Gravel Calculator — Cubic Yards, Tons & Cost

Driveways, paths and bases — cubic yards, tons and truckload equivalents.

Quick answer: Enter area, depth and stone type to get cubic yards, tons with the conversion shown and dump-truck load equivalents, priced per ton or per yard.

📏 Measure twice: gravel compacts 20–25% — a raked 6-inch layer of loose stone settles near 5 inches. Order against the compacted depth you want, and measure the area after staking the edges, not before.

How to use

  1. Measure the area: length × width, or a direct square-footage figure.
  2. Set the depth in inches — compacted depth for driveways and bases.
  3. Pick the material preset (or enter a custom tons-per-yard density).
  4. Read yards, tons and truckload equivalents; price per ton or per yard if you have a quote.

About this tool

Gravel is sold by the ton but planned by the yard, and that mismatch is where orders go wrong. Enter your area as length × width or direct square feet, set a depth, and pick a material: crushed stone, pea gravel, river rock, limestone or a custom density. The tool converts to cubic yards, then shows the tonnage with the conversion spelled out, plus how many full-size 10-yard dump-truck loads that represents, so you know whether to order bags, one truckload or three. Optional price fields let you cost it per ton or per yard exactly the way your supplier quotes it. Remember that depth compacts — order to the compacted depth you actually want. The math runs entirely on your device.

FAQ

How much does gravel cost?
Bulk crushed stone commonly runs $15–$75 per ton delivered depending on region and haul distance; pea gravel and river rock sit at the higher end. Bagged gravel from a big-box store works out to 3–5 times the bulk price per yard — fine for a path, painful for a driveway.
How many tons are in a cubic yard of gravel?
It depends on the stone: crushed stone ≈ 1.35 tons/yd³, pea gravel ≈ 1.4, river rock and limestone ≈ 1.5. That is why every estimate here shows the density used next to the tonnage — no black-box conversions.
How deep should a gravel driveway be?
Plan 4–6 inches of compacted gravel over a stable base — which usually means 6–8 inches of loose stone before compaction. Over soft soil, build 8–12 inches in lifts over landscape fabric. This calculator estimates from the depth you enter, so enter the compacted number.
How much area does one ton of gravel cover?
At 2 inches deep, one ton covers roughly 100–120 sq ft for typical stone. A cubic yard (about 1.35–1.5 tons) covers about 160 sq ft at 2 inches. Deeper layers shrink coverage proportionally — the conversion line in the output makes it explicit.
How much is a truckload of gravel?
A full-size dump truck carries about 10 cubic yards — roughly 13–15 tons of crushed stone, or $500–$1,000+ delivered in most markets. The output converts your job into fractions of a 10-yd³ load so you know whether to share a truck with a neighbor.

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