🟫How much topsoil do you need?

✓ Tested & verified Updated: Aug 6, 2026 How we calculate this

Topsoil calculator

Length ft

Width ft

Depth

Bag size

Settle & waste allowance

4.1 cubic yards≈ 4.5 tons

= 110 cu ft · about 74 bags (1.5 cu ft)

Weight, dry: 8,963 lb
Loads in a half-ton pickup: 5
One cubic yard covers: 81 sq ft at this depth

Topsoil settles. The 10% allowance is what stops a finished lawn dipping along the edges.

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How much topsoil do you need?

A 20 × 15 ft area covered 4 inches deep takes 100 cubic feet of topsoil — 3.7 cubic yards — and about 4.1 yards once you allow the 10 percent that settling and levelling eat. The formula is the same as every other material: area × depth in feet ÷ 27.

Depth is what changes between jobs, not the maths. Two to three inches levels and repairs an existing lawn thinly enough that the grass grows back through; 4 to 6 inches is what turfgrass wants under new seed or sod; a new planting bed takes 6 to 12; root vegetables want 12 to 18.

Then check the weight, because topsoil is three times heavier than mulch. A cubic yard runs about 2,200 lb, so those 4.1 yards are roughly 9,000 lb — 4.5 tons, and five trips in a half-ton pickup. That is why topsoil is often quoted by the ton rather than the yard, and why most people take the delivery.

Topsoil is the material where the difference between the volume you calculate and the volume you order matters most. Mulch you can eyeball; soil settles, gets raked into low spots and disappears into the tilth of whatever is underneath. Ordering the exact calculated figure is how a new lawn ends up half an inch short along one edge.

The depths below are the ones worth knowing, sized per 1,000 sq ft so you can scale them to any job by eye.

Job	Depth	Per 1,000 sq ft	Weight
Lawn repair and levelling	2 in	6.2 cubic yards	6.8 tons
New lawn from seed or sod	4 in	12.3 cubic yards	13.6 tons
New planting bed	8 in	24.7 cubic yards	27.2 tons
Root vegetable bed	12 in	37.0 cubic yards	40.7 tons

Anything past about five cubic yards is a delivery, not a haul. Check the numbers against your vehicle on the cubic yards to tons calculator before you promise anyone a Saturday.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a yard of topsoil weigh?

About 2,200 lb dry, within a published range of 2,000 to 2,700 lb depending on how much clay and moisture it carries. Wet topsoil sits at the top of that range and can pass 2,700 lb, which is more than a half-ton pickup’s payload in a single cubic yard. One yard is roughly 1.1 US tons.

What is the difference between topsoil, fill dirt and garden soil?

Topsoil is the screened upper horizon with organic matter in it, meant to grow things. Fill dirt is subsoil with the organic matter absent — cheaper, heavier, and used to raise a level or fill a hole because it compacts and does not keep settling. Garden soil is topsoil already blended with compost and sold at a premium, usually in bags.

How much topsoil do I need for a new lawn?

Four to six inches of loose soil over the whole area, which is 12.3 to 18.5 cubic yards per 1,000 sq ft. If there is usable soil underneath, you can spread 2 inches and till it into the top 4, which halves the order and gives a better root interface than a clean layer sitting on compacted subsoil.

Can I put topsoil over an existing lawn?

In thin layers only — half an inch at a time for levelling, never more than about an inch in one pass. Bury living grass under three inches of soil and it dies, then decomposes into the soft spots you were trying to remove. For anything deeper, strip the turf first.

How many bags of topsoil are in a cubic yard?

Eighteen of the 1.5 cu ft bags, or 27 of the 1 cu ft size. At typical bag prices that is $70 to $110 a cubic yard against $20 to $45 delivered in bulk, so bagged topsoil only makes sense for volumes under about half a yard — a couple of containers or a small repair.

Should I get screened or unscreened topsoil?

Screened for anything you are seeding, sodding or planting into: it has been passed through a grid so stones, roots and clods are gone and it spreads evenly. Unscreened is cheaper and fine under a deep fill or behind a wall, but raking it level is slow work and you will be picking stones out for a season.

How we calculate this

Volume is area × depth ÷ 12 ÷ 27, so one cubic yard covers 162 sq ft at 2 inches, 81 sq ft at 4 and 54 sq ft at 6. The settling allowance is applied as a straight percentage on top of the calculated volume: 10 percent for mineral topsoil, which is what university extension guidance and every supply yard assumes for a freshly spread and raked layer. Weight uses 2,200 lb per cubic yard from our density table, the working figure inside the published 2,000–2,700 lb range; tons are US short tons of 2,000 lb. Truck loads use a 1,800 lb payload for a half-ton pickup, which is the limit almost every DIY soil run hits before the bed is full.

Worked example

With Length ft 20, Width ft 15, Diameter ft 12, Base ft 20, Height ft 12, Area sq ft 300, Ring diameter ft 6, Gap around trunk (in) 4, Depth 4, Bag size 1.5 cu ft — Topsoil, potting mix, dyed and rubber mulch, Settle & waste allowance 10% — topsoil and garden soil, this page works out 4.1 cubic yards ≈ 4.5 tons. = 110 cu ft · about 74 bags ( 1.5 cu ft )

Weight, dry8,963 lb
Loads in a half-ton pickup5
One cubic yard covers81 sq ft at this depth

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