While you’re using ready-mix bag of concrete, you’re interested to know how many bags of concrete in a yard? Well, bags of concrete per yard depend on the size of the bag you choose. An 80 lb bag of concrete will obviously cover more per yard than a lb bag.

Be it Quikrete, Skrete, or any other brand; the deciding factor is always going to be the size of the premix concrete bag.  

Bags of concrete per yard

So, how many bags of concrete for a yard?

• You need 90 bags per yard for a standard 40 lb size of premix concrete bag.
• You need 72 bags per yard for a standard 50 lb size of premix concrete bag.
• You need 60 bags per yard for a standard 60 lb size of premix concrete bag.
• You need 45 bags per yard for a standard 80 lb size of premix concrete bag.

Concrete yards to bags

Concrete is made when we mix cement, sand, aggregate, and appropriate amount of water in it. Once we add water, the dry ingredients harden and cure to form what we call concrete.

The compressive strength of cement is measured in psi or pounds per square inch. We can also know the strength of concrete as it is always mentioned on the cement bag.

For instance, a Quikrete bag that says 3500 means it has a compressive strength of 3500 psi. Mix design or Ingredients ratio can be adjusted to make different strength concrete. Normally, concrete is sold by the cubic yard, but it is also available in pre-mixed bags like Quikrete and Sakrete.

A yard of concrete is a measurement of volume and not strength or weight.

One cubic yard is equal to the volume of a cube with edges that are one yard or three feet in length.

In general, about 90 × 40lb, 60 × 60lb, 75 × 50lb, or 45 × 80lb bags equal a yard of concrete.

Also Read: How much does a bag of concrete cover? (Bags of 40 lb, 60 lb, 80 lb, & 90lb)

How much concrete do you need? – The Estimation

Knowing how to calculate the amount of concrete is very important if you are thinking about doing some concrete renovation work. In construction projects, if you want to do the concreting of a slab, beam, or column then you must how much concrete it will take to get it done.

For the calculations of the amount of concrete for slab, we need to do both a square footage and a volume calculation.

First thing first we have to figure out how many yards of concrete we need to pour the slab, and then we have to figure out how many bags of concrete it will take.

TIP: The amount of concrete bags we need for a job is a volumetric measurement and not a weight or strength. 

Concrete Strength Table:

Grade of Concrete	Mix Ratio/ Design	Strength (MPa)	Strength (Psi)
M5	1: 5 : 10	5	725
M7.5	1 : 4: 8	7.5	1087
M10	1 :3: 6	10	1450
M15	1 :2: 4	15	2175
M20	1: 1.5 : 3	20	2900
M25	Design Mix	25	3626
M30	Design Mix	30	4350
M35	Design Mix	35	5076
M40	Design Mix	40	5800
M50	Design Mix	50	7251
M70	Design Mix	70	10152

Steps To Estimate Cubic Yards:

Length x Width x Height:

Three measurements are needed to calculate the volume of the slab. Now, measure the length, width and height of the slab, or any other structure that needs concrete. If you have a big structure, then it is always a good practice to break down into smaller portions. Calculate the concrete needed for each portion and then add them all up at the end.

Also Read: How much is a yard of concrete? – With Bonus tips to save money

Conversion of Values: 

It is always good to take advantage of the present-day technology. The conversion calculators make it easy to convert inches to feet, yards to feet, and meters to feet precisely. Now simply multiply the three dimensions of the required portion and sum up all the values. This will give us values in cubic feet. To convert cubic feet into cubic yards, divide the cubic footage by 27 which will give the cubic yards.

Concrete Estimation for a Cubic Yard:

Normally, it takes 90 concrete bags of 40lb, 60 concrete bags of 60lb, 45 concrete bags of 80lb  to fill one cubic yards of concrete. It is always a good practice to add 5%-10% additional material to compensate any accidental wastages.

Also Read: Weight of concrete per cubic foot – With Examples – (Including Calculator)

How many 40lb bags of Concrete in a Cubic Yard:

You know a 40 lb bag of concrete gives  8 cubic feet or 0.30 cubic yard; so you need 90 bags of 40lb for one cubic yard. The math behind it very simple, to find out the quantity of 40lb bags. As we know that in one cubic yard there are 27 cubic feet, all you need to do is to divide 27 by 0.30. This will you a value of 90, which will the number of 40lb bags needed to concrete one cubic yard.

How many 45lb bags of Concrete in a Cubic Yard:

You know a 45 lb bag of concrete gives  9 cubic feet or 0.34 cubic yard; so you need 90 bags of 40lb for one cubic yard. The math behind it very simple, to find out the quantity of 45lb bags. As we know that in one cubic yard there are 27 cubic feet, all you need to do is to divide 27 by 0.34. This will you a value of 80, which will the number of 45lb bags needed to concrete one cubic yard.

Concrete Bags in a Yard:

Bag Size	Bags/ yard
10lbs	360
20lbs	180
25lbs	144
40lbs	90
50lbs	72
55lbs	66
60lbs	60
66lbs	55
80lbs	45
90lbs	40

How many 60lb bags of Concrete in a Cubic Yard:

You know a 60 lb bag of concrete gives  12 cubic feet or 0.45 cubic yard; so you need 60 bags of 60lb for one cubic yard.  The math behind it very simple, to find out the quantity of 60lb bags. As we know that in one cubic yard there are 27 cubic feet, all you need to do is to divide 27 by 0.45. This will you a value of 60, which will the number of 60lb bags needed to concrete one cubic yard.

How many 80lb bags of Concrete in a Cubic Yard:

You know a 80 lb bag of concrete gives  16 cubic feet or 0.60 cubic yard; so you need 45 bags of 80lb for one cubic yard.  The math behind it very simple, to find out the quantity of 80lb bags. As we know that in one cubic yard there are 27 cubic feet, all you need to do is to divide 27 by 0.60. This will you a value of 45, which will the number of 80lb bags needed to concrete one cubic yard.

How many 90lb bags of Concrete in a Cubic Yard:

You know a 90 lb bag of concrete gives  18 cubic feet or 0.68 cubic yard; so you need 40 bags of 90lb for one cubic yard. The math behind it very simple, to find out the quantity of 90lb bags. As we know that in one cubic yard there are 27 cubic feet, all you need to do is to divide 27 by 0.68. This will you a value of 40, which will the number of 90lb bags needed to concrete one cubic yard.

I’ve made a cement concrete calculator that will easy help you in estimating your concrete job. Cement Concrete Calculator

I’ve also made an excel sheet to help you do all your concrete estimation work. You simply have to enter the amount of concrete you need for the job (you can use above calculator for this estimation). Afterwards, you can choose the size of the concrete bag and the calculator will tell you the number of bags you need and also how much area it will cover depending on the thickness of the slab you choose.