Shelf 02 · Materials & Density

How Much Does a Yard of Dirt Weigh?

A cubic yard of dirt weighs between about 2,000 and 3,440 pounds — 1.0 to 1.72 US tons — depending entirely on the material. This guide turns that range into exact tables: pounds and tons per yard for all eleven materials, per cubic foot and per gallon for the small jobs, and the wet, bank, and compacted corrections that move the real number.

🟤 11 materials, lb + tons🪣 yd³ / ft³ / gallon units💧 Wet & compacted states

Quick Weight Lookup

Amount

Unit

Material

2,700 lb

= 1.35 US tons · 1.00 cubic yards of black dirt (topsoil)

Dry-basis, loose delivered state. For volume-first ordering (dimensions → yards), use the main dirt calculator.

Weight is the number behind three everyday dirt decisions: whether a pickup can legally haul the load, whether a driveway survives the delivery truck, and whether a by-the-ton quote is fair. Yet almost every weight question — how much does a yard of dirt weigh, what does a cubic foot weigh, how heavy is a bucket — gets answered online with a single all-purpose figure that quietly ignores the material. The homepage FAQ gives the one-line answer for mixed dirt; this page is where that answer expands into the full guide library treatment: every material, every common volume unit, and every moisture state, with the arithmetic shown so you can audit any row yourself. The weights here are the same densities the dirt calculator uses to convert its volume output into tons.

Table 1 · The baseline

One Cubic Yard of Each Material, in Pounds and Tons

These are loose delivered weights on a dry basis — what the truck drops, before rain or compaction. The pounds column is simply the density (tons/yd³) × 2,000.

Material	Density (t/yd³)	Pounds per yd³	Tons per yd³	Where it fits
Fill dirt — mixed / unscreened	1.55	3,100 lb	1.55 t	The common grade-up material; small rocks and clods allowed
Fill dirt — screened	1.50	3,000 lb	1.50 t	Rocks and roots removed; slightly lighter loose
Sandy fill / granular	1.45	2,900 lb	1.45 t	Drains well; compacts the least of the fills
Sandy loam fill	1.62	3,240 lb	1.62 t	General-purpose fill with moderate compaction
Silty fill	1.55	3,100 lb	1.55 t	Moisture-sensitive — weight swings most when wet
Clay-heavy fill	1.72	3,440 lb	1.72 t	Heaviest common fill; shrinks 20–25% from loose
Structural / engineered fill	1.65	3,300 lb	1.65 t	Spec-graded for load-bearing placement
Topsoil — unscreened	1.35	2,700 lb	1.35 t	Planting layer straight from stripping
Black dirt (topsoil)	1.35	2,700 lb	1.35 t	Regional alias for dark topsoil; same density class
Topsoil — screened	1.30	2,600 lb	1.30 t	Premium lawn and bed soil; lightest mineral dirt
Compost / garden mix	1.00	2,000 lb	1.00 t	Organic and airy — the lightest yard-per-yard

The spread is the story: clay-heavy fill weighs 72% more per yard than compost. If a quote says only “dirt,” the weight could be anywhere in this table — which is exactly why per-ton and per-yard quotes cannot be compared without naming the material first.

Table 2 · Small-volume units

Pounds per Cubic Yard, Cubic Foot, Gallon, and Liter

Bags are sold by the cubic foot, buckets are measured in gallons, and recipes are written in liters. The table divides each material’s yard weight by the exact constants — 27 cubic feet per yard, 7.48 gallons per cubic foot, 28.32 liters per cubic foot.

Volume	Mixed fill	Black dirt	Clay fill	Compost
1 cubic yard	3,100 lb	2,700 lb	3,440 lb	2,000 lb
1 cubic foot	114.8 lb	100.0 lb	127.4 lb	74.1 lb
1 gallon	15.3 lb	13.4 lb	17.0 lb	9.9 lb
1 liter	4.05 lb	3.53 lb	4.50 lb	2.62 lb

Reading example — a 5-gallon bucket of black dirt: 5 × 13.4 lb ≈ 67 lb, a two-handed lift for most people. The same bucket of wet clay approaches 85 lb.

