Cubic Yards to Bags: How Many Bags Make a Cubic Yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it takes 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft mulch, 27 bags of 1 cu ft, 36 bags of 0.75 cu ft topsoil or 54 bags of 0.5 cu ft gravel or sand. For concrete it takes about 45 bags of 80 lb mix, 60 of 60 lb or 90 of 40 lb. In short, divide 27 by the cubic feet printed on the bag: 1 cubic yard = 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft.
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Type in either box. Fractions like 3 1/2 work too.
Mulch is sold by volume, in bags or by the cubic yard. Its weight swings too much with moisture to quote tons, so convert between volumes and bags instead. Mulch calculator
1 cubic yard = 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft
1 cubic yard = 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft · 1 bag of 2 cu ft ≈ 0.0740740740741 cubic yards
How many bags make a cubic yard
| Bag size | Bags per cubic yard | Bags per cubic meter | Usually sold for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.4 cu ft | 67.5 | 88.29 | Gravel, crushed stone, paver base (about 40 lb) |
| 0.5 cu ft | 54 | 70.63 | Gravel, river rock, sand, paver base (about 50 lb) |
| 0.75 cu ft | 36 | 47.09 | Topsoil (often sold as a 40 lb bag) |
| 1 cu ft | 27 | 35.31 | Topsoil, garden soil, compost |
| 1.5 cu ft | 18 | 23.54 | Topsoil, garden soil, potting mix |
| 2 cu ft | 13.5 | 17.66 | Mulch (the standard bag), topsoil |
| 3 cu ft | 9 | 11.77 | Mulch (larger bags) |
| 80 lb concrete mix bag (0.60 cu ft) | 45 | 58.86 | Concrete for slabs, posts and footings |
| 60 lb concrete mix bag (0.45 cu ft) | 60 | 78.48 | Concrete for posts and small repairs |
| 40 lb concrete mix bag (0.30 cu ft) | 90 | 117.7 | Concrete for small repairs |
Square feet one bag covers
| Bag size | 1 in deep | 2 in deep | 3 in deep | 4 in deep | 6 in deep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 cu ft | 6 sq ft | 3 sq ft | 2 sq ft | 1.5 sq ft | 1 sq ft |
| 0.75 cu ft | 9 sq ft | 4.5 sq ft | 3 sq ft | 2.25 sq ft | 1.5 sq ft |
| 1 cu ft | 12 sq ft | 6 sq ft | 4 sq ft | 3 sq ft | 2 sq ft |
| 1.5 cu ft | 18 sq ft | 9 sq ft | 6 sq ft | 4.5 sq ft | 3 sq ft |
| 2 cu ft | 24 sq ft | 12 sq ft | 8 sq ft | 6 sq ft | 4 sq ft |
| 3 cu ft | 36 sq ft | 18 sq ft | 12 sq ft | 9 sq ft | 6 sq ft |
Bags to buy for common amounts
| Cubic yards | 0.5 cu ft bags | 0.75 cu ft bags | 1 cu ft bags | 2 cu ft bags | 80 lb concrete bags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| 0.5 | 27 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 23 |
| 1 | 54 | 36 | 27 | 14 | 45 |
| 1.5 | 81 | 54 | 41 | 21 | 68 |
| 2 | 108 | 72 | 54 | 27 | 90 |
| 3 | 162 | 108 | 81 | 41 | 135 |
How to work out how many bags you need
- Find the volume in cubic feet. Multiply length × width in feet × depth in feet (inches ÷ 12). A 10 × 10 ft bed 3 inches deep is 10 × 10 × 0.25 = 25 cubic feet. If you have cubic yards, multiply by 27.
- Read the bag size. Use the cubic feet printed on the bag, not the weight: a “40 lb” bag of topsoil is usually 0.75 cu ft, and weight changes with moisture. For concrete mix, use the yield (0.60 cu ft for an 80 lb bag).
- Divide and round up. Cubic feet ÷ cubic feet per bag, rounded up. The 25 cu ft bed takes 25 ÷ 2 = 12.5, so 13 bags of 2 cu ft mulch, or 34 bags of 0.75 cu ft topsoil.
- Compare with bulk. Past about 2–3 cubic yards of mulch, or about 1 cubic yard of topsoil or concrete, bulk delivery or ready-mix is usually cheaper than bags. Check local prices and delivery minimums.
Frequently asked questions
- How many bags of mulch are in a yard?
- 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft, so buy 14 for a full cubic yard; 9 bags of 3 cu ft; or 18 bags of 1.5 cu ft. A cubic yard of mulch covers about 108 sq ft at 3 inches deep.
- How many bags of topsoil make a cubic yard?
- 36 bags of 0.75 cu ft (the common “40 lb” bag), 27 of 1 cu ft, 18 of 1.5 cu ft or 13.5 of 2 cu ft. Go by the volume on the bag rather than the weight, which changes with moisture.
- How many bags of gravel are in a yard?
- 54 bags of 0.5 cu ft (about 50 lb each) or 67.5 bags of 0.4 cu ft. That is about 1.4 tons of gravel, so for more than a small path, bulk gravel by the ton is usually the better buy.
- How many 80 lb bags of concrete make a yard?
- About 45. An 80 lb bag makes about 0.60 cu ft of concrete, and a cubic yard is 27 cu ft. It takes about 60 bags of 60 lb (0.45 cu ft) or 90 of 40 lb (0.30 cu ft). Above roughly 1 cubic yard, ready-mix delivery usually costs less than bags.
- How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard?
- Exactly 27: a cubic yard is 3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft. That is why bag counts come out as 27 divided by the bag size, and why bulk suppliers, who sell by the yard, and stores, which sell bags by the cubic foot, seem to use different numbers.
- Why is my bag count different from the calculator’s?
- The calculators add a waste allowance (usually 10%) and round up to whole bags; this converter gives the exact number of bags in a volume. Add your margin before you round up.
How it works
A bag is a volume: the cubic feet printed on it. A cubic yard is exactly 27 cubic feet (0.764554857984 m³), so bags per cubic yard = 27 ÷ cubic feet per bag, and bags per cubic meter = 35.3147 ÷ cubic feet per bag. Concrete mix bags are counted by what they make once mixed, the yields the concrete calculators use (0.60, 0.45 and 0.30 cu ft for 80, 60 and 40 lb bags); their dry weight is printed on the bag, so the converter does not turn them into pounds. Bag weights (“about 50 lb”) are typical labels, not conversions.
Sources
- Quikrete Concrete Mix (No. 1101) data sheet: 80 lb ≈ 0.60 cu ft, 60 lb ≈ 0.45 cu ft, 40 lb ≈ 0.30 cu ft
- NIST Special Publication 811 (2008), Guide for the Use of the International System of Units, Appendix B: conversion factors
- NIST Handbook 44 (current edition), Appendix C: General Tables of Units of Measurement
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