Concrete Weight Calculator
Find how much concrete weighs — for hauling, demolition, lifting or load planning. Enter a slab, block, column or a known volume, pick the concrete type, and get the weight in pounds, tons and kilograms, the number of truck or trailer loads and an optional hauling cost — with by-type and per-unit tables and a downloadable PDF.
| Type | Density | Weight | Tons | Loads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter a size to compare types | ||||
| Unit | Pounds | Kilograms | Short tons |
|---|
How to use the concrete weight calculator
Four quick steps turn your slab, column, or known volume into the weight in pounds, tons, and kilograms — plus truck loads and an optional hauling cost, with by-type and per-unit tables and a downloadable report.
Enter the size
Pick a slab or block, a cylinder or column, or enter a known volume like cubic yards.
Pick the concrete type
Normal, reinforced, lightweight, insulating, heavyweight, or your own custom density.
Set the vehicle
Choose a payload so the calculator works out the number of truck or trailer loads.
Read results & save a PDF
Get pounds, tons, kilograms, loads, and an optional cost — then download a report.
How the weight is calculated
Weight is just volume times density; the rest is converting units and working out loads. Here is the exact math the calculator runs.
Worked example — 10 × 10 ft slab, 4 in thick, normal concrete, half-ton pickup
Volume: 10 × 10 × (4/12) ≈ 33.3 ft³ (1.23 yd³)
Weight: 33.3 × 145 ≈ 4,833 lb (2.42 tons, ~2,192 kg)
Loads: ceil(4,833 / 1,500) = 4 trips in a half-ton pickup
≈ 4,833 lb (2.42 tons) — about 4 pickup loads. Check your door-sticker payload before hauling.
Concrete weight reference charts
Handy lookups for concrete densities, slab weight by thickness, and vehicle payloads. Real weight varies with aggregate, moisture, and steel.
| Type | Density | Per cubic yard |
|---|---|---|
| Insulating | 60 lb/ft³ | ~1,620 lb |
| Lightweight | 115 lb/ft³ | ~3,105 lb |
| Normal (plain) | 145 lb/ft³ | ~3,915 lb |
| Reinforced | 150 lb/ft³ | ~4,050 lb |
| Heavyweight | 225 lb/ft³ | ~6,075 lb |
Normal concrete with gravel is the baseline; rebar nudges it up, porous aggregates bring it down.
| Thickness | Per sq ft | Per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| 4 in | ~48 lb | ~4,800 lb |
| 5 in | ~60 lb | ~6,000 lb |
| 6 in | ~73 lb | ~7,300 lb |
| 8 in | ~97 lb | ~9,700 lb |
Per sq ft = thickness in feet × 145. Handy for dead load or for weighing a slab you’ll break up.
| Vehicle | Payload | Concrete (normal) |
|---|---|---|
| Half-ton pickup | ~1,500 lb | ~0.4 yd³ |
| ¾-ton pickup | ~2,500 lb | ~0.6 yd³ |
| 1-ton pickup | ~3,500 lb | ~0.9 yd³ |
| Dump trailer | ~7,000 lb | ~1.8 yd³ |
Use the payload on your door-jamb sticker, not the “ton” nickname — it’s often lower. Never overload.
Everything the calculator works out
A size and a concrete type give you the weight every way you need it — pounds, tons, kilograms — plus loads, a type comparison, and per-unit figures.
Key figures behind the weight
Built for hauling & load planning
From a demo haul-away to a structural dead-load check, the same calculator turns a size into a weight you can plan around.
Breaking up a slab or patio and needs to know how many truck or trailer loads it will take.
- Enter the slab size
- Pick your vehicle
- Read loads & weight
Needs tonnage and a disposal cost for hauling broken concrete to a landfill or recycler.
- Add a price per ton
- Read tons & cost
- Mind the bed volume too
Wants the weight of a slab or column for a dead-load check or a lift plan.
- Pick the concrete type
- Read lb per sq ft
- Compare densities
7 things to know about concrete weight
A few details keep a weight estimate accurate and the haul safe.
Concrete weight calculator FAQ
The weight, density, and hauling questions people ask most about concrete.
Normal-weight concrete weighs about 145 pounds per cubic foot, which works out to roughly 3,915 pounds — nearly two short tons — per cubic yard. Reinforced concrete with rebar or mesh is a little heavier, around 150 pounds per cubic foot.
To find a piece’s weight, work out its volume and multiply by the density. A 10 by 10 foot slab 4 inches thick is about 33 cubic feet, which at 145 pounds per cubic foot weighs roughly 4,800 pounds.
The exact weight varies with the aggregate, how much water is in the mix, and how much steel it contains, but 145 to 150 pounds per cubic foot is the standard figure for ordinary structural concrete.
