roughly 20 to 27 cubic feet, with about 22 to 23 cubic feet being typical for average, slightly moist soil. That range comes straight from the weight per cubic foot: topsoil weighs about 74 to 100 pounds per cubic foot depending on moisture and type, and dividing 2,000 pounds by those figures gives you the volume. Dry, light soil at 74 pounds per cubic foot works out to about 27 cubic feet per ton, while heavy, wet soil at 100 pounds per cubic foot gives only about 20 cubic feet per ton.
This cubic-foot figure is the bridge between tons and the bagged topsoil you see at a garden center, because bags are labelled in cubic feet rather than tons or yards. If you know a ton is about 22 cubic feet and a standard bag holds 0.75 of a cubic foot, you can see straight away that a ton is a lot of bags, which is a point the bag-count section below returns to. It also lines up with the yard conversion: a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so a ton at about 22 cubic feet is roughly 0.8 of a yard, exactly the figure the rest of this guide uses.
One thing to keep in mind is that these are loose volumes, the state topsoil is in when it is poured from a truck or a bag and still full of air. Once soil is spread and settles, or is lightly compacted and watered in, that air is squeezed out and the same weight takes up a little less space. For planning how much you are buying and moving, use the loose figure of around 20 to 27 cubic feet per ton, and remember that the pile will shrink a touch once it is in place. If you want to see how the cubic-foot-to-yard math works on its own, the guide on how many cubic feet are in a yard of topsoil covers it in full.
How many bags of topsoil are in a ton?
A ton of topsoil is a surprising number of bags, which is one of the strongest arguments for buying in bulk once a project passes a certain size. Because a ton holds about 20 to 27 cubic feet of soil, the bag count depends on the bag size, and the two most common sizes are the 0.75 cubic foot bag, often sold as a 40-pound bag, and the 1 cubic foot bag.
Working from a typical ton of about 22 cubic feet, you would need roughly 29 of the 0.75 cubic foot bags, or about 22 of the 1 cubic foot bags, to equal one ton of bulk topsoil. Counting by weight tells a similar story: a ton is 2,000 pounds, so at 40 pounds a bag it takes about 50 of the 40-pound bags to make a ton, since those bags are packed a little lighter than a full cubic foot. Either way you are looking at dozens of bags, each of which has to be bought, loaded into a car, carried, opened, and emptied.
That is why bagged topsoil makes sense for small beds, container tops, and quick repairs, while bulk delivery wins for anything larger. Bags cost more per cubic foot, they take up trunk space, and the lifting adds up fast when you are shifting 40 to 50 pounds at a time. A single ton spread across 30 to 50 bags is a tiring afternoon, whereas the same ton delivered loose lands in one drop and can be moved by wheelbarrow. If you are weighing bags against bulk, the sister guide on topsoil weight per bag and per yard breaks the comparison down, and the Dirt Calculator will tell you the volume so you can decide which format suits the job before you start hauling bags.
How many wheelbarrows are in a ton of topsoil?
Moving a ton of topsoil by hand means somewhere between about 7 and 11 wheelbarrow loads, depending on the size of your barrow and how full you dare to fill it. A ton is roughly 0.8 of a cubic yard, and a cubic yard is about 9 to 14 barrow loads, so scaling that down to a ton lands in the high single digits to low teens. A standard 6-cubic-foot contractor barrow holds around 0.22 of a yard when heaped, giving close to 7 loads per ton, while a smaller 4-cubic-foot homeowner barrow gives closer to 11.
Weight is the reason the numbers stay low. A full contractor barrow of topsoil weighs roughly 150 to 220 pounds, which is about as much as most people want to push across a lawn, so filling it to the brim is rarely a good idea. Underfilling to a manageable 150 pounds keeps your back happier but adds trips. Either way, a single ton means shifting 2,000 pounds one barrow at a time, and that is real work, especially uphill or over grass where the wheel digs in.
Knowing the barrow count up front changes how you plan the day. A one-ton drop is a couple of hours of steady work for one person. A five-ton delivery, at roughly 35 to 55 barrow trips, is a full weekend or a job for two people trading off. It is worth thinking about where the pile lands, too, since every extra foot between the delivery spot and the beds is multiplied across dozens of trips. If your load involves moving soil a long way or up a slope, planning the route and recruiting help matters as much as the tonnage. The guide on how much topsoil you need helps you pin down the volume first, so you know exactly how many barrow trips are waiting for you.
How many tons of topsoil fit in a dump truck?
