Four numbers and one look at the pile decide whether a
delivery goes well. None of them are on a price list.
"Topsoil" is not a graded standard
No specification governs the word in most markets, so one yard's
topsoil is screened loam and another's is whatever came off a site.
That is why prices differ so much, and why the same order can
arrive as two different materials.
Ask two things: what screen it went through, and
where the soil came from. A yard that knows both
is a yard that pays attention.
How to judge a pile →
What it should cost
Bulk topsoil runs about $20–$80 a cubic yard
depending on the region, with most of the country in the $30–$60
band. Screened costs more than unscreened; a garden or raised-bed
blend more again.
Then two fees decide the bill more than the material does: the
delivery charge to your ZIP, and the
minimum load — commonly three yards, whether you
need three or not.
Price bands by region →
How much you need
One cubic yard covers 324 square feet an inch deep,
or 81 square feet at four inches — the right depth for a new lawn
over decent ground. Six inches if the subsoil is poor.
Delivered soil settles 15–20%, so order for the finished depth
rather than the spread depth, or you end up a load short.
Work out your volume →
When bulk is the wrong answer
Under about a cubic yard, bagged is usually cheaper, because the
delivery fee and the three-yard minimum swamp the saving on
material. The break-even sits between one and two yards.
Bags also go where a truck cannot — apartments, shared drives, and
anywhere there is nowhere to put a pile.
The break-even, with the arithmetic →