Cubic Meters to Cubic Yards
Type cubic meters, get cubic yards — and how much to order by the yard.
Cubic meters ↔ cubic yards
Type in either box — the other one updates. Commas like 1,250 are fine.
How it’s calculated
Every step uses the numbers you entered above.
Divide by 0.764555 (1 yd = 0.9144 m, so 1 yd³ = 0.764555 m³)
Round up to order
Cubic feet (1 yd³ = 27 ft³)
Cubic meter vs cubic yard
A cubic meter is the bigger unit, by about 31%. One cubic meter equals 1.31 cubic yards, and one cubic yard equals 0.76 cubic meters (0.764555 to six places). That’s why the same pile of dirt or the same pour of concrete always reads as a larger number in cubic yards than in cubic meters (metres).
The reason shows up in the edges of the two cubes. A meter is 39.37 inches long, while a yard is 36 inches (91.44 cm), so a cube one meter on each side is a little over 3 inches longer in every direction than a cube one yard on each side. That small gap counts three times, once for length, once for width and once for height, and together they make a cube about 31% larger. If you want to picture the smaller of the two, here’s what a cubic yard looks like.
| Unit | Edge length | Equals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cubic meter | 39.37 in (1 m) | 1.31 yd³ |
| 1 cubic yard | 36 in (91.44 cm) | 0.76 m³ |
This gives you a handy sanity check. Converting cubic meters to cubic yards should always give you a bigger number, so if your yard figure came out smaller than the meter figure, the math went wrong somewhere. You’ll run into both units often, because metric plans, imported spec sheets and most of the world measure volume in cubic meters, while US suppliers of concrete, soil and gravel quote by the cubic yard.
Why the factor is 1.30795
The whole conversion rests on one definition: a yard is exactly 0.9144 meters. Cube that and a cubic yard is 0.9144 × 0.9144 × 0.9144 = 0.764555 cubic meters. Flip it around and you get how many cubic yards are in a cubic meter: 1 ÷ 0.764555 = 1.30795. Dividing cubic meters by 0.764555 and multiplying them by 1.30795 give the same answer, so use whichever is easier on your calculator.
If you’re working it as a unit conversion for class, write the length factor as a fraction and cube it so the meters cancel out: m³ × (1 yd ÷ 0.9144 m)³ = yd³. The cube is the part people tend to drop, and that leads straight to the most common mistake with this conversion.
The mistake usually starts from a true fact: 1 meter = 1.0936 yards. That number converts length, not volume. Multiply 10 cubic meters by 1.0936 and you get 10.94, while the correct answer is 10 × 1.30795 = 13.08 cubic yards. The wrong answer comes out about 16% short, which on a material order means coming up short on the job.
Once you’re using the right factor, the next question is how precise it needs to be. For most orders, 1.308 is plenty. Rounding further to 1.31 or 1.3 looks harmless on a small job, but the error grows with the volume, as the table below shows.
| Factor used | 100 m³ gives | 500 m³ gives | Off by (at 500 m³) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.30795 (exact to 5 places) | 130.80 yd³ | 653.98 yd³ | — |
| 1.308 | 130.80 yd³ | 654.00 yd³ | 0.02 yd³ |
| 1.31 | 131.00 yd³ | 655.00 yd³ | 1.02 yd³ over |
| 1.3 | 130.00 yd³ | 650.00 yd³ | 3.98 yd³ short |
| 1.0936 (length factor — wrong) | 109.36 yd³ | 546.80 yd³ | 107.18 yd³ short |
Cubic meters to cubic yards chart
Look up common amounts here. For example, 8 cubic meters is about 10.46 cubic yards.
