🪨 Gravel Calculator
Calculate exactly how much gravel you need for a driveway, path, patio, or drainage project. Get cubic yards, tons, bag count, and cost — instantly. Free, no sign-up. Crushed stone, pea gravel & more.
A gravel calculator tells you exactly how much gravel you need to cover a driveway, path, patio, or drainage trench. It converts your dimensions into cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic meters, weight in tons, bag count, and estimated cost. The standard volume formula for a rectangular area is:
How to calculate gravel in 3 steps:
- Measure the length, width, and depth of the area. A gravel driveway surface is typically 4–6 inches deep; a path 2–3 inches; a French drain 12 inches.
- Pick a gravel type, waste factor, and bag size — crushed stone and 10% waste are the standard defaults.
- Click Calculate Gravel to see total cubic yards, tons, bag count, and estimated cost instantly.
For example, an 18 ft × 12 ft driveway at 6 inches deep needs (18 × 12 × 6) ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = exactly 4 cubic yards of gravel. As crushed stone that weighs roughly 5.7 tons — about 108 cubic feet, or 3.06 cubic meters.
Gravel Calculator
Pick a shape, enter dimensions, see cubic yards, tons, bag count and cost instantly.
Know Exactly How Much Gravel to Order –
by the Yard or by the Ton
Running short on gravel mid-driveway means a second trip and a second delivery fee. Over-ordering leaves a pile you have to move. This free calculator gives you the exact cubic yards, tonnage, bag count and cost in seconds — for crushed stone, pea gravel, and more.
⚡ Try the Calculator NowGravel: The Material Behind Driveways, Paths & Drainage
Few materials earn their keep like gravel. It resurfaces a driveway, makes a garden path, beds the base under pavers and sheds, and quietly drains water away in a French trench. The catch is in how it is sold — loose, by the cubic yard or the ton — and that is where most ordering mistakes start.
The volume math itself is short: area times depth, divided by 27. Gravel just adds two wrinkles. The depth is in inches while length and width are in feet, so an un-converted depth throws the answer off twelvefold. And gravel is often priced by the ton rather than the cubic yard, which means you need the material's weight before you can place an order at all.
This Gravel Calculator handles both wrinkles. Pick a shape, enter the dimensions, choose a gravel type, and it returns cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic meters, weight in tons, bag count, and an estimated cost — ready to order in whichever unit your supplier happens to use.
How the Gravel Calculator Works
Pick a shape, enter three dimensions, choose a gravel type, and click once. The calculator returns the volume in three units plus weight, bags, and cost. Here is what each field does.
Pick the Area Shape
Rectangle covers driveways, paths, and patios. Circle handles round patios, fire-pit surrounds, and tree rings. Triangle covers corner areas and odd lots. The calculator swaps the input fields to match.
Enter the Length & Width
Measure the area in feet. For a rectangle, the long side and the short side. For a circle, the diameter. For a triangle, the base and the perpendicular height.
📐 An L-shaped driveway splits into two rectangles — run each and add the results.Enter the Depth (in Inches)
Depth is where most estimates go wrong. A gravel driveway surface is 4–6 inches; a path 2–3 inches; a French drain about 12 inches. Decide the right depth for the job before you calculate.
📊 The calculator converts inches to feet for you.Enter the Quantity
Covering several identical areas — a driveway plus two matching paths? Enter the count and the calculator totals them. For a single area, leave this at 1.
Pick Gravel Type, Waste & Bag Size
Gravel type sets the density that drives the weight in tons and the auto-filled price. Waste factor adds margin for spreading loss and compaction. Bag size lets you see the bagged-equivalent count.
Hit Calculate — Read Every Number
Instantly see total cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic meters, weight in tons, bag count, the order size with waste, and the estimated cost.
✅ Formula: yd³ = (L × W × Depth_in ÷ 12) ÷ 27The Gravel Volume Formula, Explained
Two formulas do the work: one for volume, one for converting that volume into the tonnage a quarry will sell you.
The volume formula: Volume in cubic yards equals length times width times depth — all in feet — divided by 27. The division by 27 converts cubic feet to cubic yards, since a cubic yard is a 3-foot cube and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27.
The inches step: Length and width are measured in feet, but depth is measured in inches. Before multiplying, convert the depth to feet by dividing by 12. A 4-inch gravel layer is 0.33 feet, not 4. Skip this and the volume is twelve times too large — the most common gravel-order error. The calculator does the conversion automatically.
From volume to tons: Gravel is often sold by weight, so you need to convert your volume into tons. Multiply the cubic feet by the gravel's density — roughly 100 to 115 pounds per cubic foot — to get the weight in pounds, then divide by 2,000 for US tons. Crushed stone and pea gravel sit near 105 lb/ft³; crusher run, packed with fine material, is heavier.
