Gravel is sold by the ton
Unlike bagged concrete, loose gravel is priced by weight. Crushed stone runs about 1.4 tons per cubic yard (a typical range is 1.3–1.45 depending on size and moisture), so the calculator converts your volume to tonnage — the number to say on the phone when you call the quarry.
How deep should gravel be?
A driveway that sees cars wants 4 inches of compacted gravel, and because it compacts and sinks over the first season, ordering 10% extra is not optional. Decorative landscaping rock around beds can go as shallow as 2 inches. A garden path is comfortable at 3 inches.
Size matters as much as depth
#57 stone (about ¾ inch) is the all-purpose choice for driveways and drainage. Pea gravel looks good but rolls underfoot — keep it to paths and patios with an edging restraint. Item #4 (1½–2½ inch) makes a stable base layer on soft ground.
The two formulas behind the answer
Every number this calculator produces comes from two steps, and it is worth seeing both because the mistakes people make happen in different places in each of them.
- Step one — volume. Area times depth:
cubic feet = length (ft) × width (ft) × depth (in) ÷ 12. Divide the result by 27 to get cubic yards. The division by 12 is where most errors are born: 4 inches is 0.333 feet, not 4. - Step two — weight. Cubic yards × bulk density. Crushed gravel runs about 1.4 short tons per cubic yard, so 3 cubic yards is roughly 4.2 tons. Clean single-size stone sits at the low end of the range, well-graded material containing fines at the high end.
Both steps matter because the two sides of the transaction measure different things. You measure a hole in volume; the quarry weighs a truck. An order placed in tons from a volume calculation is only correct if the density you used matches the product you are actually getting.
Three worked examples
A 12 × 20 ft driveway at 4 inches
The classic driveway pour-and-spread job. Area is 240 sq ft; depth is 4 ÷ 12 = 0.333 ft.
- Volume: 240 × 0.333 = 80 cu ft
- In cubic yards: 80 ÷ 27 = 2.96 cu yd
- Weight at 1.4 tons/yd³: 2.96 × 1.4 = 4.15 tons
- With 10% for compaction and spread loss: 4.56 tons, or about 3.26 cu yd
That final number is what you say when you phone the yard. Ordering 4.15 tons leaves the driveway an inch thin at the far end once the stone has been raked out and rolled.
A 3 ft × 60 ft garden path at 3 inches
180 sq ft at 0.25 ft deep.
- Volume: 180 × 0.25 = 45 cu ft
- Cubic yards: 45 ÷ 27 = 1.67 cu yd
- Weight: 1.67 × 1.4 = 2.33 tons
- With waste allowance: 2.57 tons
At this size bagged material is still competitive with a delivered load, because a part-load of 2.5 tons often attracts a minimum-charge delivery fee that dwarfs the material cost.
A 10 × 10 ft bed at 2 inches in pea gravel
Decorative cover over a planting bed, using the lighter pea gravel figure of about 1.35 tons per cubic yard.
- Volume: 100 × 0.167 = 16.67 cu ft
- Cubic yards: 16.67 ÷ 27 = 0.62 cu yd
- Weight: 0.62 × 1.35 = 0.83 tons
- Bagged equivalent: 16.67 ÷ 0.5 = 34 bags of 0.5 cu ft
Notice how far the density assumption moves the answer. The same 0.62 cubic yards weighs about 0.80 tons as river rock at the bottom of the range and about 0.99 tons as compacted crusher run at the top — a difference of nearly a quarter. This is why the density value belongs in the estimate, not in a footnote.
What a cubic yard and a ton actually cover
The fastest sanity check on any gravel estimate is to ask what area the answer covers. Coverage is simply volume divided by depth, so it falls off quickly as you go deeper.
| Depth | 1 cubic yard covers | 1 ton (at 1.4 t/yd³) covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 inch | 324 sq ft | 231 sq ft |
| 2 inches | 162 sq ft | 116 sq ft |
| 3 inches | 108 sq ft | 77 sq ft |
| 4 inches | 81 sq ft | 58 sq ft |
| 6 inches | 54 sq ft | 39 sq ft |
| 8 inches | 41 sq ft | 29 sq ft |
A 12 × 20 ft driveway is 240 sq ft. At 4 inches that needs 240 ÷ 81 = 2.96 cubic yards — exactly what the worked example above produced by the long route. When two methods agree, the estimate is usually sound.
Bulk density by material
Density is the number that turns your volume into the tons you are actually billed for. Published figures vary with gradation, mineral type and moisture, so treat these as planning ranges rather than constants.
| Material | Typical bulk density | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Pea gravel (3/8 in, rounded) | 1.30–1.40 t/yd³ | Beds, paths, patio top-dressing |
| #57 crushed stone (3/4 in) | 1.35–1.45 t/yd³ | Driveway surface, drainage |
| Item #4 (1½–2½ in) | 1.30–1.45 t/yd³ | Base layer over soft ground |
| Crusher run / road base | 1.40–1.60 t/yd³ | Compacted sub-base, firm driveways |
| River rock (rounded, larger) | 1.25–1.40 t/yd³ | Dry creeks, decorative beds |
| Decomposed granite | 1.40–1.55 t/yd³ | Paths, stable surfaces, xeriscaping |
| Mason or concrete sand | 1.30–1.40 t/yd³ | Paver bedding, mortar sand |
Two practical consequences follow. First, material bought by weight is bought wet or dry, and a saturated load can register around 10% heavier than the same load under cover — you pay for that water. Second, the density ranges overlap, which is why a quarry quote and an online calculator rarely agree to the last decimal. That is normal; being within 5% is a good result.