Weight equals volume times density. First find the volume: length times width times thickness for a slab, or pi over 4 times the diameter squared times the height for a column. Then multiply by the concrete’s unit weight — about 145 pounds per cubic foot for normal concrete.
For example, a 12-inch diameter column 4 feet tall has a volume of about 3.14 cubic feet, so it weighs about 3.14 times 145, or roughly 455 pounds.
Keep your units consistent — convert everything to feet first — then the volume comes out in cubic feet and multiplying by pounds per cubic foot gives the weight in pounds. Divide by 2,000 for short tons or by 27 first for cubic yards.
A cubic yard of normal-weight concrete weighs about 3,900 to 4,000 pounds, or roughly 2 short tons. The common figure is around 3,915 pounds, based on 145 pounds per cubic foot and 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard.
Reinforced concrete is a bit more at about 4,050 pounds per cubic yard, and lightweight concrete is considerably less — often 3,000 to 3,200 pounds per cubic yard or lower, depending on the mix.
This matters for delivery and hauling: a single cubic yard is already close to or over the payload of a half-ton pickup, so even small volumes often need a trailer or multiple trips.
A 4-inch-thick slab of normal concrete weighs about 48 to 50 pounds per square foot. That comes from the thickness in feet (4 inches is one-third of a foot) times the density of 145 pounds per cubic foot, which is about 48.3 pounds per square foot.
So a 100-square-foot patio 4 inches thick weighs roughly 4,800 to 5,000 pounds. A 6-inch slab is about 72 pounds per square foot, and an 8-inch slab about 97.
This per-square-foot figure is handy for quickly estimating the dead load a slab adds to a structure, or the weight of a slab you are planning to break up and haul away.
Match the load to your vehicle’s payload rating, not its “ton” nickname. A half-ton pickup typically has a payload around 1,500 pounds, a three-quarter-ton around 2,500, and a one-ton around 3,500 — and the real number is on the door-jamb sticker, often lower than people expect.
Since a cubic yard of concrete weighs nearly two tons, even a half-full load of broken concrete can exceed a half-ton truck’s payload. Overloading is dangerous and illegal: it hurts braking, steering and tires.
Also remember broken concrete is bulky — air gaps mean it takes up more space than solid concrete — so a load may fill the bed before it reaches the weight limit. Work out both the weight and the volume.
Yes, slightly. Steel is much denser than concrete, so adding rebar or wire mesh raises the overall unit weight. Plain concrete is taken as about 145 pounds per cubic foot, while reinforced concrete is usually estimated at about 150 pounds per cubic foot.
The exact increase depends on how much steel is in the section — a lightly reinforced slab is barely heavier than plain concrete, while a heavily reinforced beam or column is more.
For most estimating, using 150 pounds per cubic foot for reinforced concrete and 145 for plain is accurate enough. The difference matters most for structural dead-load calculations and for large volumes where a few percent adds up.
The difference is the aggregate and therefore the density. Normal concrete uses sand and gravel or crushed stone and weighs about 145 pounds per cubic foot. Lightweight concrete uses porous aggregates such as expanded shale, clay or slate and typically weighs 90 to 115 pounds per cubic foot; insulating foam concretes can be far lighter still.
Lightweight concrete reduces dead load on a structure and improves insulation, which is why it is used for upper floor slabs, roof decks and toppings. The trade-off is usually lower strength and higher cost per yard.
Heavyweight concrete goes the other way, using dense aggregates like magnetite or barite to reach 200-plus pounds per cubic foot for radiation shielding and ballast.
Fresh, wet concrete weighs slightly more than fully cured concrete because it still holds all its mixing water. As concrete cures and some of that water is consumed by the chemical reaction or evaporates, it loses a small amount of weight — typically a few pounds per cubic foot.
For practical purposes the difference is small, and most weight figures, including the 145 pounds per cubic foot used here, are close enough for both fresh and cured normal concrete.
Where it can matter is formwork and shoring during a pour, which must carry the heavier wet weight plus the live load of workers and equipment, and when estimating the load a ready-mix truck is carrying.
Estimate only — check before you haul or lift. This calculator finds concrete weight as volume × density, in US units, using typical unit weights (normal ≈ 145 lb/ft³, reinforced ≈ 150, lightweight ≈ 115, and so on). Real weight varies with the aggregate, moisture content, and amount of steel, and fresh concrete weighs a little more than cured. The load count is based on the vehicle payload you enter. Never exceed your vehicle’s rated payload or your lifting equipment’s rated capacity — overloading is dangerous and illegal, and broken concrete may fill the bed before it reaches the weight limit. For planning purposes only.