A cubic yard is a volume measurement equal to the space taken up by a cube that is 1 yard long, 1 yard wide, and 1 yard high, which is 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet (27 cubic feet in total).

What is a cubic yard?

  • 1 cubic yard = 1 yd × 1 yd × 1 yd.
  • In feet, that’s 3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft = 27 cubic feet.
  • It’s commonly used for concrete, soil, mulch, gravel, and dumpster volume.

Common ways people describe it

  • Roughly the size of a standard household washing machine or a small pallet-sized cube of material (just as a mental picture).
  • For landscaping, 1 cubic yard of mulch or soil can often cover about 100 square feet at about 3 inches deep (rule of thumb varies by material and source).

How to calculate cubic yards from your measurements

If you know your project’s dimensions in feet:

  1. Measure:
    • Length (in feet)
    • Width (in feet)
    • Depth/thickness (in feet; if you have inches, convert inches ÷ 12)
  1. Calculate volume in cubic feet:
    • Volume = length × width × depth (all in feet).
  1. Convert to cubic yards:
    • Cubic yards = volume in cubic feet ÷ 27.

Example

You’re pouring a small slab that’s 10 ft long, 12 ft wide, and 0.33 ft thick (about 4 inches).

  • Volume = 10 × 12 × 0.33 ≈ 39.6 cubic feet.
  • Cubic yards ≈ 39.6 ÷ 27 ≈ 1.47 cubic yards (you’d round up and order about 1.5–2 cubic yards in practice).

Rough cost context (if you meant “how much money?”)

If your question was about price , it depends on the material, region, and year, but for ready-mix concrete in the mid‑2020s:

  • Typical recent ranges are about 120–200 USD per cubic yard for standard concrete, including material and normal delivery distance, depending on source and year.
  • Some 2026‑specific guides put many projects in the 125–200 USD per cubic yard band for standard mixes.

These are ballpark figures; local quotes can be higher or lower.

Quick HTML table: key facts

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Value / Description</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Definition</td>
      <td>Volume of a cube 1 yard × 1 yard × 1 yard</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>In feet</td>
      <td>3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft = 27 cubic feet</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Formula (feet → cubic yards)</td>
      <td>(Length × Width × Depth in feet) ÷ 27</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Typical use</td>
      <td>Concrete, soil, mulch, gravel, dumpster sizing</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Recent concrete price range</td>
      <td>About $120–$200 per cubic yard in many U.S. markets (material + basic delivery)</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.