One ton of crushed stone covers about 108 square feet at 2 inches deep, 72 square feet at 3 inches, and 54 square feet at 4 inches. Enter your tonnage and depth to get the exact coverage for any material.
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Stone Coverage Calculator Guide
Most calculators start from area and solve for material. This one runs the other direction: you already have a known amount of stone — maybe it’s what’s left on a pallet, what a supplier quoted, or what you’re willing to spend — and need to know how far it will actually spread. Enter your amount and depth, and the calculator returns square footage in both feet and meters.
This is the tool for working backward: “I have 3 tons of pea gravel, how big a bed can I cover?” rather than “I have a bed this big, how much do I need?”
Coverage Per Ton at Common Depths
| Depth | Crushed stone (1.5 t/yd³) | Gravel (1.4 t/yd³) | Pea gravel (1.35 t/yd³) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 216 sq ft | 231 sq ft | 240 sq ft |
| 2 in | 108 sq ft | 116 sq ft | 120 sq ft |
| 3 in | 72 sq ft | 77 sq ft | 80 sq ft |
| 4 in | 54 sq ft | 58 sq ft | 60 sq ft |
The pattern holds for any material: coverage is inversely proportional to depth, so doubling the depth exactly halves the area a given ton covers — and lighter materials always stretch a little further than denser ones for the same weight.
Using This Before You Buy
Coverage calculations are most useful as a sanity check before ordering, not after. If a supplier quotes “one load covers your driveway,” plug their tonnage into this calculator at your planned depth and see whether the math actually holds — it’s a fast way to catch a load that’s been quoted short.
Going the other direction — from a known area to the tons you need to order — use the standard crushed stone calculator or the material-specific tool for your project, or convert a known weight straight to volume with the tons to cubic yards calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does 1 ton of stone cover?
At a 2-inch depth, one ton of crushed stone covers roughly 108 square feet; at 3 inches, about 72 square feet. Lighter materials like pea gravel cover slightly more because a ton of them fills more volume.
How much area does a cubic yard of stone cover?
A cubic yard covers 162 square feet at 2 inches deep, 108 square feet at 3 inches, and 81 square feet at 4 inches — the math is 324 divided by the depth in inches.
Why does coverage drop so fast with depth?
Coverage is inversely proportional to depth: doubling the depth exactly halves the area a given amount covers. The single most common estimating error is planning coverage at 2 inches, then actually spreading 3 or 4.
Should I subtract anything from the calculated coverage?
Keep 5–10% in reserve. Edges, low spots, and settling all absorb material, so treat the calculated coverage as a best-case figure rather than a promise.