How this topsoil calculator works
Topsoil sells by the cubic yard, so this is straight volume math with a settling allowance — and a bag count for jobs below delivery size:
order = yd³ × (1 + allowance%) → rounded up to ¼ yd³ · 36 × 40 lb bags per yard
The order rounds up to the quarter yard a supplier’s loader actually scoops, the bag line divides the same volume by the ¾ ft³ inside a 40 lb bag, and the weight line — topsoil’s special trick — tells you whether your truck can take it. At the defaults, a 20 × 10 ft bed at 4 in orders as 2.75 yd³, about $83 bulk and 2.75 tons on the scale.
What kind of topsoil should I order?
“Topsoil” on a supplier’s board covers everything from screened loam to whatever came off the last excavation — the screen, not the word, is what you’re paying for:
Screened topsoil
Native soil run through a ⅜–½ in screen to pull rocks, roots and clods. This is the default order for lawns and grading — it rakes flat and seeds evenly. Unscreened is cheaper by the yard and costs you the difference in labor for a season.
Garden mix / blended soil
Screened topsoil cut with compost (often 70/30) and sometimes sand — richer, fluffier, and priced accordingly. Right for planting beds and raised boxes. Blending your own with the compost calculator’s numbers usually beats the premium.
Lawn mix
A sandier screened blend that levels smoothly and drains fast — what sod farms grow on. Worth asking for by name when the job is topdressing or leveling low spots rather than filling beds.
Fill dirt (not topsoil)
Subsoil with no organic content — the structural material for raising grade, priced lower than any topsoil. Build with fill, cap with topsoil; the fill dirt calculator handles the structural half with compaction built in.
Bagged topsoil
The most variable product in the store — some bags are peat-heavy potting blends, some are sand and muck. For 40 lb bags figure ¾ ft³ each, read the label, and switch to bulk the moment the count passes a couple dozen.
| Product | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Screened topsoil | $20–40 |
| Lawn mix | $30–50 |
| Garden mix (w/ compost) | $35–55 |
| Unscreened / fill-grade | $10–25 |
| Bagged, 40 lb | $2–5 / bag |
How deep should topsoil be?
Four to six inches wherever you want things to grow — roots stop where the topsoil does — and a restrained half inch to one inch when you’re topdressing grass that’s already growing:
- Topdressing a lawn: ½–1 in raked into the existing grass — more smothers it.
- New lawn from seed or sod: 4–6 in of screened soil, firmed and finish-graded before planting.
- Capping fill dirt: 4–6 in of growing layer over compacted structural fill.
- Garden and vegetable beds: 6–12 in — deep-rooted crops use everything you give them.
- Leveling low spots: lifts of 1–2 in at a time on live grass, letting it grow through between lifts.
How many yards of topsoil by bed size?
Table 2 turns common jobs straight into orders; Table 3 is the coverage line — one yard spread at each working depth. Both are generated by this calculator’s engine.
| Bed × depth | Order | 40 lb bags |
|---|---|---|
| 100 ft² @ 4″ | 1.5 yd³ | 47 |
| 200 ft² @ 4″ | 2.75 yd³ | 94 |
| 500 ft² @ 4″ | 6.5 yd³ | 234 |
| 1,000 ft² @ 2″ | 6.5 yd³ | 234 |
| 1,000 ft² @ 4″ | 13 yd³ | 467 |
| Depth | 1 yd³ covers |
|---|---|
| 1″ | 324 ft² |
| 2″ | 162 ft² |
| 4″ | 81 ft² |
| 6″ | 54 ft² |
How to measure for topsoil
Soil forgives rough measuring but punishes wrong depth — an inch across a whole lawn is yards of material. Dimension fields take feet-inches (20, 20 ft 6 in) or metric (6 m).
- Measure length and width of the area to fill. Odd lawns break into rectangles — total them with the square footage calculator and run one order.
- Set the depth from the guide above — and measure the real hole for fills: existing grade to finish grade, at several spots, averaged.
- Order screened for anything you’ll plant; save unscreened for the bottom of deep fills.
- Leave the allowance at 5%. Fluffed delivery soil settles about that much once raked and watered in.
- Enter the delivered price per yard — delivery is where small orders lose, so quote the whole drop.
- Check the weight line before hauling it yourself. A ton per yard means a half-ton pickup is honestly full at half a yard.
