How Big Is a Cubic Yard?
A 3 by 3 by 3 foot cube, 27 cubic feet. See it next to a person and filled with trash bags below.
Drag to turn. The figure is a 5 ft 9 in person.
1 cubic yard in numbers
- Inside size drawn: 3 ft long × 3 ft wide × 3 ft high
- Volume: 27 cubic feet · 1.0 cubic yards · 0.8 m³ · 202 gallons
- Medium moving boxes (18 x 18 x 16 in): about 9 by volume
- Full contractor bags (42 gallon, about 5.6 cu ft): about 4 by volume
- Washing machines (27 in wide, kept upright): about 2 by volume
- Cubic yards of dirt or mulch (3 x 3 x 3 ft): about 1 by volume
"By volume" is total space divided by item size. Real loads leave gaps; the 3D view above counts how many fit when packed tightly.
A cubic yard is a cube 3 feet on every side: 27 cubic feet, about 0.76 cubic meters or 202 gallons. Standing next to one, the top reaches about mid-thigh on an adult, and each side is a little wider than a standard 32 inch interior door.
Landscapers sell mulch, soil, gravel and compost by the cubic yard. Spread out, one cubic yard covers about 324 square feet at 1 inch deep, 162 square feet at 2 inches and 108 square feet at 3 inches. That is just 27 cubic feet multiplied by 12 and divided by the depth in inches.
Weight matters more than size for heavy material. A cubic yard of dirt or gravel often weighs around a ton or more depending on moisture, which is why a pickup can be full by weight long before it looks full.