Cubic Feet to Cubic Yards Converter
27 ft³ = 1 yd³ exactly. Type in either box.
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Twenty-seven, not three
A yard is three feet. A cubic yard is twenty-seven cubic feet, because volume cubes the factor: 3 × 3 × 3.
1 yd³ = 3³ = 27 ft³ exactly
This is the conversion for concrete, topsoil and gravel, all of which are sold by the cubic yard in the United States while excavations are measured in feet. A slab 10 ft × 12 ft × 4 inches is 40 ft³, which is 1.48 cubic yards — so you order one and a half.
The cubic foot
A cube one foot on each side: 28.3168 litres, or 1,728 cubic inches. It is the unit of American gas meters, appliance capacities and shipping volumes.
A cubic foot of fresh water weighs about 62.4 pounds.
The cubic yard
Twenty-seven cubic feet, because a yard is three feet and volume cubes the factor. It is how concrete, topsoil and aggregate are sold in the United States.
One cubic yard is 764.55 litres, and a cubic yard of concrete weighs around two tonnes.
The working, step by step
Every line updates with whatever you type above. The point is the method, which is the same for any pair of units in this family.
The same quantity, two different numbers
One physical amount, read off two scales. The tick marks do not line up, and the gap between them is the conversion factor made visible.
How much is that?
A number is easier to judge next to something familiar.
Your turn
Reading a method and being able to use it are different things. Answer within half a per cent and it counts as correct.
Score: 0 of 0
How to use this converter
- Type into either box. The other side updates as you go; there is no button to press.
- Swap the direction with the button between the boxes, carrying your value across.
- Set the decimals if the default is more or less precision than you need.
- Copy the answer with its unit, ready to paste.
- Use the shortcut buttons for the values that come up most often.
- Share the result. The address bar tracks what you type, so the link you copy opens on the same number.
Common uses and tips
Where cubic conversions come up
- Concrete, topsoil and aggregate, sold by the cubic yard in America and the cubic metre almost everywhere else.
- Engine displacement, historically in cubic inches in the United States and in cubic centimetres or litres elsewhere.
- Shipping and storage, where container and room volumes come in cubic feet or cubic metres.
- Gas meters, which read in cubic feet in some countries and cubic metres in others.
The trap: cubic factors are length factors cubed
A foot is 0.3048 metres. A cubic foot is not 0.3048 cubic metres — it is 0.3048 × 0.3048 × 0.3048, which is 0.028316846592.
The same logic runs everywhere. A yard is 3 feet, so a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. A metre is 100 cm, so a cubic metre is 1,000,000 cubic centimetres. Using the plain length factor instead gives an answer wrong by a factor of hundreds or thousands, which is at least an obvious sort of wrong.
Numbers worth carrying
- 1 m³ = 1,000 litres. Exactly.
- 1 ft³ = 28.3168 litres, or 1,728 cubic inches.
- 1 yd³ = 27 ft³, exactly.
- 1 in³ = 16.387064 mL, exactly.
- A cubic metre of water weighs a tonne; a cubic foot weighs about 62.4 lb.
Values people look up most
Each one opens the converter with the number already in it.
- 1 ft³ to yd³
- 10 ft³ to yd³
- 27 ft³ to yd³
- 40 ft³ to yd³
- 50 ft³ to yd³
- 54 ft³ to yd³
- 81 ft³ to yd³
- 100 ft³ to yd³
- 135 ft³ to yd³
- 200 ft³ to yd³
- 270 ft³ to yd³
- 500 ft³ to yd³
- 540 ft³ to yd³
- 1,000 ft³ to yd³
Quick reference
| Cubic feet | Cubic yards |
|---|---|
| 27 ft³ | 1 yd³ |
| 40 ft³ | 1.481481 yd³ |
| 54 ft³ | 2 yd³ |
| 100 ft³ | 3.703704 yd³ |
| 270 ft³ | 10 yd³ |
| 540 ft³ | 20 yd³ |
Questions people ask
How many cubic feet in a cubic yard?
Exactly 27.
Why 27 and not 3?
Because volume is three-dimensional: 3 × 3 × 3 = 27.
How much concrete for a 10 by 12 foot slab 4 inches thick?
40 ft³, which is 1.48 cubic yards.