Stone Calculator
Find how many tons and cubic yards of stone you need. Pick the stone for its weight.
Measure your project
Your answer
That is 1.36 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 stone
- About 1.35 tons of loose crushed stone. Others run 1.25 to 1.65.
- Yards in a ton of stone
- About 0.74 cubic yards of crushed stone, since each yard weighs 1.35 tons.
- What one ton covers
- About 60 sq ft of crushed stone at 4 in deep. About 120 sq ft at 2 in.
- What one cubic yard covers
- Any stone: 81 sq ft at 4 in deep. Spread 2 in deep, 162 sq ft.
How to work it out
- Measure the length and width in feet. Multiply them for square feet.
- Multiply by the depth in inches. Divide by 324 to get cubic yards.
- Add 10% for waste, as one supplier does (× 1.1).
- Turn cubic yards into tons: times 1.35 for crushed stone.
10 × 10 × 4 ÷ 324 = 1.23 cubic yards
1.23 × 1.1 = 1.36 with 10% extra
1.36 × 1.35 = 1.83 tons
What a yard of each stone weighs
Weight links tons and cubic yards. Sources don't agree, so we show our number and the range.
| Stone | We use (tons) | Sources say | Cubic yards in 1 ton | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #57 crushed stone | 1.35 | 1.2–1.4 | 0.74 | Caterpillar, Ohio DOT, Luck Stone |
| Gravel | 1.4 | 1.25–1.43 | 0.71 | Caterpillar, Ohio DOT |
| River rock | 1.25 | 1.08–1.27 | 0.8 | Southwest Boulder, Lowe's bags |
| Crusher run | 1.4 | 1.21–1.75 | 0.71 | Yards and road agencies |
| Rip rap (loose or packed not stated) | 1.65 | 1.35–1.75 | 0.61 | Two yards, Tennessee DOT |
| Screenings | 1.5 | 1.5–1.53 | 0.67 | Front Range, Vulcan |
| Decomposed granite | 1.3 | — | 0.77 | One seller |
Loose means as it comes off the truck, before you pack it. The rip rap sources don't say which they mean.
For crushed stone we use 1.35 tons. Caterpillar's earthwork tables and Stoneco's calculator both give that number.
Wet stone is heavier. Caterpillar lists dry gravel at 1.43 tons and wet gravel at 1.7.
What one ton covers
A light stone spreads further than a heavy one. Find your depth, then read across to your stone.
| Depth | #57 crushed stone | Gravel | River rock |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 in | 120 sq ft | 116 sq ft | 130 sq ft |
| 3 in | 80 sq ft | 77 sq ft | 86 sq ft |
| 4 in | 60 sq ft | 58 sq ft | 65 sq ft |
| 6 in | 40 sq ft | 39 sq ft | 43 sq ft |
No packing and no extra added.
Say a yard sells you 5 tons of crushed stone. That is 5 ÷ 1.35 = 3.70 cubic yards.
Rip rap, decomposed granite and screenings
Rip rap
Weights disagree, from 1.35 to 1.75 tons a cubic yard. We use a Colorado yard's 1.65.
Class names differ too. Federal Class I has a middle stone size of 6 in. North Carolina's Class A runs 2–6 in. So ask whose class a seller means.
The federal highway guide says the layer should be at least as thick as the largest stone. It also sets a floor of 12 in. Our rip rap calculator has the details.
If the rock will hold back soil or water, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
Decomposed granite
We found one loose weight: 1.3 tons a cubic yard, from Sutherland Landscape. Southwest Boulder says a ton of it, packed, covers about 100 sq ft at 2 in. That is about 1.62 tons a cubic yard.
Screenings
Screenings (crusher fines) weigh 1.5 tons a yard loose and 1.8 packed, says Front Range. So type the depth after packing. We order 20% more.
What stone costs
Middle prices from US yards and a few pits, October 2026, before delivery and tax.
| Stone | Per cubic yard | Per ton |
|---|---|---|
| #57 crushed stone | $64 (5) | $60 (5) |
| River rock | $115 (9) | $89.95 (7) |
| Crusher run | — | $50 (3) |
| Rip rap | — | $79 (5) |
| Decomposed granite | $132.68 (2) | $139.99 (2) |
The number in brackets is how many sellers we found. Three or fewer is too few to trust much.
Decomposed granite prices came from only 2 sellers, so they are rough. We found no US price for plain gravel or screenings.
Per ton and per yard prices came from different sellers, so don't convert one to the other.
#57 stone ran from $21.50 a ton at one Ohio pit to $95 at a South Carolina yard. That list mixes yards and a pit.
Delivery is extra, about $50–$100 nearby. The smallest load is often 2–3 cubic yards.
Questions people ask
How much stone do I need?
Multiply the square feet by the depth in inches, then divide by 324. That gives cubic yards. Multiply by your stone's weight per yard to get tons.
How many yards of stone are in a ton?
About 0.74 cubic yards of crushed stone. A ton of river rock fills about 0.8 cubic yards, and rip rap about 0.61.
How many tons of stone are in a yard?
About 1.35 tons of loose crushed stone. Our sources put #57 stone between 1.2 and 1.4 tons.
How much does a yard of stone cover?
At 4 in deep, about 81 sq ft. At 3 in, about 108 sq ft. A cubic yard is a set size, so the stone type does not matter.
How do I calculate yards of rock?
Multiply the three sizes in feet: length, width and depth. Then divide by 27. A 10 × 12 ft area, 3 in deep, is 30 cubic feet, or 1.11 cubic yards.
How much stone do I need for my driveway?
Penn State's gravel road guide uses 6 in of packed stone. Gravelshop says 4–6 in for cars. A 12 × 40 ft drive then takes about 16.6 tons. Check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
How much landscape stone do I need?
Use our landscape rock calculator. It works from 1.25 tons a yard, one supplier's rule of thumb.
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 weight: Luck Stone product calculator (read from its code; one factor for every product)
- Rock weight: Southwest Boulder & Stone rule of thumb (1.25 tons a cubic yard, not lava rock)
- River rock bags: Lowe's 0.5 cubic foot bag (44 lb; archived page)
- Crusher run weight: the middle of 9 suppliers and road agencies
- Coverage and weights: Front Range Material conversion sheet
- Rip rap weight: Tennessee DOT structures guide (1.75 tons per cubic yard)
- Rip rap layer and extra: Palmetto Sand & Gravel
- Rip rap classes and thickness: FHWA HEC-23
- Rip rap classes: NCDOT Table 1042-1
- Stone weights: Vulcan Materials product calculator (read from its code)
- Decomposed granite weight: Sutherland Landscape product page
- Packed decomposed granite: Southwest Boulder & Stone FAQ (about 1 ton per 100 sq ft at 2 in)
- Packing down: US Army earthmoving manual (FM 5-434)
- Packing down: Penn State road-stone guide (8 in loose packs to 6 in)
- Driveway depth: Gravelshop driveway layers guide
- #57 stone extra: Palmetto Sand & Gravel (add 10%)
- #57 stone price: the middle of 5 US sellers (Oct 2026)
- River rock price: 9 US sellers per cubic yard, 7 per ton (Oct 2026)
- Crusher run price: the middle price of 3 suppliers in SC, GA and MD (Oct 2026)
- Rip rap price: the middle of 5 US sellers (Oct 2026; few prices)
- Decomposed granite price: 2 US sellers (Oct 2026; few prices)
- Delivery fees: price lists from 7 US landscape yards (Oct 2026)
Made by BuildersCount. Last checked 3 Oct 2026.
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