Crushed Stone Calculator
Find how many tons and cubic yards of crushed stone, such as #57 stone, you need.
Measure your project
Your answer
That is 1.96 cubic yards. We added 10% extra.
What it costs
#57 stone: $60 a ton, the middle of 5 US sellers (Oct 2026), before delivery.
Quick answers
- Tons in a yard of #57
- About 1.35 tons, loose. The sources we found give 1.2–1.4.
- What a ton covers
- Each ton of #57 covers about 60 sq ft, 4 in deep.
- Price
- About $60 a ton or $64 a cubic yard. We found 5 sellers for each.
- Depth under a slab or shed
- 4 in under a house floor below ground level, says the US home code. For a shed, one maker asks for 4–6 in.
How to work it out
- Find the area: length in feet times width in feet.
- Cubic yards come next: square feet × inches deep ÷ 324.
- Will you pack it down? Then multiply by 1.17 for the loose stone to order. That figure is for sand and gravel; we use it for clean stone too.
- Multiplying by 1.35 gives tons.
12 × 12 × 4 ÷ 324 = 1.78 cubic yards
1.78 × 1.35 = 2.40 tons, before extra
Add 10%: 2.40 × 1.10 = 2.64 tons
Crushed stone for common jobs
Find your job to see what an example size takes. Your own size will differ, so use the calculator for it.
| Job | Example size | Depth | Tons, loose | Tons, packed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shed pad | 10 × 12 ft | 4 in | 2.0 | 2.3 |
| Paver patio base | 12 × 12 ft | 4 in | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| Slab base | 20 × 20 ft | 4 in | 6.7 | 7.8 |
| Paver driveway base | 12 × 40 ft | 6 in | 12.0 | 14.0 |
Packed tons add 17%, a US Army figure for sand and gravel that we use for clean stone too. No extra for spills.
The CMHA paving guide measures paver bases after packing. So use the packed column for them.
White Pine Structures, a shed maker, asks for ¾ in clean stone, 4–6 in deep.
A slab or driveway base holds weight. For yours, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
What #57 stone is
#57 is a size in AASHTO M 43, the national table of stone sizes. Screens with set hole sizes sort the stone.
| Hole size | Falls through |
|---|---|
| 1½ in | 100% |
| 1 in | 95–100% |
| ½ in | 25–60% |
| about 3/16 in | 0–10% |
| about 3/32 in | 0–5% |
From the AASHTO M 43 table, as printed in Ohio's 2013 road specs.
So at least 85% of #57 stone is between about 3/16 in and 1 in. Almost none of it is dust.
What a yard of #57 weighs
Sellers and road agencies give #57 weights from 1.2 to 1.4 tons a cubic yard.
| Source | Tons |
|---|---|
| Stone, crushed (Cat) | 1.35 |
| Loose stone (Stoneco) | 1.35 |
| #57 limestone, loose in the truck (Ohio DOT) | 1.2 |
| Coarse aggregate, #57 class (Vulcan) | 1.3 |
| All products (Luck Stone) | 1.4 |
| Palmetto, 20 cubic feet a ton | 1.35 |
| Our number | 1.35 |
Cat, Stoneco, Ohio DOT and Luck Stone give loose weights. Vulcan and Palmetto don't say. Vulcan lists #57 in its coarse aggregate class.
We use 1.35 tons. Palmetto Sand & Gravel says a ton of #57 fills about 20 cubic feet. So both give 1.35 tons a yard.
Ohio DOT's lower figure is for #57 limestone. Limestone reads lighter in the figures we found.
Prices per ton and per yard
Some yards sell #57 by the ton, and some by the cubic yard. We found 5 prices of each.
- Per ton: about $60, from $21.50 to $95.
- Per cubic yard: about $64, from $55 to $80.
Per ton prices spread the most. The top one is 4.4 times the lowest, since a quarry pit and landscape yards are mixed in.
Don't expect the two prices to agree. They came from different sellers.
Our calculator starts with 10% extra. That is Palmetto's own rule for #57, not an official figure.
Questions people ask
How much crushed stone do I need?
Start with cubic yards. Take the square feet times the depth in inches, and divide by 324. Times 1.35 turns that into tons of #57 stone. So a 12 × 12 ft pad, 4 in deep, needs about 2.4 tons.
How much 3/4 crushed stone do I need?
Work it out the same way, with the #57 weight. Sellers often sell ¾ in clean stone as #57. In the national size table, the size with a ¾ in top is #67.
How much does a yard of crushed stone cover?
A cubic yard holds 27 cubic feet. Laid 4 in deep, that covers 81 sq ft.
How much does a ton of crushed stone cover?
About 60 sq ft at 4 in, using 1.35 tons a yard. A heavier stone covers less.
How much crushed stone under pavers?
CMHA, a paving trade group, wants a base at least 4 in deep after packing for a patio. For a home driveway, it says 6 in. We found no stone type named for it.
How much crushed stone under a concrete slab?
For a house floor below ground level, the US home code asks for a 4 in base. Crushed stone is allowed, as are sand and gravel, if clean and graded. For a slab, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
How much does crushed stone cost?
About $60 a ton or $64 a cubic yard. The cheapest ton we found was $21.50, at an Ohio pit. The highest was $95, at a South Carolina yard.
How much crushed stone for a driveway?
See our gravel driveway calculator. FHWA's depths there run 4.5–6.5 in, by how firm the ground is, but they are written for rural roads. Then check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
Where our numbers come from
- Material weights: Caterpillar earthwork tables
- Stone weights: Stoneco material calculator (read from its code)
- Gravel and millings weight: Ohio DOT specifications (2023)
- Stone weights: Vulcan Materials product calculator (read from its code)
- Stone weight: Luck Stone product calculator (read from its code; one factor for every product)
- #57 stone extra: Palmetto Sand & Gravel (add 10%)
- Stone sizes: AASHTO M 43 table in Ohio DOT specs (2013)
- #57 stone price: the middle of 5 US sellers (Oct 2026)
- Base under a slab: US home building code (IRC R506.2.2)
- Shed pad depth: a shed maker's site guide (White Pine Structures)
- Base under pavers: CMHA paving guide (4 in for a patio, 6 in for a driveway)
- Packing down: US Army earthmoving manual (FM 5-434)
- Gravel road layers: FHWA Gravel Roads Construction & Maintenance Guide
Made by BuildersCount. Last checked 3 Oct 2026.
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