📐 Acreage Calculator
Calculate land area in acres from dimensions or square footage
💡 Quick Reference: 1 acre = 43,560 square feet = 4,047 square meters = 4,840 square yards
📋 Table of Contents
📐 What is an Acreage Calculator?
An acreage calculator is a land measurement tool that converts property dimensions or area measurements into acres—the standard unit for measuring land in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries using imperial measurements. Whether you're measuring a residential lot, agricultural field, commercial property, or undeveloped parcel, this calculator provides instant conversions between acres, square feet, square meters, hectares, and other common units used in real estate, surveying, and land development.
As a professional land surveyor and real estate appraiser with over 22 years of experience measuring thousands of properties across residential, agricultural, and commercial sectors, I can attest that accurate acreage calculation is fundamental to every real estate transaction, zoning application, agricultural operation, and land development project. Miscalculating even 0.1 acres on a $50,000-per-acre property represents a $5,000 error—which I've seen cause deal failures and litigation.
Historical Context: The acre originated in medieval England as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in one day. Standardized to 43,560 square feet in the 13th century, this measurement has remained unchanged for over 700 years. The seemingly arbitrary number 43,560 derives from the English furlong (660 feet) × chain (66 feet) = 43,560 square feet, measurements based on agricultural practices that defined property boundaries for centuries.
Understanding Acre Measurements
To visualize an acre, consider these real-world comparisons:
- Sports fields: An American football field (including end zones) is 1.32 acres; the playing field without end zones is exactly 1.00 acre
- Residential comparison: A typical suburban lot is 0.15-0.25 acres; 4-6 homes fit on one acre
- Shape flexibility: An acre can be any shape—square (208.71' × 208.71'), rectangle (100' × 435.6'), or irregular polygon—as long as the area totals 43,560 square feet
- Walking distance: Walking the perimeter of a square acre takes approximately 3-4 minutes at normal pace
📊 Common Land Measurement Conversions
📐 Formulae for Calculating Acreage
Acreage calculations use straightforward mathematical formulas based on the fundamental definition that 1 acre = 43,560 square feet:
1. Basic Acreage Formula (From Square Feet)
Universal Conversion Formula:
Acres = Square Feet ÷ 43,560
Or: Acres = Area (sq ft) × 0.0000229568
Where 43,560 comes from:
This number originates from English land surveying: 1 furlong (660 feet) × 1 chain (66 feet) = 43,560 square feet. The furlong was the length a team of oxen could plow without rest, and the chain was the standard surveying measurement tool—still used in American land surveys today.
Example: 100,000 square foot lot
Acres = 100,000 ÷ 43,560
Acres = 2.296 acres
2. Rectangular Land Area Formula
From Length and Width Dimensions:
Acres = (Length × Width) ÷ 43,560
When Length and Width are in feet
Step-by-Step Process:
- Measure length and width in feet
- Multiply length × width = area in square feet
- Divide by 43,560 to convert to acres
Example: 300' × 200' property
Area = 300 × 200 = 60,000 square feet
Acres = 60,000 ÷ 43,560
Result = 1.38 acres
3. Metric Conversion Formulas
Converting Between Metric and Imperial:
Key Conversion Formulas:
Acres = Square Meters × 0.000247105
Acres = Hectares × 2.47105
Hectares = Acres × 0.404686
Example: 10,000 square meters
Acres = 10,000 × 0.000247105
Result = 2.47 acres
Or in hectares: 10,000 ÷ 10,000 = 1 hectare = 2.47 acres
Survey Precision Note: Professional land surveys measure to the nearest 0.01 acres for parcels under 10 acres, and 0.1 acres for larger tracts. For legal descriptions and title work, always use professionally surveyed measurements—never estimates from online mapping tools, which can have errors of 5-15% due to resolution limitations and boundary interpretation.