Cubic Inches to Cubic Yards Converter (÷ 46,656) + Chart
Type cubic inches — or measure in inches — and get cubic yards, cubic feet, bags and how much to order.
Cubic inches ↔ cubic yards
Already have cubic inches? Type them. Only have measurements in inches? Use L × W × H.
How it’s calculated
Every step uses the numbers you entered above.
Divide by 46,656 (36 × 36 × 36)
Round up to order
Bags of 2 cu ft
Why 46,656
A yard is exactly 36 inches, and a cubic yard is a cube that measures one yard along every edge. Its volume is 36 × 36 × 36, which comes to 46,656 cubic inches. That is the whole reason every cubic inch figure gets divided by 46,656 on its way to cubic yards.
If you already think in cubic feet, you can reach the same number by a second route. One cubic foot holds 12 × 12 × 12 = 1,728 cubic inches, and one cubic yard holds 27 cubic feet, so 1,728 × 27 = 46,656. Dividing by 1,728 and then by 27 gives exactly the same answer as dividing by 46,656 once.
Most wrong answers come from using a length or area number where a volume number belongs. A foot is 12 inches long, but a 1 ft cube holds 1,728 cubic inches, not 12. Yards work the same way: 36 is the length, 1,296 is the area of a square yard, and only 46,656 describes volume. The ladder below shows how each step multiplies.
| Unit | Inches in it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 foot / 1 yard (length) | 12 / 36 | straight line |
| 1 square foot / 1 square yard (area) | 144 / 1,296 | 12 × 12 · 36 × 36 |
| 1 cubic foot / 1 cubic yard (volume) | 1,728 / 46,656 | 12 × 12 × 12 · 36 × 36 × 36 |
The same logic tells you a cubic inch is not an inch: one is a line, the other is a tiny cube 1 inch on each side. And when a supplier quotes “a yard” of dirt or gravel, they mean a cubic yard, as explained in yards vs cubic yards.
Cubic inches to cubic yards chart
Find your amount, or the nearest one, to see it in cubic feet and cubic yards. For example, 69,120 cubic inches is about 1.48 cubic yards, or 40 cubic feet.
| Cubic inches | Cubic feet | Cubic yards | Order (rounded up to ¼ yd³) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 0.58 | 0.0214 | 0.25 |
| 1,728 | 1 | 0.0370 | 0.25 |
| 3,000 | 1.74 | 0.0643 | 0.25 |
| 10,000 | 5.79 | 0.2143 | 0.25 |
| 23,328 | 13.5 | 0.5000 | 0.5 |
| 46,656 | 27 | 1.0000 | 1 |
| 51,840 | 30 | 1.1111 | 1.25 |
| 69,120 | 40 | 1.4815 | 1.5 |
| 100,000 | 57.87 | 2.1433 | 2.25 |
| 250,000 | 144.68 | 5.3584 | 5.5 |
| 500,000 | 289.35 | 10.7167 | 10.75 |
| 1,000,000 | 578.70 | 21.4335 | 21.5 |
Small volumes are only a tiny fraction of a cubic yard, so keep the decimals until the last step; the final column rounds up to the next ¼ yd³, which is how you would place an order.
Measuring in inches
To get cubic inches, multiply length × width × height, with all three measured in inches. Then divide the result by 46,656 to get cubic yards. The converter’s L × W × H tab handles both steps once you enter your measurements.
The one rule that matters is that every dimension must be in the same unit before you multiply. Mixing feet and inches is the most common way to end up with a badly wrong order, and the second example below shows how far off it can go.
Planter 48 × 24 × 18 in
A planter 48 inches long, 24 inches wide and 18 inches deep holds 20,736 in³, and dividing by 46,656 gives the volume in yards.
The 24 × 24 × 4 trap
At 24 × 24 × 4 in, you have 2,304 in³, a small block; read the same numbers as 24 ft × 24 ft × 4 in and you are describing a slab.
Same three numbers, 144 times the concrete. So when your length and width are in feet, as with patios, slabs and driveways, the main cubic yard calculator is the better fit, because it takes feet and inches together and you never have to convert by hand.
Concrete, soil and gravel
A cubic yard is the same volume whether you fill it with concrete, topsoil or gravel, so the conversion never changes with the material. What changes is how you buy it. Small jobs measured in cubic inches are usually bagged, and bags are labeled in cubic feet, while concrete mix is sold by weight with its yield in cubic feet printed on the bag. If a soil bag lists only its weight, look for the cubic feet on the label, since bag counts only work from volume. Compare your cubic inches with the cubic inches in one bag to see how many you need.
| Bag | Cubic feet (label) | Cubic inches per bag | Bags per cubic yard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil, 0.75 cu ft | 0.75 | 1,296 | 36 |
| Mulch/soil, 2 cu ft | 2 | 3,456 | 13.5 (buy 14) |
| Concrete mix, 80 lb | 0.60 | 1,036.8 | 45 |
| Concrete mix, 60 lb | 0.45 | 777.6 | 60 |
Ready-mix trucks sell concrete by the cubic yard, so a pour that works out to a small fraction of a yard is almost always done with bags; the concrete yields above come from the Quikrete concrete mix data sheet. To estimate how heavy a load will be, check the weight per cubic yard, and for larger pours measured in feet, the concrete calculator works directly in the units you measured.
Cubic inches to cubic yards FAQs
How many cubic inches are in a cubic yard?
Exactly 46,656, because a cubic yard is 36 × 36 × 36 inches. To go the other way, multiply cubic yards by 46,656 or use the cubic yards to cubic inches converter.
Is 12 cubic inches a cubic foot?
No. A cubic foot holds 1,728 cubic inches, which is 12 × 12 × 12. The number 12 is only the length of one edge of that cube in inches.
Can you convert square inches to cubic yards?
Not without a depth, because square inches measure area and cubic yards measure volume. Multiply square inches by the depth in inches to get cubic inches, then divide by 46,656.
How do I convert cubic inches to cubic feet?
Divide by 1,728. For example, 3,456 in³ ÷ 1,728 = 2 ft³. From there, cubic feet to cubic yards takes you the rest of the way.
How do I convert cubic inches to cubic yards in Excel?
With cubic inches in cell A2, enter =A2/46656 to get cubic yards. To round up to the next ¼ yard for ordering, use =ROUNDUP(A2/46656*4,0)/4.
How big is a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is a cube 3 feet (36 inches) on each side. For a better sense of scale before you order, see what a cubic yard looks like.