Other shapes: For a circle, the area is π times the radius squared (the radius is half the diameter); multiply by depth in feet, divide by 27. For a triangle, the area is half the base times the height. The calculator applies the correct area formula when you choose a shape.
Depth, Coverage & Weight Tables
A few numbers do most of the planning. The 27-cubic-feet-per-yard conversion and the recommended depths are the ones worth knowing.
| Conversion | Multiplier | When You Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Cubic feet → cubic yards | ÷ 27 | Converting calculated volume into supplier units |
| Cubic yards → tons | × ~1.4 | Ordering from a quarry that sells by weight |
| Cubic yards → cubic meters | × 0.7646 | Working with metric specs or suppliers |
| Inches of depth → feet | ÷ 12 | The step people most often forget |
| Cubic feet → tons | × density ÷ 2,000 | Estimating haul weight and tonnage orders |
The formula in plain language: Multiply length by width by depth in inches, divide by 12 to put the depth in feet, then divide by 27 to convert to cubic yards. An 18 × 12 driveway at 6 inches deep is (18 × 12 × 6) ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = exactly 4 cubic yards.
Recommended Gravel Depth by Project
| Project | Recommended Depth | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🍃 Garden path | 2 – 3 inches | |
| 🪑 Patio gravel surface | 2 – 3 inches | |
| 🚗 Driveway top-up / resurface | 2 – 3 inches | |
| 🚙 Driveway surface layer | 4 – 6 inches | |
| 🏗️ New driveway (full build) | 8 – 12 inches | |
| 💧 French drain trench | 10 – 12 inches |
How Far One Ton of Gravel Goes
| Depth | Coverage Per Ton | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| 2 inches | ~100 ft² | Paths, patio surface, thin top-up |
| 3 inches | ~70 ft² | Driveway resurfacing |
| 4 inches | ~55 ft² | Driveway surface layer |
| 6 inches | ~38 ft² | Base layer, French drain |
These figures assume a typical gravel density of about 105 lb/ft³. Lighter or heavier gravels shift the coverage slightly, but they are reliable for planning a delivery.
Factors That Affect How Much Gravel You Need
The formula gives a clean theoretical number. A real driveway or trench reliably uses more. Here are the variables that move your order.
Gravel Types Compared: Weight, Cost & Use
"Gravel" covers several distinct products. Picking the right one matters as much as getting the volume right — the wrong type can mean a driveway that ruts or a path that never stays put.
| Type | Price/ton | Best For | Watch Out For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crushed stone (#57) | $30–$50 | Driveways, drainage, paver and shed bases | Angular edges — uncomfortable underfoot |
| Pea gravel | $35–$55 | Paths, patios, decorative ground cover | Stays loose — not a structural base |
| Crusher run | $25–$40 | Compacted driveway and patio base layers | Contains fines — drains poorly on its own |
| River rock | $50–$100 | Decorative beds, dry creek features, borders | Most expensive — smooth stones shift |
| Drainage stone (#2) | $35–$55 | French drains, dry wells, heavy drainage | Large stones — not for walking surfaces |
How to Order & Lay Gravel: A Phase-by-Phase Roadmap
A clean gravel job is mostly planning. Here are the four phases that separate one correctly-sized delivery from a second trip or a rutted result.
Measure the area and decide the correct depth for the job. Run the calculation, then add a waste factor for compaction and uneven ground. For a layered driveway, calculate the base and surface layers separately. End with a cubic-yard and a tonnage figure.
Ask each supplier for the gravel price and the delivery fee as separate line items, and confirm whether the price is per ton or per cubic yard. Check the minimum order and whether they can place the pile where you want it.
Level the area and remove soft spots so it does not absorb extra gravel. For a driveway or path, lay landscape fabric to stop the gravel mixing into the soil below. Clear a spot for the delivery pile and stage your rake, shovel, and wheelbarrow.
Spread the gravel to an even depth, raking to a string line. For a driveway or base, place and compact in 3–4 inch lifts with a plate compactor rather than one deep layer — a single deep pour never compacts properly and keeps rutting for months.
2026 Gravel Cost Breakdown
A gravel order has two cost buckets — the gravel and the delivery. On small orders, the flat delivery fee is often the larger of the two.
