Sand Calculator
Measure the area and pick a depth. You'll get cubic yards for a bulk order, the weight in tons, and how many 50 lb bags to buy for smaller jobs.
- Tested formulas
- Feet or metric
- Printable shopping list
2 What to buy
Updates as you type| Material | Sand |
|---|---|
| Volume | 12.5 cu ft · 0.46 yd³ · 0.35 m³ |
| Weight (estimate) | 0.63 US tons · 0.57 metric tonnes |
| 50 lb bags (0.5 cu ft) | 25 bags |
Damp sand can weigh 20–25% more than dry (Engineering ToolBox: 97 lb per cu ft dry, 119 wet), so check your truck or trailer payload before hauling it yourself.
Shopping list
Quick answer
A 5 × 5 ft sandbox filled 6 inches deep holds 12.5 cubic feet of sand: 0.46 cubic yards, about 1,250 lb, or 25 bags of 50 lb. Dry sand weighs about 100 lb per cubic foot, so a cubic yard is roughly 1.35 tons.
Sand for common sizes
| Area | 1" deep | 2" deep | 4" deep | 6" deep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 4 ft | 3 bags (0.05 yd³) | 6 bags (0.1 yd³) | 11 bags (0.2 yd³) | 16 bags (0.3 yd³) |
| 5 × 5 ft | 5 bags (0.08 yd³) | 9 bags (0.15 yd³) | 17 bags (0.31 yd³) | 25 bags (0.46 yd³) |
| 6 × 6 ft | 6 bags (0.11 yd³) | 12 bags (0.22 yd³) | 24 bags (0.44 yd³) | 36 bags (0.67 yd³) |
| 8 × 8 ft | 11 bags (0.2 yd³) | 22 bags (0.4 yd³) | 43 bags (0.79 yd³) | 64 bags (1.19 yd³) |
| 10 × 10 ft | 17 bags (0.31 yd³) | 34 bags (0.62 yd³) | 67 bags (1.23 yd³) | 100 bags (1.85 yd³) |
| 12 × 12 ft | 24 bags (0.44 yd³) | 48 bags (0.89 yd³) | 96 bags (1.78 yd³) | 144 bags (2.67 yd³) |
50 lb bags (about 0.5 cu ft each), with cubic yards in brackets. Use the calculator above for your exact size.
How much sand do I need?
Multiply length × width to get square feet, then multiply by the depth in feet (inches ÷ 12). That's cubic feet. Divide by 27 for cubic yards, or by 0.5 for 50 lb bags.
For a 5 × 5 ft sandbox filled 6 inches deep: 25 sq ft × 0.5 ft = 12.5 cubic feet = 0.46 cubic yards. That's 25 bags of 50 lb sand, about 1,250 lb in all.
How much sand weighs
Retailers list Quikrete's 50 lb bags of play sand and all-purpose sand at about half a cubic foot, which works out to 100 lb per cubic foot or 2,700 lb (1.35 tons) per cubic yard. Engineering ToolBox lists dry sand at 97 lb per cubic foot and wet sand at 119, so a yard of damp sand from an open pile can weigh closer to 1.6 tons. If you're hauling it yourself, check the payload rating on the sticker inside the driver's door first.
Which sand to buy
| Job | Sand | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Sandbox | Play sand: washed and screened, made for children's sandboxes | Your choice |
| Bed for pavers | Coarse concrete sand, screeded flat | 1" |
| Mixing your own concrete | All-purpose sand that meets ASTM C33, the spec for concrete sand | By the mix recipe |
The paving industry's guidance (CMHA, formerly ICPI) calls for a 1-inch bedding layer of coarse concrete sand under pavers, and says not to use stone dust there. A 12 × 12 ft patio needs 12 cubic feet of bedding sand, or 24 bags. The paver calculator adds the base gravel, joint sand and edging too.
Bags or bulk?
Bags make sense for a sandbox or a small patch, and they're easy to carry. A cubic yard is 54 bags, so for anything near a yard, compare a landscape supplier's price per yard of bulk sand against 54 bags. If you'll compact it, as under pavers, ask the supplier how much it packs down.
Frequently asked questions
How many bags of sand are in a yard?
About 54 bags of 50 lb. Each bag holds about half a cubic foot, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.
How much does a yard of sand weigh?
About 2,700 lb (1.35 tons) dry and loose, based on 50 lb per half cubic foot. Wet sand weighs more: at 119 lb per cubic foot, a yard is about 3,200 lb.
How much sand do I need for a sandbox?
Length × width × depth in feet, divided by 0.5 for 50 lb bags. A 4 × 4 ft box filled 4 inches deep needs about 5.3 cubic feet, or 11 bags.
How much sand goes under pavers?
A 1-inch bed of coarse concrete sand. That works out to 2 bags of 50 lb for every 12 sq ft of patio.
Last reviewed 2026-10-23. See how we calculate for our sources and assumptions.