Worked example: topsoil for a 20 × 10 ft bed
The defaults, worked line by line — 200 ft² filled 4 in deep, 5% settling allowance, $30 bulk against $3 bags:
volume = 200 × (4 ÷ 12) = 66.7 ft³ = 66.7 ÷ 27 = 2.47 yd³
allowance = 2.47 × 1.05 = 2.59 → order 2.75 yd³ (¼-yd rounding)
bulk cost = 2.75 × $30 = $83
bags = (66.7 × 1.05) ÷ 0.75 = 93.3 → 94 bags ≈ $282
weight = 2.75 × 2,000 ÷ 2,000 = 2.75 tons
Cross-check from the coverage direction: one yard covers 81 ft² at 4 in, and 200 ÷ 81 = 2.47 yd³ — same answer. The weight line is the one to respect: 2.75 tons is a real dump delivery or five careful pickup trips, not one optimistic load.
What this topsoil estimate doesn’t include
The calculator prices the soil. Getting a lawn or bed out of that soil has its own lines:
- Delivery. Commonly $30–80 per drop; many yards fold it in past 5 yd³ — quote delivered.
- Grading and spreading. Wheelbarrow hours, or skid-steer time on big fills; hired spreading commonly runs $30–60 per yard.
- Soil test. $15–30 through the county extension tells you what the new soil actually needs before you fertilize blind.
- Compost amendment. An inch or two blended in where beds need life, priced separately.
- Seed, sod or plants. The point of the whole exercise — sod alone often costs more than the soil under it.
- Haul-off. Excavated spoil, old sod and construction debris leaving the site.
Topsoil FAQ
How much topsoil do I need?
Area × depth in feet ÷ 27: a 20 × 10 ft bed filled 4 in deep is 2.47 yd³ — order 2.75 cubic yards with 5% settling allowance, about $83 bulk, or 94 forty-pound bags at roughly $282. Bulk wins anything bigger than a flower bed.
How much topsoil do I need for 1,000 square feet?
Topdressing at 2 in: 6.5 yd³ with the 5% allowance — about $195 at $30 a yard, or an unreasonable 234 bags. Building a new 4 in lawn bed doubles it to 13 yd³, which is two to three dump-truck drops. Per inch of depth, figure roughly 3.1 yd³ per 1,000 ft².
How many bags of topsoil make a yard?
About 36 of the standard 40 lb bags (¾ ft³ each) per cubic yard. That is why the bagged column climbs so fast — three pallets of bags is one modest truck drop.
How deep should topsoil be for grass?
4–6 inches of quality topsoil for a new lawn from seed or sod — roots want the full depth. Topdressing an existing lawn is the opposite job: ½–1 inch raked in, never enough to smother the grass.
How much does a yard of topsoil weigh?
About 2,000 lb — a short ton — dry and screened, and up to 2,400–2,700 lb after rain. The calculator shows the hauling weight of your order; a half-ton pickup is genuinely full at half a yard.
How much does topsoil cost?
Bulk screened topsoil commonly runs $20–50 per cubic yard delivered in 2026 — the default job is about $83. Bagged soil works out to 3–4× bulk per yard; it only wins on jobs too small for a delivery fee.
Should I use topsoil or fill dirt?
Topsoil is the growing layer — the top 4–6 inches where roots live. Fill dirt is the structural subsoil below it. Build grade with fill, cap with topsoil; using topsoil as deep fill wastes money and settles as its organics break down.
What is the difference between topsoil and garden soil?
Topsoil is screened native earth; garden soil is topsoil blended with compost and sometimes sand, sold at a premium for planting beds. Buying screened topsoil and blending in compost yourself usually costs less per yard and lets you control the mix.
Sources and standards
The depths and densities here follow the published agronomic consensus rather than the loudest guy at the landscape yard:
- University extension turf guidance: the 4–6 in root-zone depth for new lawns and the ½–1 in topdressing ceiling.
- USDA NRCS soil basics: what separates topsoil (the organic A-horizon) from the subsoil sold as fill.
- Supplier practice: the ¼-yd loader increments and the ~2,000 lb/yd³ screened-dry weight — rain and clay push it heavier, and the scale ticket governs.
- Bag labels: the ¾ ft³ figure for a 40 lb bag is the manufacturers’ printed fill.
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