Table 2b · Retail bag sizes

What Does a 0.75, 1, 1.5, or 2 Cubic Foot Bag Weigh?

Bagged dirt is where small volumes meet real lifting weight. Multiply the bag’s cubic feet by the material’s pounds per cubic foot — the same constants from the table above — and you get the number on your arms. The values below are the full bag weights for the four retail sizes most stores stock.

Bag size	Mixed fill	Black dirt	Clay fill	Compost
0.75 cu ft bag	86 lb	75 lb	96 lb	56 lb
1 cu ft bag	115 lb	100 lb	127 lb	74 lb
1.5 cu ft bag	172 lb	150 lb	191 lb	111 lb
2 cu ft bag	230 lb	200 lb	255 lb	148 lb

Reading example — a 1.5 cu ft bag of black dirt: 1.5 × 100 lb ≈ 150 lb. Some brands label bags by weight instead of volume — a 40 lb bag of topsoil is only about 0.4 cu ft, not the 1–2 cu ft a volume label would suggest. Check which unit the bag actually uses before comparing prices.

The practical takeaway is per-trip planning. A wheelbarrow handles two 1.5 cu ft bags of topsoil (about 300 lb of dirt) without complaint, while the same two bags of clay fill approach 382 lb — the weight of a small adult riding in the tray. If a project calls for more than roughly 25 bags of any material, do the arithmetic against bulk delivery: 20.0 one-cubic-foot bags of black dirt make a single US ton, and bag pricing per yard typically runs well above bulk once you cross about a pallet’s worth.

Moisture matters for bagged dirt too, in a different way. Bagged soil is heat-treated and sealed, so it holds whatever water it was packed with — a “dry ounce” claim on the label refers to volume at packing, and a bag stored in the rain gains weight through a torn seam rather than the whole pallet. Store bags flat, off the soil, and under cover, and the table weights above stay honest.

Table 3 · Order-size quick check

How Much Do 2, 5, 10, or 20 Yards of Dirt Weigh?

Multiply yards by density, that is all this table does. Use it to sanity-check a delivery weight or to decide whether your truck, trailer, or driveway is the weak link before ordering.

Cubic yards	Mixed fill (lb)	Mixed fill (tons)	Black dirt (lb)	Black dirt (tons)	Clay (tons)
1	3,100	1.6 t	2,700	1.4 t	1.7 t
2	6,200	3.1 t	5,400	2.7 t	3.4 t
3	9,300	4.7 t	8,100	4.1 t	5.2 t
4	12,400	6.2 t	10,800	5.4 t	6.9 t
5	15,500	7.8 t	13,500	6.8 t	8.6 t
6	18,600	9.3 t	16,200	8.1 t	10.3 t
8	24,800	12.4 t	21,600	10.8 t	13.8 t
10	31,000	15.5 t	27,000	13.5 t	17.2 t
12	37,200	18.6 t	32,400	16.2 t	20.6 t
15	46,500	23.3 t	40,500	20.3 t	25.8 t
18	55,800	27.9 t	48,600	24.3 t	31.0 t
20	62,000	31.0 t	54,000	27.0 t	34.4 t

Context row: 10 yards of mixed fill is about 15.5 tons — a full single-axle dump load. Even 2 yards of black dirt (2,700 lb × 2) exceeds the payload of most half-ton pickups. See the dump truck capacity guide for the per-truck math.

State corrections

Loose, Bank, Wet, Compacted — the Same Dirt, Four Weights

The tables above are one state of the material: loose, as delivered, on a dry day. The same particles carry four different per-yard weights depending on how tightly the yard is packed. These corrections connect the numbers — they are the same soil-state terms the homepage’s bank vs. loose section defines, applied to weight instead of volume.