The calculator's cost estimate uses a typical 2026 price per ton for the gravel type you select. Delivery is separate: a flat haul fee that does not scale with order size, which is why a one-ton order can cost far more per ton than a full truckload.
| Project | Volume | Weight | Bulk + Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden path (60 ft² × 3") | ~0.6 yd³ | ~0.9 tons | $80–$150 |
| Driveway resurface (300 ft² × 3") | ~2.8 yd³ | ~3.9 tons | $190–$320 |
| New driveway surface (400 ft² × 4") | ~5 yd³ | ~7 tons | $300–$500 |
| French drain (40 ft trench) | ~1.5 yd³ | ~2 tons | $130–$250 |
| Full gravel driveway (600 ft² × 10") | ~18 yd³ | ~25 tons | $700–$1,200 |
Example Gravel Calculations
Three jobs, three gravel types — all worked through with verified math so you can sanity-check your own results. Each assumes a 10% waste factor.
How to Save Money on a Gravel Order
Gravel is cheap per ton, but how you buy it can double or halve the real cost. These six moves are where the savings come from.
The biggest lever is the delivery fee. Because it is flat, it punishes small orders and rewards full loads. A one-ton delivery and a ten-ton delivery pay the same haul charge — so the per-ton cost of a tiny order can be triple that of a full one. Planning around that single fact saves more than hunting for a lower per-ton rate.
The second lever is matching the gravel to the job. Crusher run at $35 a ton makes an excellent compacted base; paying $75 a ton for decorative river rock where it will be buried under a surface layer is wasted money. The reverse is also true — a structural job needs the right stone, not the cheapest.
Six Cost-Cutting Moves
When This Calculator Is the Wrong Tool
Area times depth covers the large majority of gravel jobs, but not every one. Here are the situations where the output needs care.
1. Irregular, free-form shapes. A curving driveway or a kidney-shaped bed is not a rectangle, circle, or triangle. Forcing it into one shape will be off by a wide margin. Break the area into simple shapes, run the calculator once per piece, and add the results.
2. Engineered driveway and road specs. A commercial driveway or an engineered access road follows a sub-base, base, and surface specification with defined compaction. The volume math is the same, but the depths, gradation, and compaction are dictated by the spec — follow it rather than these general depths.
3. Tonnage billed by an exact loaded density. This calculator estimates weight using a typical density for each gravel type. The actual loaded density on the day depends on the specific stone and its moisture. For a weight-billed order, ask the supplier for their loaded density rather than relying on an average.
4. Layered builds in one calculation. A full gravel driveway has a coarse base and a finer surface layer at different depths and densities. Run the calculator once for each layer — a single calculation cannot represent two different materials at two different depths.
Where to go instead: For bulk material in general — soil, mulch, fill — a cubic yard calculator covers the same volume math across every material. For the flat area before you choose a depth, a square footage calculator is the first step. This tool's strength is being the fast, gravel-specific answer with tonnage and type built in.
Gravel Terms You'll See On This Page
Quick reference for the gravel and volume terms used throughout this calculator.
- Cubic Yard (yd³)
- The volume of a cube three feet on each side, equal to 27 cubic feet. A common unit for ordering gravel from landscape yards.
- Ton
- A US ton is 2,000 pounds. Quarries frequently sell gravel by the ton; one cubic yard of gravel is roughly 1.4 to 1.5 tons.
- Crushed Stone
- Angular rock freshly crushed at a quarry. Its sharp edges lock together and compact firmly, making it ideal for driveways and bases. The #57 size is the most common.
- Pea Gravel
- Small, smooth, rounded stone. Comfortable underfoot and decorative, but it stays loose and is not suitable as a structural base.
- Crusher Run
- Crushed stone mixed with stone dust and fine material. The fines fill the gaps so it compacts into a very solid base layer.
- River Rock
- Smooth, rounded decorative stone, larger than pea gravel. Used for visual features and borders; the most expensive common gravel.
- Drainage Stone
- Clean, large, angular stone with no fines, used in French drains and dry wells so water can move through it freely.
- Density
- The weight of gravel per unit of volume, roughly 100 to 115 pounds per cubic foot. Density converts a volume into a tonnage.
- Depth
- How thick the gravel layer will be. Usually measured in inches and converted to feet (divided by 12) before the volume math.
- Waste Factor
- A percentage added to the raw calculated volume to cover compaction, spreading loss, and uneven ground. Ten percent is the standard default.
- Compaction
- Pressing gravel down with a plate compactor so it forms a stable surface. Compaction reduces loose volume, so a base layer is ordered with extra.
- Lift
- A single layer of gravel, usually 3–4 inches, placed and compacted before the next layer goes down. Deep builds are made in lifts.
- Landscape Fabric
- A woven sheet laid under gravel to stop it sinking into the soil and to suppress weeds growing up through it.
- French Drain
- A gravel-filled trench, often with a perforated pipe, that collects and redirects water away from an area.
- Delivery Fee
- A flat charge, typically $50–$150 per load, that gravel suppliers add for hauling. It does not scale with order size.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most common questions about calculating, buying, and laying gravel.
