Free calculator
Gravel cost calculator
Enter an area and a depth, or the yards or tons you already know, pick the stone, and get both the cubic yards and the tons with the price worked out the way the quarry quotes it, per ton or per yard, plus delivery and spreading.
Result
- Volume to order
- 7.78 cu yd (210 cu ft)
- Weight to order
- 9.83 US tons (19,665 lb)
- In place, before the extra
- 7.41 cu yd (200 cu ft)
- For this material
- 1 cu yd = 1.26 tons; 1 ton = 0.79 cu yd
- Total
- $463 (material $295, delivery $75, spreading $93)
- Per area
- $0.77 per sq ft
Yards and tons are linked by the density: the same pile weighs more wet. Suppliers sell by the ton from a scale or by the yard from a loader bucket; enter the price the way the quote is written and both figures are on the ticket.
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How it works
Gravel is measured in cubic yards, weighed in tons and quoted either way, so the calculator always shows both. An area times its depth is the volume in place; the extra you allow covers compaction (a crusher run base loses about 15% under a plate) and spillage. A volume or a weight you type is taken as the order and not padded.
The link between the two is the density: about 1.5 tonnes per cubic metre for loose 3/4 in crushed stone, which is 1.26 US tons per cubic yard (2,500 lb) and 0.79 yards per ton; 1.6 for pea gravel and river rock; 1.7 for crusher run and road base with their fines. Suppliers publish ranges 10 to 15% either side of these because wet stone weighs more, so the field takes the figure on your ticket.
Money follows the quote. A price per ton is multiplied by the tons, a price per yard by the yards, and the total adds a flat delivery (HomeGuide: $10 to $25 per ton, or free over a 5-ton minimum within about 5 miles) and spreading per yard if a crew does it ($12 per yard or $46 an hour). With an area you also get the cost per square foot.
Frequently asked questions
- How many tons of gravel for a 12 x 50 ft driveway?
- 9.8 tons of 3/4 in crushed stone at 4 in, which is 7.8 cubic yards with 5% extra (7.4 in place). At $30 a ton plus $75 delivery and $12 a yard to spread it, $463, or $0.77 per square foot; leave the spreading out and it is $370.
- How many yards in a ton of gravel?
- 0.79 cubic yards for loose crushed stone at 1.5 t/m³, so 10 tons is 7.9 yards; 0.74 yards for pea gravel at 1.6. Going the other way, a yard is 1.26 tons of crushed stone (2,500 lb) and 1.35 tons of pea gravel, and 10 yards of crushed stone is 12.6 tons. Pick the material and the form shows the pair.
- How much does a ton of gravel cover?
- 64 square feet at 4 in for crushed stone at 1.5 t/m³, 128 at 2 in and 43 at 6 in; pea gravel at 1.6 covers 60 square feet at 4 in. HomeGuide's rule of thumb is 60 to 80 square feet per ton at 4 in for a driveway, and 40 to 50 for pea gravel, which is the same arithmetic with heavier, wetter stone.
- How much is a yard of gravel?
- $15 to $75 per cubic yard for bulk crushed stone and gravel in HomeGuide's 2026 figures, $10 to $50 per ton; pea gravel $28 to $45 a ton, crusher run $24 to $34, road base $18 to $30, river rock $33 to $49. A ton is 0.79 yards of crushed stone, so $30 a ton is about $38 a yard for the same stone; the calculator converts whichever way the quote is written.
- Should I buy gravel by the ton or by the yard?
- Whichever the supplier sells: a quarry weighs the truck and sells by the ton, a landscape yard fills a loader bucket and sells by the yard. Compare quotes by converting both to the same unit with the density above, and remember that a ton of wet stone is less stone than a ton of dry stone, while a yard is a yard.
- How much crusher run for a driveway base?
- A base compacts: the form adds 15% for crusher run and road base, so a 12 x 50 ft driveway with a 4 in compacted base needs 12.2 tons of crusher run at 1.7 t/m³ against 9.8 tons of loose 3/4 in stone for the same depth. Most driveways are a 4 in compacted base under 2 to 3 in of 3/4 in top stone, priced as two orders.
Guides
- How many yards in a ton of gravel? (and tons in a yard, by stone)
0.79 yards in a ton of crushed stone, 1.26 tons in a yard: yards to tons and back for 1 to 30 of each by stone type, the supplier ranges behind the figures, and metric.
- How much does a gravel driveway cost? (per square foot and by size, 2026)
Tons, yards and cost of gravel for driveways from 10x20 to 12x100 ft with a compacted base and a top layer, at HomeGuide's 2026 prices per ton, delivery and spreading.
- How much is a yard of gravel? (and a ton) Prices by stone, 2026
Bulk gravel is 15 to 75 per cubic yard and 10 to 50 per ton, US 2026 (HomeGuide): the price by stone, what 1 to 20 yards or tons cost delivered, and bags against bulk.
- How much does a ton of gravel cover? (at 2, 3 and 4 inches, by stone)
A ton of 3/4 in crushed stone is 0.79 cubic yards: about 85 sq ft at 3 in, 128 at 2 in, 64 at 4 in. Coverage by stone, tons for 100 to 1,000 sq ft, price.