Quick answer: One cubic yard of gravel covers about 100 sq ft at 3 inches deep and weighs roughly 1.4 tons. Enter your area and depth below for exact tons and cubic yards.
Convert square footage to tons and cubic yards for crushed stone, pea gravel, river rock, and driveway base.
Not all gravel is created equal. Choosing the wrong type for your project will lead to drainage issues, shifting pavers, or a driveway that looks like a mess.
If you order exactly 10 cubic yards of gravel to fill a 10-cubic-yard hole, you will come up short. Why? Because gravel is full of air gaps. When you drive a plate compactor or a heavy roller over it, those air gaps are crushed out, and the gravel level drops by 15-20%.
Landscape supply yards sell gravel by the ton (weight), but you measure your project in cubic yards (volume). The conversion depends entirely on the density of the rock.
If a supplier quotes you a price per cubic yard, make sure you know the weight conversion so you can compare it accurately to a price per ton!
The required depth of your gravel base dictates how much material you need. Here are the industry standards.
Volume-to-weight questions come in four flavours. If this is not the one you wanted:
Yes. A gravel calculator, stone calculator, rock calculator, aggregate calculator, and material calculator all do the same job — they estimate the tons and cubic yards of crushed stone, gravel, or aggregate you need to cover an area at a given depth. Enter your length, width, and depth above and it works for any of these materials.
It depends on the rock type. Crushed stone weighs about 2,700 lbs (1.35 tons) per cubic yard. Pea gravel is slightly lighter at 2,600 lbs. River rock is the heaviest at 3,000 lbs per cubic yard.
For a temporary path, yes. For a permanent driveway or patio, absolutely not. You must excavate 4-6 inches of topsoil first, lay down geotextile fabric to prevent weeds, and then add your gravel base. Otherwise, the gravel will sink into the mud.
Crushed stone (specifically "crusher run" or "3/4 inch minus"). The jagged edges lock together when compacted, creating a solid surface. Avoid round stones like pea gravel, which will shift and roll under car tires.
You must install edge restraints. For driveways, use heavy plastic or metal edging spiked into the ground. For pathways, use wooden or stone borders. Without edges, the gravel will slowly migrate into your lawn.
For a standard residential driveway, you need a 6 to 8-inch compacted base of crushed stone. If you have heavy clay soil or live in a freeze-thaw climate, go with 8 inches to prevent frost heave and rutting.
See our Gravel Driveway Cost Guide for a full cost comparison between crushed stone, pea gravel, and river rock, including why density alone changes your total tonnage by double digits.
Working on a driveway, patio base, or grading project? These tools pair well with the gravel calculator:
New to estimating bulk materials? These guides walk through it:
Every constant this calculator uses and where it comes from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Local codes amend the model IRC and adopt different cycles — your building department governs. Manufacturers revise yields; where your product's data sheet disagrees with a default here, use the product's number. See our full methodology.