How Much Wood Is in a Cord?

The legal cord

NIST Handbook 130 publishes model weights and measures laws and regulations, written by the National Conference on Weights and Measures, that states can adopt in whole or in part. Section 2.4.1.2 of its Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities defines a cord as the wood that fills 128 cubic feet when it is "ranked and well stowed": pieces placed in a row, touching and parallel to each other, and stacked compactly. Any stack whose length × height × depth comes to 128 cubic feet is a cord:

• 4 ft high × 4 ft deep × 8 ft long
• 4 ft high × 2 ft deep × 16 ft long
• 4 ft high × 16 inches deep × 24 ft long (three rows of 16 inch pieces, side by side, make the same cord 8 ft long)

The 128 cubic feet include the air between the pieces. University of Missouri Extension puts the solid wood in a cord at 65 cubic feet for small, crooked sticks up to about 90 for large straight ones, about 80 on average in the Midwest.

Face cord, rick and other terms

Pieces are commonly 12 to 24 inches long (Utah State Extension says 12 to 18, MU Extension 18 to 24), so wood is often sold as a 4 × 8 ft stack one piece deep. Utah State University Extension calls this a face cord; MU Extension calls it a face cord or rick, and warns that ricks are often sold as cords. How much it holds depends on the piece length:

Section 2.4.4 of the NIST regulation says "face cord", "rack", "pile", "truckload" and terms of similar import shall not be used when selling firewood. The NCWM consumer flyer on NIST's site says these terms have no legally defined meaning and that wood can be sold only by the cord or by fractions of a cord (the regulation also allows cubic meters, and small packages in liters). Whether that applies to you depends on your state's law, but asking for a price per cord, or per half or third of a cord, lets you compare sellers.

How much is a pickup load?

Less than most people expect. Utah State Extension says a full-size pickup with a standard bed holds about half a cord, or 64 cubic feet, when loaded even with the top of the bed. MU Extension gives about a third of a cord for a smaller 4 × 6 ft bed loaded 20 inches deep. Wood thrown loose into a truck also takes more space than the same wood stacked.

What a cord weighs

MU Extension says seasoned oak or other dried hardwood weighs about 3,600 pounds per cord. Utah State Extension lists air-dried weights from 1,984 pounds for basswood to 4,728 pounds for Osage-orange; green wood weighs more. Check your truck's payload rating before hauling a load.

Heat in a cord

A cord of dense hardwood holds far more heat than a cord of light softwood. From Utah State Extension's table, air-dried:

EIA uses 20 million Btu for an average cord. For how many cords a winter takes, see how much firewood you need.

Checking a delivery

1. Get a receipt. NIST's regulation (section 2.4.5) calls for a delivery ticket or invoice with the seller's name and address, your name and address, the date, the amount delivered and the price, and the kind of wood. If the seller lists a species mix by percentage (for example 50% hickory, 50% softwood), section 2.4.2 says the percentages must be accurate within 10%.
2. Stack the wood tightly, with the pieces parallel, before you burn any.
3. Measure length, height and depth in feet and multiply. Divide by 128 for cords, or use the firewood calculator.
4. If it comes up short, the NCWM flyer says to contact the seller first, then your state weights and measures office, before you burn any of the wood.

Frequently asked questions

Calculators for this

Published 2026-11-04. Sources: NIST Handbook 130 (2026), Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities, section 2.4; NIST, Avoid Getting Burned When Buying Firewood; Utah State University Extension, Wood Heating; University of Missouri Extension, G5450 Wood Fuel for Heating; EIA, British thermal units (Btu). See how we calculate.