Topsoil Calculator
Estimate topsoil for a lawn, bed, or grading job from the area and depth. Get the volume in cubic yards for bulk delivery, the bag count, and a weight estimate in tons so you can check what your vehicle or driveway can take.
Topsoil bags vary — a 40 lb bag is often around 0.75 ft³. Confirm the volume on yours.
Advanced: weight & price
Around 1,800–2,200 lb/yd³ dry; wet soil is heavier. Confirm with your supplier.
Formula & how it works
Volume = area × (depth ÷ 12) cubic feet; cubic yards = ÷ 27. Bags = cubic feet ÷ bag volume, rounded up.
Weight = cubic yards × weight per yard, shown in tons (÷ 2,000 lb).
Worked example
Top-dressing a 25 × 20 ft area (500 ft²) with 2 in of topsoil takes 500 × 0.167 ≈ 83 ft³, about 3 cubic yards. At 2,000 lb/yd³ that's roughly 3 tons — worth knowing before a load lands on your driveway. In 1 ft³ bags it would be about 84 bags, which is where bulk clearly wins.
Buying topsoil
Depth adds up fast on big areas
Lawns and grading cover large areas, so even a couple of inches of depth turns into cubic yards and thousands of pounds quickly. Two inches suits top-dressing and leveling; new beds want more. Because the area is large, a small change in depth is a big change in trucks — set it with intent.
Mind the weight, not just the volume
Topsoil is heavy and moisture makes it heavier, so the tonnage matters for delivery access, trailer limits, and how much your driveway can hold. Treat the weight figure as a planning guide and confirm the supplier's density, since a "yard" of wet, clay-heavy soil weighs well more than a dry, sandy one.
Bulk almost always wins here
Because topsoil jobs tend to be large, bulk by the cubic yard is usually far cheaper than bags and saves opening dozens of them. Keep bags for small fills and container work. The calculator shows both so you can put real numbers to the comparison before ordering.