Reference data
Concrete bag yield
Cubic feet of set concrete per bag, and bags per cubic yard, by bag weight.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-16
How many bags of concrete make a cubic yard?
| Bag | Yield (ft³) | Bags per yd³ | Bags per m³ | Weight per yd³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 lb bag | 0.6 | 45 | 59 | 1.80 tons |
| 60 lb bag | 0.45 | 60 | 79 | 1.80 tons |
| 50 lb bag | 0.375 | 72 | 95 | 1.80 tons |
| 40 lb bag | 0.3 | 90 | 118 | 1.80 tons |
Reading it
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so the bag count is simply 27 divided by the yield. An 80 lb bag makes 0.60 ft³, which is 45 bags to the yard — and 45 bags is 3,600 lb, or 1.8 tons, of material to carry, open and mix.
That last column is the one worth staring at. The arithmetic of bags is easy; the logistics are not. Two cubic yards is ninety bags, close to two tons, and a mixer running continuously for most of a day. It is why the concrete calculator stops recommending bags at about one cubic yard, however cheap they look per bag.
Why the yields differ by more than weight
An 80 lb bag makes 0.60 ft³ and a 40 lb bag makes 0.30 — exactly half, as you would expect. The 50 lb bag is the odd one, because bag sizes are set by what a person can lift rather than by round numbers of volume, and different manufacturers pick different weights for the same product.
Always check the bag in front of you. These are the published yields for standard concrete mix; fast-setting, high-strength and countertop mixes all yield differently, and a mix with larger aggregate yields more per pound than one without.
What this table does not tell you
It does not include waste. A real order adds five per cent or so for the low spots in the sub-base and the bag you open and do not finish — the calculator applies that separately, shows the percentage and lets you change it.
Send this to whoever is paying
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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