Dump-truck capacity is where tons matter more than yards, because trucks are limited by weight, not just by the space in the bed. A standard tandem-axle dump truck typically carries around 10 to 13 tons of topsoil per load, which works out to roughly 8 to 11 cubic yards once you convert the tonnage back to volume. Smaller single-axle trucks carry less, often around 5 to 7 tons, and large tri-axle trucks can carry more, but the mid-size tandem is the workhorse most homeowners see in the driveway.
The weight limit is why a supplier often caps a topsoil order at a certain tonnage rather than piling the bed as high as it will go. Topsoil is heavy enough that a truck hits its legal road-weight limit before it runs out of physical space, particularly if the soil is wet and dense. This is also why moisture affects your delivery: a truck loaded with saturated soil is carrying more water weight, so it can legally haul fewer yards than the same truck loaded with dry soil. If you have ever wondered why one load looks fuller than another for the same quoted tonnage, moisture is usually the answer.
For planning, it helps to think in both units. If you need 15 cubic yards for a big regrading job, that is roughly 18 tons, which is more than a single tandem truck can legally carry, so expect two deliveries or a larger tri-axle truck. If you need 4 yards, that is under 5 tons and fits comfortably in almost any delivery vehicle. Matching your volume to a truck’s tonnage limit up front avoids surprise second-delivery fees and helps you understand the load sizes a supplier quotes. For the full rundown of what different vehicles hold, from pickups to tri-axles, see the guide on how many yards of topsoil fit in a dump truck or pickup, and use the Dirt Calculator to fix your volume before you book the delivery.
Big regrading jobs often need more than one truckload once you factor in weight limits. Size the whole job first with the how much topsoil you need guide, then confirm the volume with the Dirt Calculator so you order the right number of loads the first time.
How much is a ton of topsoil, and how big is it?
Price varies a lot by region, soil quality, and how far it has to be hauled, but a ton of bulk topsoil usually costs somewhere in the range of about 15 to 60 dollars for the material itself, with screened or premium blends toward the top end and basic unscreened soil toward the bottom. Delivery is charged on top and often runs 50 to 150 dollars per trip depending on distance and load size, which is why ordering enough in one drop is cheaper per ton than making the supplier come back. Buying by the yard tends to fall in a similar per-unit band, and because a yard is a bit more soil than a ton, comparing the two on price means converting to a common unit first.
As for how big a ton actually is, picture roughly 0.8 of a cubic yard, or about 22 cubic feet of loose soil. Spread at a common 3-inch depth, one ton of topsoil covers somewhere around 70 to 90 square feet, and spread thin at 1 inch it covers closer to 200 to 270 square feet. Piled up, a ton makes a heap a few feet across and a couple of feet high, small enough to fit on a driveway but heavy enough that you would not want it sitting on a lawn for long, since it will kill the grass underneath and compact the ground.
When you are comparing suppliers, the cleanest approach is to convert every quote to dollars per cubic yard so you are comparing the same volume of actual soil. A ton of wet soil is less volume than a ton of dry soil, so a cheap-looking price per ton can be poor value if the soil is heavy with water. Ask whether the price is per ton or per yard, ask about moisture and whether the soil is screened, and then use the conversions in this guide to line the quotes up fairly. The topsoil weight guide covers the density figures behind these numbers if you want to check the math yourself.
Why buying topsoil by the yard usually beats buying by the ton
Given that tons and yards are so close, it might seem like it should not matter which one you buy by. It does, and the reason comes back to water. When you buy topsoil by the cubic yard, you are buying a fixed volume: a yard is a yard whether the soil is bone dry or soaked from a week of rain. When you buy by the ton, you are buying a fixed weight, and part of that weight can be water that drains or evaporates, leaving you with less actual soil than you paid for.
Here is how that plays out. Imagine two suppliers, both selling the same quality topsoil at the same headline price, one by the yard and one by the ton, and imagine the soil is wet on delivery day. The yard buyer gets a full cubic yard of soil regardless. The ton buyer gets a ton of wet soil, which is only about 0.74 of a yard because so much of the weight is water, and once that water leaves, the pile shrinks further. The yard buyer ends up with meaningfully more usable soil for a similar outlay. This is why many experienced landscapers prefer to order by volume, and why reputable suppliers are happy to sell that way.
None of this means buying by the ton is a mistake, because plenty of good suppliers sell by weight and price fairly. It just means you should convert to volume before you commit, so you know how much soil you are actually getting. If a quote is in tons, multiply by about 0.8 to see the yardage, then check that yardage against the volume your project needs. If a quote is in yards, you already have the number that matters. The cubic feet in a yard guide helps you translate between the units, and the Dirt Calculator gives you the volume target to measure any quote against.
