Fill Dirt Calculator
Free fill dirt calculator: enter length, width, and depth to get cubic yards and cubic feet needed, plus optional cost and truckload estimates.
Built by Toolsque Team · last updated October 12, 2026 · checked against our testing process
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Related: gravel calculator for driveways · all construction calculators
How to use the fill dirt calculator
- Enter the length and width of the area you're filling, in feet.
- Enter the fill depth: how deep or how high you need to bring the area up, in inches or feet.
- Add a price per cubic yard (optional): get a rough delivered-cost estimate. Call your local supplier for an exact quote since pricing is regional.
- Add your truck or trailer capacity (optional): see how many loads or truckloads the job will take.
- Read your results: cubic yards, cubic feet, estimated cost, and truckloads needed. Order a bit extra to cover compaction settling, especially if anything will be built or driven on the fill.
What a fill dirt calculator actually solves
A fill dirt calculator turns your length, width, and fill depth into cubic yards (and cubic feet) of dirt to order, plus a rough truckload count if you enter your truck or trailer's capacity. Enter a price per yard and it also gives a ballpark delivered cost. The math itself is basic multiplication, but the units are where people go wrong: dirt is sold by the cubic yard, measurements are usually taken in feet or inches, and mixing those up is the most common reason people over-order or come up short halfway through a job.
What "fill dirt" actually is
Fill dirt is bulk, unscreened soil sold for structural and grading work: leveling a low spot, raising a section of yard, backfilling around a foundation or retaining wall, or building a base before a patio or shed. It's not meant to grow anything. Unlike topsoil, fill dirt carries no guaranteed nutrient content and often includes clay, sand, small stones, and subsoil pulled from excavation sites. That's the point, not a flaw: structural fill needs to compact solid, not decompose into voids under a slab or driveway the way organic-rich topsoil would.
Clean fill vs. contaminated fill
"Clean fill" means dirt, rock, and sand only, with no concrete chunks, asphalt, construction debris, trash, or organic material like stumps and leaf litter mixed in. Many municipalities define clean fill by ordinance and require any delivery to meet it, especially when the load comes from a demolition or excavation site rather than a dedicated fill supplier. This matters in two practical ways: some jurisdictions require documentation that fill brought onto a property is clean, particularly near wetlands or property lines, and buried debris that surfaces later, whether from settling or a neighbor digging a fence post hole, becomes a dispute you have to explain. Ask suppliers directly whether a load is certified clean fill before it's dumped.
Fill dirt vs. topsoil vs. gravel
These three get lumped together and they're not interchangeable. Fill dirt is for bulk volume and structural support: use it to fill the body of a hole or raise grade. Topsoil is the finishing layer on top, typically just a few inches, chosen for nutrient content because grass and plant roots need to establish in it. Gravel is for drainage and hardscape: driveways, French drains, paths, anywhere water needs to move through rather than sit. A typical yard-leveling job uses fill dirt to bring a low area up to grade, then a thin cap of topsoil on top before seeding or laying sod. Ordering topsoil to fill a deep hole wastes money; ordering straight fill dirt and expecting grass to thrive in it usually disappoints.
Compaction: why you should order more than the raw math says
Loose fill dirt settles after placement, commonly somewhere in the range of 10 to 20 percent depending on soil type, moisture, and how much compaction it gets. Dump a load and walk away, and that low spot will be low again within a season or two. If anything will sit on the fill, a patio, a shed pad, a stretch of driveway, or even regular foot traffic, compact it in lifts: spread and tamp it in layers no deeper than about 6 inches rather than compacting the surface of one deep pile. For non-structural grading, like leveling a soft patch before sod, a lighter compaction pass plus a bit of extra ordered volume usually covers the settling without needing engineered lifts.
Worked example: leveling a low corner before sod
A backyard corner measures 12 feet by 8 feet and sits about 4 inches, or 0.33 feet, below the rest of the lawn. Volume needed: 12 x 8 x 0.33 = 31.7 cubic feet. Divide by 27 to convert to cubic yards: about 1.2 cubic yards. Adding roughly 15% to cover compaction settling brings the order to about 1.4 cubic yards. A job this small is well under a full dump truck load, so a small trailer delivery or bagged fill dirt is often more practical than scheduling a truck. Delivered cost for a load like this varies a lot by region and supplier, and minimum-order or delivery fees often matter more than the per-yard price itself, so it's worth calling two or three local suppliers before assuming a number.
Related tools
Working on a driveway base or need stone instead of dirt? Use the gravel calculator for driveways to size that material separately. For other grading, paving, and material-volume jobs, see all construction calculators.
How the fill dirt calculation works
Volume (cubic feet) = length (ft) × width (ft) × depth (ft)Volume (cubic yards) = cubic feet ÷ 27Estimated cost = cubic yards × price per yardTruckloads needed = cubic yards ÷ truck capacity (cubic yards)Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between fill dirt and topsoil?
Fill dirt is bulk, unscreened soil used for structural work like leveling, backfilling, and raising grade. Topsoil is the nutrient-rich finishing layer on top where grass and plants actually grow. Most grading jobs use fill dirt for the bulk of the depth and a thin cap of topsoil on top.
How much fill dirt do I need?
Multiply length by width by depth (all in feet) to get cubic feet, then divide by 27 to get cubic yards. This calculator does that conversion for you and adds room for a cost and truckload estimate if you fill in those fields.
Is fill dirt the same as gravel?
No. Fill dirt is for bulk volume and structural support under grading or backfill. Gravel is for drainage and hardscape, like driveways and French drains, where water needs to move through the material rather than pool.
What is "clean fill" and why does it matter?
Clean fill means dirt, rock, and sand only, with no concrete, debris, trash, or organic matter mixed in. Many municipalities require clean fill for delivery and may ask for documentation, and buried debris in a non-clean load can become a permit issue or a neighbor dispute later.
How much does fill dirt settle after it's placed?
Loose fill dirt commonly settles somewhere in the range of 10 to 20 percent, depending on soil type and compaction. Ordering a bit extra and compacting in shallow lifts, roughly 6 inches at a time, reduces settling if anything will be built or driven on it.
How much does fill dirt cost?
Cost varies a lot by region, supplier, and delivery distance, and delivery minimums often affect the total more than the per-yard price does. Enter a local price per yard into the calculator for a rough estimate, then confirm with a couple of local suppliers.
Can I use fill dirt under a patio or before pouring concrete?
Yes, but it needs to be compacted properly in layers, not just dumped and leveled, or it will settle unevenly under the load. For structural work like this, confirm compaction requirements with your contractor or local building code rather than relying on grading alone.