| Cubic meters | Cubic yards | Order (rounded up to ¼ yd³) |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 0.65 | 0.75 |
| 1 | 1.31 | 1.5 |
| 2 | 2.62 | 2.75 |
| 3 | 3.92 | 4 |
| 4 | 5.23 | 5.25 |
| 5 | 6.54 | 6.75 |
| 6 | 7.85 | 8 |
| 7 | 9.16 | 9.25 |
| 8 | 10.46 | 10.5 |
| 10 | 13.08 | 13.25 |
| 13.5 | 17.66 | 17.75 |
| 15 | 19.62 | 19.75 |
| 20 | 26.16 | 26.25 |
| 25 | 32.70 | 32.75 |
| 30 | 39.24 | 39.25 |
| 40 | 52.32 | 52.5 |
| 50 | 65.40 | 65.5 |
| 75 | 98.10 | 98.25 |
| 100 | 130.80 | 131 |
| 250 | 326.99 | 327 |
| 500 | 653.98 | 654 |
| 1,000 | 1,307.95 | 1,308 |
The last column is rounded up to the next ¼ cubic yard, the way you’d place an order.
Ordering concrete, soil or gravel by the yard
When a US supplier talks about “a yard” of concrete, dirt or gravel, they mean a cubic yard. It’s trade shorthand for a volume, not a length, and you can see how the two differ in yards vs cubic yards. So if your plan says 3.6 m³ of concrete, convert it to cubic yards first (4.71), then round up to the next amount your supplier sells.
The conversion itself doesn’t change with the material. A cubic meter of concrete, topsoil, gravel or mulch is 1.30795 cubic yards every time, because you’re measuring space, not mass. What does change is how much each yard weighs, which matters for hauling and pickup loads, and you’ll find that in the weight per cubic yard chart.
Here’s how two typical metric figures turn into yard numbers, starting with a slab measured in meters and centimeters:
Slab 6 × 4 m × 15 cm
A 6 m × 4 m slab poured 0.15 m deep holds 3.6 m³, and 3.6 × 1.30795 converts it to cubic yards.
50 m³ of excavated soil
An excavation estimate of 50 m³ grows noticeably once a hauler measures it by the yard.
The second example is worth keeping in mind when you compare haul-off quotes. Fifty cubic meters of soil can sound like fifty yards, but it’s 65.40 cubic yards, and any per-yard price applies to that bigger number.
Whatever the material, always round up, never down. Running short partway through a pour or a fill job usually means paying for a second delivery. Increments and minimum orders vary from one supplier to the next, so ask yours what they sell before you settle on a final number.
Many people also order a little more than the converted figure. Loose soil and gravel settle once they’re spread and compacted, and concrete forms are rarely perfect, so the exact volume on paper often isn’t quite enough. Rather than guess at the extra, use the waste and compaction settings in the main calculator, or the concrete calculator if you’re planning a pour.
Cubic meters to cubic yards FAQs
How many cubic meters is 1 cubic yard?
One cubic yard is 0.76 cubic meters (0.764555 to six places). To go from cubic yards to cubic meters, multiply by 0.764555, so 8 yd³ × 0.764555 = 6.12 m³. The converter above works both ways, and if that’s the direction you need most, there’s a full cubic yards to cubic meters page.
What do cu m, m³ and CBM mean?
All three mean cubic meters, and CBM is especially common in shipping and freight. On the other side, cu yd, yd³ and CY all mean cubic yards. The conversion is the same however the unit is written.
How many cubic feet are in a cubic meter?
There are 35.31 cubic feet in a cubic meter, compared with 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard. The converter above shows cubic feet next to your result, and if your number starts in feet, use cubic feet to cubic yards.
How many 25-liter bags of soil make a cubic yard?
About 30.6, so buy 31 bags. A cubic yard holds 764.55 liters, and 764.55 ÷ 25 = 30.6. A cubic meter is 1,000 liters, which works out to 40 bags of 25 L. For other bag sizes, try liters to cubic yards.
How do I get cubic yards from length, width and depth in meters?
Multiply length × width × depth to get cubic meters, converting the depth to meters first (15 cm = 0.15 m), then multiply by 1.30795. The 6 m × 4 m × 15 cm slab above comes to 4.71 yd³ this way. You can also enter the dimensions directly in the main cubic yard calculator, which takes meters and centimeters.