Loose (delivered) — the baseline

Every table on this page. Dirt freshly excavated or loaded, full of trapped air. This is the state suppliers deliver in and the one all quotes should reference.

weight per yard = density × 2,000 lb

Bank (in the ground) — 10–25% heavier per yard

A bank yard is a solid cubic yard still in the ground. Excavated, it swells into 1.10–1.25 loose yards of the same mass — so each bank yard weighs 10–25% more than a delivered loose yard of the same material.

bank weight = loose weight × 1.10–1.25

Wet — 5–15% heavier, zero extra volume

Rain or watering fills pore space with water without changing the yard's size. A soaked clay fill yard can add 400–500 lb over the dry figure, which is why weight-priced loads creep up after a wet week.

wet weight = loose weight × 1.05–1.15

Compacted — 15–25% more per finished yard

Compaction squeezes the air back out: a loose yard shrinks roughly 20% when spread and tamped, so each finished compacted yard holds the mass of about 1.25 loose yards. This is why ordered loose volume must exceed finished volume.

compacted weight ≈ loose weight × 1.15–1.25

TIP — name the state before comparing numbersMost “dirt weighs X per yard” arguments online are two people quoting different states of the same material. A compacted clay yard at ~4,300 lb and a loose compost yard at 2,000 lb are both correct answers to the same question — the question was just underspecified. Always convert in the state you are buying or hauling in.

Black Dirt vs. Topsoil: Same Weight Class, Different Label

“Black dirt” is a regional trade name, not a separate material. In most US markets it means dark, organic-rich topsoil — sold either straight from stripping or screened — and it lands in the same 1.3–1.35 tons-per-yard class as screened topsoil in the tables above. The dark color comes from decomposed organic matter, which holds water well: black dirt often runs toward the wet side of its weight range even when the pile looks dry on top, because the organic content absorbs and retains moisture longer than mineral fill.

Two practical consequences follow. First, when a supplier quotes black dirt by the ton, assume the topsoil density (1.35) but treat a load delivered after rain as potentially 5–15% heavier per yard. Second, do not confuse black dirt with compost-heavy blends: a true compost mix runs a full lighter yard (1.0 t/yd³) because fluffy organic matter displaces mineral weight. If the label says “garden mix” or “planting mix,” the compost row is the better weight estimate — and the cheaper-feeling bag on the shelf is often just the lighter material by volume.

The Arithmetic Behind Every Table

Every weight on this page traces to one multiplication chain, so you can verify any row — or compute a row the tables skip — in under a minute.

Yards → pounds

lb = cubic yards × tons-per-yard × 2,000

Worked example: 4 yd of clay: 4 × 1.72 × 2,000 = 13,760 lb (6.88 tons)

Cubic feet → pounds

lb = cubic feet × (tons-per-yard × 2,000 ÷ 27)

Worked example: 30 cu ft of black dirt: 30 × 100 = 3,000 lb — one trailer load

Bags → pounds

lb = bag count × bag volume (cu ft) × lb-per-cu-ft

Worked example: 20 bags × 1.5 cu ft × 100 lb/ft³ (topsoil) = 3,000 lb

Pounds → tons

tons = pounds ÷ 2,000 (US short ton)

Worked example: 31,000 lb ÷ 2,000 = 15.5 tons of mixed fill

WARNING — the payload mistakeThe most expensive way to learn dirt weight is loading a pickup to the “2.5 yard bed” mark with mixed fill: 2.5 × 3,100 = 7,750 lb, roughly three times a half-ton truck’s real payload. Weight, not bed volume, is what limits a pickup — the truck capacity guide works the legal numbers per class.

What the Weight Number Actually Decides

Your truck or trailer. Payload ratings are weight limits, not volume limits. Two yards of mixed fill (6,200 lb) is legal in a one-ton dually and 800 lb over the typical half-ton rating — same bed volume, opposite verdicts.
Your driveway and ground. A single-axle dump of mixed fill puts 15+ tons on the pavement. Crushed septic fields, older drives, and soft lawns fail below that; knowing the per-load weight tells you where the truck can safely dump.
Weight-priced invoices. At $20–30 per ton, a 10% moisture swing on a 15-ton order is $30–45 — and it buys water, not dirt. The per-yard density table is your audit tool for any by-the-ton quote.
Structural load. Raising grade against a foundation or fence line adds real lateral load: a 4-ft depth of clay fill pushes far harder than the same depth of sandy fill. Heavy material against structures is an engineering question, not a calculator one.

From weight, the next decisions are volume and cost: the tons-to-cubic-yards converter runs this page’s densities in reverse from a scale-ticket tonnage, and the homepage coverage chart shows how far each yard spreads once it is on the ground.