Figure out exactly how much gravel you need for a driveway, patio base, french drain or path — in cubic yards, tons and bags — plus what it will cost.
Yards, tons, bags & cost
Bulk gravel is sold by the ton or cubic yard — the calculator gives you both so quarry and landscape-yard quotes line up.
The optional 5% buffer covers compaction, uneven ground and spillage so you don’t come up a wheelbarrow short.
See the 0.5 cu ft bag count too — for anything over about half a yard, bulk delivery is almost always cheaper.
The math is simple: multiply your area in square feet by the depth in inches, then divide by 324 to get cubic yards (because 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet and there are 12 inches per foot, 27 × 12 = 324). A 20 × 10 ft pad at 3 inches deep is 200 × 3 ÷ 324 = 1.85 cubic yards. To convert to weight, multiply yards by the material density — most gravel runs 1.3 to 1.6 tons per cubic yard, so that same pad needs roughly 2.6 tons of pea gravel.
Depth matters more than people think. For walkways and decorative ground cover, 2 inches over landscape fabric is plenty. For patios, pads and french drains, plan on 3–4 inches. A gravel driveway done right is built in lifts: 4 inches of large crushed base stone, then 3–4 inches of #57, topped with 2–3 inches of a finer crushed gravel that locks together under tires — 8 to 12 inches total for a new driveway in most of the US.
| Coverage of 1 cubic yard | At 2″ deep | At 3″ deep | At 4″ deep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area covered | 162 sq ft | 108 sq ft | 81 sq ft |
| Approx. weight (crushed stone) | ≈ 1.35 tons per cubic yard | ||
On 2026 prices, bulk gravel in the US typically runs $15–$75 per ton delivered depending on material and distance from the quarry — plain crushed limestone at the low end, washed river rock and decomposed granite at the high end. Bagged gravel at big-box stores costs $4–$8 per 0.5 cu ft bag, which works out to $200–$430 per cubic yard — fine for a small french drain, painful for a driveway. Get a quarry quote for anything over a yard.
Gravel is calculated by volume and frequently sold by weight, so a density figure is needed to move between the two — and that density varies with stone type, size and moisture. Dry crushed stone runs roughly 1.4 tons per cubic yard, pea gravel a little less, and wet material noticeably more. The other variable is compaction: loose gravel settles by 10–20% once rolled or driven on, so a bed intended to finish at 4 inches must be laid deeper or topped up. Ordering from the finished depth alone reliably leaves the job short.
Cubic yards = length(ft) × width(ft) × (depth_in ÷ 12) ÷ 27Tons = cubic yards × density (≈1.4 tons/yd³ for crushed stone)Allow 10–20% extra for compactionwhere:
Assumptions: Densities are approximate and vary by quarry. Suppliers usually sell by the ton for bulk and by the bag for small quantities, and bulk is dramatically cheaper per unit volume.
Work from area to volume to tons, then allow for compaction.
Result4.44 cubic yards — about 7.15 tons allowing for compaction
Ordering the uncompacted 6.22 tons would leave the finished depth around 3.4 inches rather than 4. For a driveway that difference matters, because insufficient base depth is the usual reason gravel develops ruts and potholes within a season.