A cubic yard of concrete weighs about 4,000 pounds, or two tons. That is roughly 150 pounds per cubic foot, since a yard holds 27 cubic feet.
Most of the time the question behind the question is whether something can carry it: a trailer, a wheelbarrow, a deck, or the ground a mixer truck has to cross.
Where the number comes from
Concrete is mostly stone and sand held together by cement paste, and stone is heavy. A normal-weight mix comes in at roughly 150 pounds per cubic foot. Multiply by the 27 cubic feet in a yard and you land at 4,050 pounds, which everyone rounds to 4,000 or calls two tons. The exact figure moves a little with the aggregate and how much water went in, but not enough to change any decision below.
What common pours weigh
All at 4 inches thick, using 150 pounds per cubic foot.
| Pour | Cubic yards | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 10x10 pad | 1.23 | 5,000 lb (2.5 tons) |
| 12x12 patio | 1.78 | 7,200 lb (3.6 tons) |
| 20x20 patio | 4.94 | 20,000 lb (10.0 tons) |
| 24x24 two-car garage | 7.11 | 28,800 lb (14.4 tons) |
| 12x60 driveway | 8.89 | 36,000 lb (18.0 tons) |
A 10x10 pad is two and a half tons. A modest driveway is eighteen. Those numbers are why nobody hauls a real pour in a pickup, and why the ready-mix truck exists.
Bags, wheelbarrows and trailers
An 80-pound bag makes about 0.6 cubic feet of concrete, which weighs around 90 pounds once the water is in. A 60-pound bag makes about 0.45 cubic feet, or 68 pounds mixed. A contractor wheelbarrow holds around 6 cubic feet, so a full one is close to 900 pounds, and most people push a half load.
Trailer ratings are where this bites. Many small utility trailers are rated for less than one yard of concrete once the trailer's own weight is counted. Anyone renting a tow-behind mixer should read the rating plate before assuming it can carry a yard.
The truck
A full mixer carries 8 to 10 yards, so 32,000 to 40,000 pounds of concrete plus the truck itself. It needs solid ground the whole way in and a spot to turn around. If the pour is somewhere a truck cannot reach, the options are a pump, a line of wheelbarrows, or a smaller load, and each of those changes the price. Sort out access before you order, not on the morning the truck arrives.
Pouring on top of something
A 4-inch slab puts about 50 pounds on every square foot beneath it, before any furniture or vehicles. Compacted subgrade carries that without complaint. A wooden deck, a suspended floor or a rooftop does not, and no calculator settles that question. It needs an engineer to look at the structure.
Work out your own yardage with the Concrete Calculator, then see what that pour costs with the Concrete Slab Cost Calculator. The current price per yard is on the Concrete Cost Per Yard page.
Skip the arithmetic
Enter your own dimensions and get the exact figure instead of working from averages.
Open the Concrete CalculatorFrequently asked questions
About 4,000 pounds, or two tons, for standard ready-mix. That works out to roughly 150 pounds per cubic foot, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Lightweight and heavyweight mixes exist, but the 4,000-pound figure is the one to plan around unless your supplier tells you otherwise.
Roughly 150 pounds. Multiply by 27 and you get the 4,000-pound cubic yard. The per-foot number is the useful one for small jobs, since a post hole or a step is easier to think about in cubic feet than in fractions of a yard.
A full ready-mix truck carries 8 to 10 cubic yards, which is 32,000 to 40,000 pounds of concrete before you count the truck. That is why a loaded mixer cannot drive onto a lawn, a septic field or a thin driveway, and why the pour site has to be reachable from solid ground.
About 90 pounds. An 80-pound bag yields roughly 0.6 cubic feet of concrete, and at 150 pounds per cubic foot that is 90 pounds, the extra coming from the water you add. A 60-pound bag yields about 0.45 cubic feet, or around 68 pounds mixed.
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