How much gravel do I need? Enter your project area and depth — get cubic yards, tons, bags, and cost, with multi-layer (base + top), waste allowance, and compaction. Works in feet/meters and inches/cm.
| Layer | Volume | Weight | Bags |
|---|
| Total volume | — |
| Total weight | — |
| Bags needed (0.5 ft³) | — |
| Bulk order (rounded up 0.5 yd³) | — |
| Bulk cost | — |
| Bag cost | — |
Estimates only — densities vary by supplier, moisture, and gradation. Confirm the weight per yard with your supplier before ordering a truck.
Bags cost more per yard, but bulk usually has a delivery fee. This finds the project size where bulk wins.
| Depth | Area covered |
|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 ft² |
| 2 in | 162 ft² |
| 3 in | 108 ft² |
| 4 in | 81 ft² |
| 5 in | 64.8 ft² |
| 6 in | 54 ft² |
| Bag size | Bags per yd³ |
|---|---|
| 0.5 ft³ | 54 |
| 1.0 ft³ | 27 |
| 2.0 ft³ | 14 |
Coverage = 324 ÷ depth(in). A 0.5 ft³ bag of pea gravel weighs about 50 lb (0.5 × 100 lb/ft³).
Worked example at 4 inches deep: area = 10 x 10 = 100 sq ft. Depth 4 in = 1/3 ft, so loose volume = 100 x 1/3 = 33.33 ft3 = 1.2346 yd3. Add 5% waste: 1.2963 yd3. Bulk is sold in half-yard increments, so order 1.5 yd3. With crushed stone #57 (1.40 tons/yd3) that is 1.81 US tons, or 70 standard 0.5-ft3 bags (rounded up).
It depends on the material: typical published densities run 1.35 to 1.5 US tons per cubic yard across common aggregates. Crushed stone #57 is 1.4 tons/yd3. Because real values vary with moisture, gradation, and region, the calculator above lets you edit the density — and always confirm the weight per yard with your supplier.
Exactly 54 standard 0.5-ft3 bags per cubic yard (27 / 0.5), so always round up. Example: the 1.2346-yd3 driveway above is 33.33 ft3 = 67 bags. A 0.5-ft3 bag of pea gravel weighs about 50 lb, so 67 bags is over 3,300 lb — plan delivery, not your trunk.
Almost always bulk, once the project is big enough. A 0.5-ft3 bag at $4.50 costs $243.00 per cubic yard (54 bags), versus $65.00 per yard bulk. With an $80 delivery fee, bulk wins for any project above 0.45 yd3 — below that, bags are cheaper because there is no delivery charge. The Bag vs Bulk tab computes this for your local prices.
Rule of thumb: driveways 3-4 inches, walkways 2-3 inches, patios 1-2 inches over a compacted base. For the longest-lasting driveway, use two layers: 2-3 inches of crusher run compacted as the base, then 1-2 inches of decorative stone on top — the calculator's Layer 1 / Layer 2 mode is built exactly for this.
Different jobs. A cubic-yards-to-tons converter (like our /tools/cubic-yards-to-tons-calculator/) converts a volume you already know into weight for 20 materials. This page starts earlier: it estimates the volume from your project dimensions (area x depth, multi-layer base + top), adds waste and compaction, and only then converts to tons, bags, and cost.
1 cubic yard = 0.7646 m3. Crushed stone #57 is about 1661 kg/m3 (1.66 tonnes/m3). Example: the 1.2346-yd3 driveway is 0.9439 m3 = 1.568 metric tonnes. Switch the calculator to Metric to enter meters and centimeters directly.
Volume = area × depth; 1 yd³ = 27 ft³ = 0.7646 m³. Order volume = loose × (1 + waste%) × compaction factor. Weight = yd³ × density. Default densities are typical published values (pea gravel 2,700; crushed #57 2,800; crusher run 2,700; river rock 2,800; decomposed granite 2,900; road base 3,000 lb/yd³) — editable, because real values vary by region, moisture, and gradation. Bag math: bags = ceil(ft³ ÷ bag ft³); 54 standard 0.5-ft³ bags per yd³. Bulk is sold in half-yard increments (rounded up).
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