What is a Cubic Yard?

The cubic yard equals exactly 27 cubic feet (or 0.764554857984 m³) and is the standard volume unit for American concrete delivery, mulch, topsoil, gravel, and bulk landscaping materials. Concrete is universally priced and ordered by the cubic yard in the US construction industry — a standard residential foundation might require 20–40 yd³, while a small driveway is around 3 yd³. The cubic yard is convenient for human-scale construction projects: a typical pickup truck bed holds about 2 yd³ of mulch. The cubic yard relates to the cubic foot (27 ft³ = 1 yd³), the cubic meter (1 yd³ ≈ 0.7646 m³), the gallon (1 yd³ ≈ 201.97 US gal), and the cubic inch (1 yd³ = 46,656 in³). Outside the United States and the United Kingdom, the cubic meter is dominant for the same purposes.

Visual reference for how the cubic yard relates to other volume units. Each row links to the full converter for that pair.

See all 15 volume units in matrix view →

• Concrete ordering for US construction
• Gravel, sand and soil delivery in the US
• US freight and waste-disposal volumes

• ✓1 yd³ = 0.765 m³ = 27 ft³.
• ✓Concrete weighs about 2 tonnes per cubic yard — check truck capacity.
• ✓Some US soil suppliers sell by "yard" meaning cubic yard — clarify.

• ✗Confusing cubic yard with square yard or linear yard.
• ✗Assuming cubic yard = 1 m³ — off by 23%.
• ✗Ordering insufficient concrete by using ft³ instead of yd³.