Bags
Concrete Bag Calculator
See every common bag at once. One cubic yard is 45 bags of 80 lb, 60 bags of 60 lb, or 90 bags of 40 lb.
Your region
Feet, inches, cubic yards, and 40–80 lb bags
Concrete Calculator
Example measurements — replace them with yours.
Common sizes
Most orders add 5–10% for spillage, uneven ground, and the last bit left in the chute.
Cost, truck size, and concrete weight
Leave a price blank to skip that estimate. Use the number your supplier quoted.
This job
Add each pour — slab, piers, steps — and Concrete Calculator totals them.
Quick answer
Concrete Bag Calculator: one cubic yard takes 45 bags of 80 lb mix, 60 bags of 60 lb, 72 bags of 50 lb, or 90 bags of 40 lb. Those counts use yields of 0.60, 0.45, 0.375, and 0.30 cubic feet. Concrete Calculator divides your volume by the yield and rounds up — a calculation of 10.1 bags is an 11-bag purchase.
How the concrete bag calculator works
Measure a shape or switch to “I know the volume” if you already have yards or cubic feet. Waste applies before the bag round-up so you do not round twice. Highlight a bag size to drive the water note and bag price line.
Quikrete-style bags dominate US search. Brand yields can differ slightly — the bag in your hand wins if it prints a different coverage. Fast-set products sometimes list holes-per-bag instead of cubic feet; convert carefully or trust the label’s project chart for posts.
Worked example with the concrete bag calculator
Start from a known yardage when the plant already quoted volume, or from a slab when you still have the tape in your pocket. The yard calculator and this page share the same volume — only the unit on the ticket changes. Re-run the Concrete Bag Calculator after thickness changes — depth moves yardage faster than length.
- 1.00 yd³ → 45 × 80 lb · 60 × 60 lb · 90 × 40 lb
- 10×10×4 in slab (1.23 yd³) → 56 × 80 lb before waste
- Same slab +10% → 62 × 80 lb
- 12 in × 4 ft sonotube (3.14 ft³) → 6 × 80 lb
| Bag | Yield | Bags per yd³ | Typical pallet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 lb | 0.60 ft³ | 45 | 42 |
| 60 lb | 0.45 ft³ | 60 | 56 |
| 50 lb | 0.375 ft³ | 72 | varies |
| 40 lb | 0.30 ft³ | 90 | varies |
Pallets, water, and timing
A typical pallet of 80 lb bags holds 42 bags — almost a yard (0.93 yd³), not quite. Read bags on a pallet before you assume one pallet finishes a yard job. Water: about 3 quarts (6 pints) is a common start for an 80 lb bag. Extra water weakens the pour. Follow the bag.
Mix only what you can place. A patio that needs 100 bags is a crew and a staging plan, or a truck. Compare with the ready-mix or bags guide when the count crosses into the high dozens. Split odd shapes into rectangles inside the concrete bag calculator, then sum once before waste.
Tips before you order
Apply waste before dividing by yield. Buy the rounded count, not the neat decimal. For fence runs, use the post hole calculator so hole diameter and post displacement are in the volume before bags appear.
How many bags of concrete do I need for common pads?
Start from the slab, not from a guess at “a few bags.” A 4×4 ft pad at 4 inches is 5.33 ft³ — 9 bags of 80 lb before waste. An 8×8 shed pad at 4 inches is 21.3 ft³ — 36 bags. A 10×12 patio at 4 inches is 40 ft³ — 67 bags before waste. Those counts are why the bag calculator exists beside the shape tools.
Fence posts flip the question: you care about hole diameter and depth, not pad area. A run of eleven posts at three bags each is thirty-three bags — under a pallet of forty-two, unless gate posts and corners run larger. Use the post hole calculator so displacement and gravel depth are already in the volume.
Quikrete calculator searches and brand yields
Most Quikrete-style concrete mix bags in the US land on the same planning yields Concrete Calculator uses. High-early and fast-setting products sometimes list “holes per bag” charts instead of cubic feet. When the label disagrees, trust the label. Concrete Calculator is a planning takeoff, not a substitute for the bag’s printed coverage on specialty mixes.
If you bought 60 lb bags because they were on sale, switch the highlighted size so water notes and bag cost track the product on the shelf — not the 80 lb default you used last weekend.
Related tools
Use the yards calculator for plant orders, weight for deck loads, and ready-mix when bags get absurd.
Frequently asked questions
How many 80 lb bags of concrete in a yard?
45. 27 ÷ 0.60 = 45.
How many 60 lb bags in a yard?
60. 27 ÷ 0.45 = 60.
How much water for an 80 lb bag?
Often about 6 pints (3 quarts). The printed bag directions override this.
How many bags on a pallet?
Often 42 of 80 lb or 56 of 60 lb — confirm with the yard.
Quikrete calculator?
Same yields work for most Quikrete-style bags unless the label says otherwise.
How many bags for a 10×10 slab?
At 4 inches, 56×80 lb before waste; about 62 with 10%.