How to convert your own topsoil between tons and yards
Converting between tons and yards for your own project takes two short steps once you have a volume to start from. The volume is the part worth getting right, because a small error in depth turns into a large error in both weight and cost, and it is exactly what a calculator is built to handle.
Multiply the length by the width by the depth of your area, all in feet, then divide by 27 to convert cubic feet into cubic yards. For a 12 by 12 foot bed at 4 inches deep, that is 12 x 12 x 0.33 = about 48 cubic feet, or roughly 1.8 cubic yards. The Dirt Calculator does this instantly if you would rather not do the arithmetic by hand.
Multiply your cubic yards by about 1.2 to 1.35 to get tons, using the higher figure if the soil is likely to be delivered wet. For the 1.8-yard bed above, that is roughly 2.2 to 2.4 tons, so you would order somewhere around 2.5 tons to be safe.
If a supplier has quoted you in tons instead, multiply the tonnage by about 0.8 to see the volume in cubic yards. A 5-ton quote becomes about 4 cubic yards, which you can then check against your calculated need.
That is the whole method, and it works in either direction as long as you pin the volume down first. Because the volume step is where mistakes creep in, it is worth confirming your cubic yards with the Dirt Calculator or the Topsoil Calculator before you order, particularly on larger areas. Once the volume is locked in, the tons-to-yards conversion is a single multiplication, and you will know exactly what is arriving and roughly what it will weigh before the truck pulls up.
How many tons or tonnes of topsoil do I need?
Working out how many tons of topsoil to order starts, perhaps counterintuitively, with volume rather than weight. You almost always begin from an area you want to fill and a depth you want to reach, which gives you a volume in cubic yards, and only then do you convert that volume to tons if your supplier happens to sell by weight. Trying to guess tonnage directly from the size of a bed rarely works, because the tonnage depends on both the volume and how wet and dense the soil turns out to be.
The practical sequence is short. First measure your area in square feet and decide on a depth, usually 2 to 4 inches for a top-dressing or new lawn and more for filling a raised bed or regrading. Second, convert that to a volume in cubic yards, either by hand or with a calculator. Third, multiply the yards by about 1.2 to 1.35 to get tons, rounding up so you are not left short. For readers working in metric, a tonne is very close to a US ton for topsoil planning at this level of precision, so the same figures serve for a rough estimate of how many tonnes you need.
It is wise to add a little cushion on top of the raw number. Topsoil settles as it takes on moisture and compacts, so the loose volume you order shrinks by roughly 10 to 15 percent once it beds in, which means ordering that much extra keeps a bed from sitting low after the first few rains. Suppliers also deliver in whole loads and set minimums, so rounding your tonnage up to a sensible order size is normal. To size the job properly from the start, walk through the how much topsoil you need guide, then confirm the volume with the Dirt Calculator and convert to tons using the chart above so your order lands right the first time.
Frequently asked questions
How many yards of topsoil are in a ton?
One ton of topsoil is roughly 0.7 to 0.9 of a cubic yard, with about 0.8 of a yard being a good working average for typical, slightly moist screened soil. A ton is a measure of weight and a yard is a measure of volume, and since a cubic yard of topsoil weighs a little more than a ton, a ton fills a little less than a full yard. Dry, sandy soil gives you closer to a full yard per ton, while wet or clay-heavy soil gives you only about 0.74 of a yard, because more of the weight is water and dense mineral content rather than air and organic matter.
How many tons is a yard of topsoil?
One cubic yard of topsoil weighs about 1.1 to 1.35 tons, with roughly 1.2 tons being a fair average for typical slightly moist soil. Because a yard weighs between 2,000 and 2,700 pounds and a ton is 2,000 pounds, a yard always comes out a bit over a ton. The common rule that a yard is about a ton is handy but slightly low, so when you convert yards to tons for ordering, use 1.2 to 1.35 tons per yard to avoid coming up short. Wetter, denser soil sits toward the higher end of that range.
How many cubic feet are in a ton of topsoil?
A ton of topsoil holds roughly 20 to 27 cubic feet, with about 22 to 23 cubic feet being typical for average soil. The figure comes from the weight per cubic foot, which runs about 74 to 100 pounds depending on moisture and type. Dividing 2,000 pounds by 74 gives close to 27 cubic feet for light dry soil, while dividing by 100 gives about 20 cubic feet for heavy wet soil. Since a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, a ton at about 22 cubic feet is roughly 0.8 of a yard, which matches the other conversions in this guide.