Bulk, bagged, or by the truckload
Gravel is sold three ways and the right one depends entirely on how much you need.
- Bulk by the ton or cubic yard from a quarry or landscape yard. Cheapest per unit, but almost every yard has a minimum load and a flat delivery fee, so a small order can cost more per ton than a large one.
- Bagged, usually 0.5 cubic feet (about 50 lb) per bag. One cubic yard is 54 bags, and one ton is about 39 bags. Convenient to carry and to store, expensive per unit, and the sensible choice below roughly one cubic yard.
- By the truckload for large jobs. Worth knowing the arithmetic before you volunteer your own pickup: a full-size bed holds about 1.5–2 cubic yards by volume, but 2 cubic yards of gravel weighs close to 2.8 tons. That is well beyond the payload of a half-ton truck, and overloading is both dangerous and illegal on most roads.
If you are spreading by hand rather than with machinery, keep individual loads sensible. Ten tons moved a wheelbarrow at a time is a genuinely long day; most people underestimate this far more than they underestimate the quantity.
Compaction, settlement and how much extra to order
The single most common reason a gravel job runs short is that the estimate priced loose stone and the job needed compacted stone.
- Clean single-size stone such as #57 or pea gravel interlocks but does not densify much. Expect roughly 5–10% settlement as it beds in.
- Well-graded material with fines such as crusher run or road base, placed in shallow lifts and rolled, can lose 15–25% of its loose volume.
- Soft or organic subgrade swallows stone indefinitely. No percentage allowance fixes this — the fix is to remove the soft material or separate it with fabric.
A working rule: add 10% for clean stone and 20% for crusher run that will be compacted in lifts. Round up to the next half ton, because a return trip for half a ton costs more than the half ton did.
Depth and product by job
| Job | Depth | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Decorative bed cover | 2 in | Pea gravel, river rock |
| Garden path | 2–3 in | Pea gravel with edging, decomposed granite |
| Patio base under pavers | 4 in compacted | #57 over compacted sub-base |
| Footpath drainage strip | 3 in | #57, washed |
| Car driveway, one lift | 4 in compacted | #57 or crusher run |
| Car driveway, two lifts | 6 in compacted | #4 or crusher run base, #57 surface |
| Soft ground / new build | 8 in or more | Crusher run in lifts over geotextile |
Two lifts means exactly that: place and compact about half the depth, then place the rest. Trying to compact six inches in one pass leaves the bottom loose, and the surface will rut within a season.
When geotextile pays for itself
A non-woven geotextile laid between subgrade and stone does two jobs: it stops the aggregate punching down into soft soil, and it stops fines pumping up into the stone and clogging the voids that make it drain.
- Worth it on clay, silt or any subgrade that holds water, and anywhere you would otherwise need to over-build the depth.
- Marginal on firm, well-drained, already-graded ground.
- Not a substitute for drainage. Fabric over a wet pan traps water in place; the water still has to go somewhere.
Where it does apply, fabric typically saves an inch or two of stone across the whole area — which on a driveway is often more stone than the fabric costs.
Common mistakes that cost a second delivery
- Mixing inches and feet. Entering a 4-inch depth as 4 feet multiplies the order by twelve. This is the most frequent error by a wide margin.
- Confusing cubic feet with cubic yards. There are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard, so an answer quoted in the wrong unit is wrong by a factor of 27.
- Quoting volume to a yard that sells by weight. Know which unit the invoice uses before you order, and what density the quote assumes.
- Forgetting the compaction allowance and then discovering the job is short after the truck has left.
- Using rounded pea gravel on a slope or a driveway. It rolls, migrates and will not lock. Angular crushed stone is the only sensible choice under wheels.
- Skipping edging. Loose gravel on a path or bed slowly spreads into the lawn without a hard edge or restraint.
- Assuming a pickup load is one cubic yard. A loose cubic yard is more than most people picture, and its weight is the real constraint.
Tools for moving and spreading gravel
Gravel is the material that punishes a bad plan twice — once when it arrives and once when you carry it. These are the tools that decide whether the job takes an afternoon or a weekend.
- Steel bow rake — The right tool for pulling stone to depth and levelling it. A garden rake clogs and bends; a bow rake is built for aggregate.
- Wheelbarrow — Ten tons moved by hand is a wheelbarrow job, not a bucket job. Check the tyre is pneumatic — solid tyres sink in loose stone.
- Plate compactor — If the gravel is a driveway or a base for pavers, it needs compacting in lifts. A hand tamper works for small areas but is genuinely punishing over a full drive.
- Non-woven geotextile fabric — Laid between soft subgrade and stone, it stops the aggregate sinking and saves more in material than the fabric costs.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The links above are affiliate links — if you buy through one, the price you pay is unchanged and a small commission helps keep these calculators free. Tools are listed because the job calls for them, not because of commission rates.
Sources and standards
Where these figures come from
Every formula on this page is implemented from the published reference material below. Where a value depends on a regional code, the calculator lets you override it rather than assuming one jurisdiction.
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service — soil texture, bulk density and seeding rate guidance.
- US Geological Survey — mineral commodity data and aggregate density references.
- National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association — aggregate grading and product specification references.
Figures, formulas and reference tables last verified: 19 September 2026.