Free gravel calculator — cubic yards, weight and cost
Work out how much gravel to order for a driveway, path, patio base or drainage run. Add as many areas as you need and get cubic yards, tons and cost.
How deep should gravel be?
Depth is driven by load. Two inches suits a garden path that only takes foot traffic. Three to four inches is right for a residential driveway surface course. A new driveway built from scratch wants eight to twelve inches total, laid in layers — a coarse base, then a middle course, then a finer top.
Building in layers matters more than total depth. A single deep pour of one gravel size never compacts properly and will rut. Lay each course at three to four inches and compact between them.
For drainage trenches, size the gravel to the job: clean washed stone drains, whereas crusher run with its fines in it compacts and does not. Getting that backwards is the most common drainage failure.
Coverage at a glance
How far one cubic yard goes, and what 1,000 square feet takes, at each common depth:
| Depth | One cubic yard covers | 1,000 sq ft needs |
|---|---|---|
| 2" | 162 sq ft | 6.2 cu yd |
| 3" | 108 sq ft | 9.3 cu yd |
| 4" | 81 sq ft | 12.3 cu yd |
| 6" | 54 sq ft | 18.5 cu yd |
Weight and delivery
Gravel is heavy — about 1.4 tons per cubic yard. A half-ton pickup should not carry much more than a single yard, and many suppliers sell by the ton rather than the yard.
Before you order, check access. Bulk material is tipped, not carried — the truck needs room to back in and raise its bed, and most suppliers will not tip on a surface they might damage. Ask about the delivery fee and the minimum order separately, because both change the maths on small jobs.
Turn it into a quote
Hit Copy order and the whole breakdown goes to your clipboard, ready to paste into an estimate. Add your labour, price it with the profit margin calculator, and send it with the estimate generator.
Related: cubic yard calculator, gravel, topsoil, mulch and concrete calculators, plus state-by-state rate data for what landscapers and contractors earn.
FAQ
How much gravel do I need for a driveway?
Measure length by width, then pick your depth. At 4 inches, one cubic yard covers 81 square feet. A 20 by 50 foot driveway is 1,000 square feet, which needs about 12.3 cubic yards at 4 inches — roughly 17 tons.
How much does a yard of gravel weigh?
Around 2,800 pounds, or about 1.4 tons, though it varies with stone size and moisture. This is why gravel is often priced and sold by the ton rather than the cubic yard.
How many yards of gravel fit in a pickup truck?
A half-ton pickup can legally carry roughly one cubic yard of gravel — that is already around 2,800 pounds. A three-quarter-ton takes about two. Do not judge by how full the bed looks; judge by the payload rating on your door sticker.
What size gravel is best for a driveway?
Most driveways use a crusher-run or dense-grade base with fines that lock together when compacted, topped with a larger decorative or surface stone. Avoid rounded pea gravel as a driving surface — it will not lock and it migrates under tyres.
How much gravel do I need per ton?
One ton of gravel is roughly 0.71 cubic yards, or about 19 cubic feet. At 4 inches deep, one ton covers approximately 58 square feet.