How many square feet does a yard of concrete cover?

One cubic yard covers 81 square feet at 4 inches thick, 54 square feet at 6 inches thick, and 108 square feet at 3 inches thick.

How many 80-lb bags are in a yard of concrete?

A cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet. At 0.6 cubic feet per 80-lb bag, that works out to 45 bags per yard.

What is a "yard" of concrete?

A yard means a cubic yard: a cube 3 feet × 3 feet × 3 feet, equal to 27 cubic feet. Ready-mix concrete is priced and ordered by the cubic yard.

How thick should a concrete driveway be?

Five to six inches is the standard for residential driveways that carry cars. At that thickness, one cubic yard covers about 54–65 square feet.

How do I convert square feet to cubic yards?

Multiply the area (sq ft) by the thickness (in feet) to get cubic feet, then divide by 27. For example, a 144 sq ft patio at 4 inches: 144 × 0.333 = 48 cu ft ÷ 27 ≈ 1.78 cubic yards.

Guide

How Much Does a Yard of Concrete Cover?

Concrete is ordered by the cubic yard, but projects are measured in square feet — so the key question is how far one yard stretches. The short answer: one cubic yard (27 cubic feet) covers 81 square feet at 4 inches thick. This guide gives you the coverage chart for every common thickness, the formula behind it, and a worked example.

Key Takeaways

One cubic yard of concrete (27 cubic feet) covers 81 square feet at 4 inches thick.
Coverage = 27 ÷ thickness in feet — thinner pours cover more area.
A 12 × 12 ft patio at 4 inches needs about 1.78 cubic yards — order 2 yards.
One cubic yard equals 45 eighty-pound bags of concrete.
Driveways need 5–6 inches of thickness, which cuts coverage to 54–65 sq ft per yard.

Calculate Your Concrete

How to Calculate Coverage per Yard

Coverage is just volume divided by thickness. Since one cubic yard is always 27 cubic feet, you only need your slab thickness to find the coverage.

1Start with one cubic yard = 27 cubic feet (3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft).
2Convert your slab thickness from inches to feet by dividing by 12.
3Divide 27 by the thickness in feet — the result is the square footage one yard covers.
4Divide your project area by that coverage to find how many yards to order.
5Round up and add a 5–10% waste allowance.

The Coverage Formula

Because a cubic yard is a fixed volume, coverage and thickness trade off directly: halve the thickness and you double the area covered. The table below gives the standard coverage figures contractors use.

Coverage (sq ft) = 27 ÷ Thickness (ft)

Worked Example: 12 ft × 12 ft Patio at 4 Inches

Say you are pouring a 12 × 12 ft patio at 4 inches thick and want to know how many yards to order.

Step 1

Patio area: 12 × 12 = 144 square feet.

Step 2

Coverage per yard at 4 inches: 81 sq ft (from the chart below).

Step 3

Yards needed: 144 ÷ 81 ≈ 1.78 cubic yards.

Step 4

With 10% waste: 1.78 × 1.10 ≈ 1.96 cubic yards.

Step 5

Order 2 cubic yards — suppliers typically batch in quarter-yard increments.

Slab thickness	Area covered by 1 cubic yard
2 in	162 sq ft
3 in	108 sq ft
4 in	81 sq ft
5 in	65 sq ft
6 in	54 sq ft
8 in	41 sq ft

Common Mistakes

Forgetting to convert inches to feet — dividing 27 by 4 (inches) instead of 0.333 (feet) wildly overstates coverage.
Ordering the exact figure with no waste allowance for spillage or uneven subgrade.
Using the 4-inch coverage number for a 6-inch driveway pour.
Confusing square feet of coverage with cubic yards of volume when talking to a supplier.
Assuming one yard is "about a truckload" — a full mixer truck carries roughly 8–10 yards.

Practical Tips

Memorize the anchor: 1 yard = 81 sq ft at 4 inches — then scale from there.
Round up to the nearest quarter yard; suppliers typically batch in quarter-yard increments.
For bagged concrete, one yard equals 45 eighty-pound bags — beyond about 2 yards, ready-mix is usually cheaper.
Thicker is not always better — match thickness to the load: 4 in for patios, 5–6 in for driveways.
Use the NOVORY Concrete Calculator to convert any area and thickness to cubic yards instantly.