How many bags of topsoil are in a ton?
A ton of topsoil equals roughly 29 of the common 0.75 cubic foot bags, or about 22 of the 1 cubic foot bags, based on a typical ton holding around 22 cubic feet of soil. Counting by weight, it takes about 50 of the 40-pound bags to make a ton, since those bags are packed a little lighter than a full cubic foot. Either way you are looking at dozens of bags to buy, carry, and empty, which is why bulk delivery is usually cheaper and far less tiring for any project beyond a small bed or a few containers.
How many wheelbarrows are in a ton of topsoil?
Moving a ton of topsoil by hand takes about 7 to 11 wheelbarrow loads, depending on your barrow size and how full you fill it. A ton is roughly 0.8 of a cubic yard, and a yard is about 9 to 14 barrow loads, so a ton lands a little lower. A standard 6-cubic-foot contractor barrow gives close to 7 loads per ton, while a smaller 4-cubic-foot barrow gives closer to 11. Each full barrow of topsoil weighs roughly 150 to 220 pounds, so a single ton means pushing about 2,000 pounds one load at a time, which is a couple of hours of steady work.
How many tons of topsoil fit in a dump truck?
A standard tandem-axle dump truck usually carries about 10 to 13 tons of topsoil, which converts to roughly 8 to 11 cubic yards. Smaller single-axle trucks carry around 5 to 7 tons, and larger tri-axle trucks carry more. Trucks are limited by weight rather than space, because topsoil is heavy enough to hit the legal road limit before the bed is physically full, especially when the soil is wet and dense. This is why suppliers often cap an order at a certain tonnage, and why a big job may need more than one delivery to move all the soil you need.
How much does 1 ton of topsoil weigh and cover?
One ton of topsoil weighs 2,000 pounds by definition, since a US ton is a unit of weight. In terms of coverage, a ton is about 0.8 of a cubic yard, or roughly 22 cubic feet of loose soil, so it covers around 70 to 90 square feet at a 3-inch depth, or closer to 200 to 270 square feet spread thin at 1 inch. The exact coverage depends on moisture, because a ton of dry soil is more volume than a ton of wet soil. For a top-dressing you get more area per ton than for a deep fill, simply because the layer is thinner.
How many yards is 5 tons of topsoil?
Five tons of topsoil is roughly 4 cubic yards, using an average of about 0.8 of a yard per ton for typical slightly moist soil. If the soil is dry and light you might get closer to 4.5 yards from 5 tons, and if it is wet and dense you might get only about 3.7 yards, because more of the weight is water. The same math scales up and down: 3 tons is about 2.5 yards, 4 tons is about 3.3 yards, and 10 tons is about 8.3 yards. Always convert to yards before ordering so you can check the volume against what your project actually needs.
The quick version
One ton of topsoil is about 0.7 to 0.9 of a cubic yard, roughly 0.8 of a yard as a working average, and one cubic yard weighs about 1.1 to 1.35 tons, roughly 1.2 tons on average. Moisture drives the range: dry soil gives more yardage per ton, while wet or clay-heavy soil gives less because part of the weight is water. A ton holds about 20 to 27 cubic feet, equals roughly 29 of the 0.75 cubic foot bags, and takes about 7 to 11 wheelbarrow loads to move. A standard tandem dump truck carries around 10 to 13 tons, or 8 to 11 yards. To convert your own load, find the volume in cubic yards, then multiply by 1.2 for tons or by 0.8 to turn tons back into yards.
For related numbers, see how much a yard of topsoil weighs, how many cubic feet are in a yard, and how much fits in a dump truck. Confirm your volume with the Dirt Calculator or Topsoil Calculator, browse more guides in the topsoil blog and the home calculators hub, or explore all the free tools on the Waldev homepage.
Disclaimer: This guide is for general planning and education only. Topsoil weight, coverage, and prices vary widely with moisture, soil type, region, and supplier, so treat every figure here as a starting estimate rather than an exact value. For a firm quantity, measure your own area and confirm the number with the Dirt Calculator; for a firm price, get a local quote before ordering.
University extension resources on soil bulk density explain why moisture and composition change how much a given volume of soil weighs, which is what makes the tons-to-yards conversion a range. Soil bulk density →
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service guidance covers soil properties and how soil is assessed, useful background for understanding what you are buying by the ton or the yard. NRCS soils →