How do I calculate how much gravel I need?
Multiply the length by the width by the depth, with every measurement in feet, then divide by 27 to get cubic yards. For a 20 ft × 10 ft area at 4 inches (0.33 ft) deep, that is 20 × 10 × 0.33 = 66 cubic feet, which is 66 ÷ 27 ≈ 2.4 cubic yards. If your depth is in inches, divide it by 12 first. This calculator does every step automatically.
How much does a cubic yard of gravel weigh?
A cubic yard of gravel weighs roughly 2,800 to 3,100 pounds — about 1.4 to 1.5 tons. Crushed stone and pea gravel sit near the lower end, while crusher run, which contains fine material that fills the gaps, is heavier. Wet gravel weighs more. This matters because gravel is often sold by the ton, and you need the weight to convert your volume to a tonnage order.
How many tons of gravel are in a cubic yard?
One cubic yard of gravel is about 1.4 to 1.5 tons, depending on the type. Crushed stone is close to 1.4 tons per yard; crusher run is nearer 1.5. To convert cubic yards to tons, multiply by roughly 1.4. Many quarries sell gravel by the ton, so this conversion decides how much you actually order.
How deep should gravel be for a driveway?
A gravel driveway is usually built 4 to 6 inches deep for the surface layer, and a full new driveway is often 8 to 12 inches total across two or three layers — a coarse base topped with a finer surface gravel. For simply resurfacing or topping up an existing driveway, 2 to 3 inches of new gravel is typical.
How much area does a ton of gravel cover?
One ton of gravel covers roughly 100 square feet at 2 inches deep, 70 square feet at 3 inches, or 55 square feet at 4 inches. Coverage drops as depth increases, since a fixed amount of gravel spread thicker reaches less far. The exact figure varies with the gravel's density, but these are reliable planning numbers.
How much does gravel cost in 2026?
Bulk gravel in 2026 runs roughly $25 to $60 per ton, or about $40 to $80 per cubic yard, depending on the type. Crusher run is the cheapest, crushed stone and pea gravel are mid-range, and decorative river rock is the most expensive. Delivery is a separate flat fee, usually $50 to $150 per load.
What is the difference between crushed stone and pea gravel?
Crushed stone is angular rock fresh from a quarry crusher; its sharp edges lock together, so it compacts firmly and is ideal for driveways, bases, and drainage. Pea gravel is small, smooth, rounded stone that stays loose underfoot, which makes it comfortable for paths and patios but unsuitable as a structural base. Choose crushed stone where stability matters and pea gravel where appearance and comfort do.
Should I buy gravel by the ton or by the cubic yard?
Either works — it depends on the supplier. Quarries usually sell by the ton, while landscape yards often quote by the cubic yard. This calculator gives you both, so you can order whichever unit your supplier uses. To convert, one cubic yard of gravel is about 1.4 to 1.5 tons.
What waste factor should I use for gravel?
A 10% waste factor is the standard recommendation. Use 5% for a flat, well-prepared area; 10% for a typical job with normal compaction and spreading loss; and 15% or more for uneven ground, irregular shapes, or a project where the gravel will be heavily compacted. Ordering a little extra avoids a second delivery and its separate fee.
How do I calculate gravel for a French drain?
A French drain is a long, narrow trench, so treat it as a rectangle: length times width times depth, divided by 27 for cubic yards. A 40 ft trench, 1 ft wide and 12 inches deep, holds 40 × 1 × 1 = 40 cubic feet, which is about 1.5 cubic yards of drainage stone. Use a clean, angular drainage stone so water moves freely.
Does gravel need to be compacted?
It depends on the use. A driveway or structural base should be compacted in layers with a plate compactor so it does not shift or rut under traffic. Decorative pea gravel on a path is left loose. Compaction reduces the final volume, so for a base layer, order toward the higher end of your waste factor to account for the settling.
How much gravel do I need for a circular area?
Find the circle's area first — π (about 3.14159) times the radius squared, where the radius is half the diameter. Multiply that area by the depth in feet, then divide by 27 for cubic yards. For a 14-foot-diameter patio at 2 inches deep, the area is about 154 square feet, giving roughly 25.7 cubic feet or just under one cubic yard. Select the Circle shape and the calculator handles it.
Why does gravel delivery cost so much for small orders?
Gravel suppliers charge a flat delivery fee — typically $50 to $150 per load — that covers the truck and driver regardless of order size. On a small order, that fee can rival or exceed the cost of the gravel itself. The material may be only $25 to $50 per ton, but a one-ton delivery still pays the full haul charge, so combining loads or ordering a full truck lowers the cost per ton.
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