Area Converter

How the converter works

Area units are squares of length units, so their factors are the squares of the length factors. A foot is exactly 0.3048 m, so a square foot is exactly 0.3048² = 0.09290304 m². A square inch is 0.0254² = 0.00064516 m², and a square yard 0.9144² = 0.83612736 m². The acre is defined as 43,560 square feet (one furlong by one chain), which makes it exactly 4,046.8564224 m², and a square mile is 640 acres. A hectare is a 100 m × 100 m square, 10,000 m².

result = value × (m² per source unit) ÷ (m² per target unit)
side of an equal square = √(area in m²)

Worked examples

Example 1: a 1,500 sq ft apartment

1,500 × 0.09290304 = 139.35456 m², about 139 m².

Example 2: a 2-hectare field in acres

20,000 m² ÷ 4,046.8564224 = 4.942108 acres. A useful rule: a hectare is about 2.47 acres.

Example 3: a 12 ft × 15 ft room

12 × 15 = 180 sq ft. Converted: 180 × 0.09290304 = 16.722547 m². Multiply the lengths first, then convert the area — converting each side and multiplying gives the same answer, but rounding the sides first introduces error.

Example 4: 100 square miles in square kilometres

100 × 2.589988110336 = 258.998811 km².

How to read the result

The headline shows the area in the unit you chose. The formula line gives the conversion multiplier, and the table lists the area in all ten units with the target highlighted. Beneath it, the side of an equivalent square is shown in metres and feet: an acre, for instance, is a square about 63.6 m (208.7 ft) on each side, which is easier to picture than 43,560 square feet.

The square-unit trap

A metre is about 3.28 feet, but a square metre is about 10.76 square feet, because both dimensions are scaled. Applying a length factor to an area — multiplying square metres by 3.28 — undercounts by a factor of more than three. The same applies to cubic units: a cubic metre is about 35.3 cubic feet. Whenever units carry a "square" or a ², make sure the conversion factor carries it too.

Common uses

Area conversions show up in real estate listings and floor plans (square feet in the US, square metres almost everywhere else), flooring, tiling, carpet, paint and turf estimates, land and farm sizes in acres or hectares, garden and allotment plots, solar-panel and roof areas, and geography where countries and lakes are compared in square miles or square kilometres. When buying materials, add a waste allowance — often 5 to 10% for tiles and flooring — and the percentage increase calculator will add it in one step.

Limits

Some historical and regional land measures share names with modern units but differ in size, such as old Scottish and Irish acres, and the US survey acre based on the survey foot, which is slightly larger than the international acre used here. The converter works with flat (planar) area; land on a slope or the surface of a sphere needs geometry first. For lengths and volumes, use the length converter or the volume converter.

Estimating materials from an area

Most building and garden products are sold by area coverage, so the converted figure feeds straight into a shopping list. Divide the area by the coverage per unit and round up: a 16.72 m² room tiled with 0.36 m² boxes needs 46.4, so 47 boxes, plus waste. Paint is usually quoted in square metres per litre or square feet per gallon, and the coverage figure assumes one coat on a smooth surface, so double it for two coats and allow more for rough or porous walls. Turf, flooring and insulation follow the same pattern. Always measure each wall or section separately, subtract large openings such as doors and windows, and keep all measurements in one unit until the final conversion.

Picturing large areas

Large areas are hard to imagine, so comparisons help. A tennis court, including the run-off area, is roughly 670 m². An American football field between the goal lines is 48,000 sq ft, about 1.1 acres, and a full-size football (soccer) pitch is commonly around 0.7 hectares. A square kilometre is 100 hectares or about 247 acres, and a square mile holds 640 acres. The side length that the converter shows under each result — the edge of a square with the same area — is often the easiest way to sense how big a plot really is.