How Much Does a Cubic Yard of Topsoil Cost? Screened, Unscreened & Bagged

All prices are typical US ranges, as of Oct 2026.

The short answer

A cubic yard of screened topsoil costs $25–$60 in 2026 (typical US range), with most homeowners paying $30–$50. Unscreened topsoil is cheaper at $15–$30/yd, and premium compost-blended garden mixes run $45–$80/yd. Delivery adds $50–$150 per trip, and bagged topsoil from a home center costs roughly $54–$108 per yard-equivalent — so bulk is the clear winner for anything over about a cubic yard. The single biggest pricing mistake is quoting the wrong product: “topsoil” in conversation can mean $10 fill dirt or $80 garden blend, and the bill differs by nearly 10×.

Screened vs unscreened pricing

Screening — running soil through a ⅜″ to ½″ mesh to remove rocks, roots, clay clods, and construction debris — is what separates lawn soil from grading soil, and it is what you are paying for:

These bands aggregate published 2026 figures from independent cost calculators (screened $30–$55; unscreened $20–$40; blends $45–$70) and Lawn Love/Angi ($10–$50/yd bulk). Screened topsoil is the practical middle ground for most homeowners: unscreened soil under a lawn means rocks at the surface and clumps that never grade smooth, while premium blends are overkill for anything that is not a growing bed.

Watch the regional spread. Published state-by-state figures show screened topsoil listing at $30–$50 in Texas and Ohio, $40–$60 in Virginia and Michigan, and $65–$100 in New Jersey and the Bay Area — the same product, triple the price, driven by land cost and competition near the yard. This is why national ranges look wide: always anchor your budget to two local quotes, not the midpoint of a US average. Also note the label trap: a yard's “premium topsoil” may just be screened topsoil, while another yard's “garden mix” may be screened soil cut with compost — ask what is in the blend and at what ratio before comparing prices.

Bagged topsoil math

Retail topsoil bags come in two common sizes — 1.5 cubic feet and 0.75 cubic feet. The bags-per-yard math is 27 ÷ bag size:

Home-center bags typically run $2–$5 each, which puts bagged topsoil at roughly $54–$108 per yard-equivalent for the common case. Compare that to $25–$60 for bulk screened soil and the pattern is the same as gravel: bags are a 1.5–3× premium. Bags win only for projects under about a yard — a small garden bed, a couple of containers — or where a dump truck cannot reach. (Bonus honesty check: most retail “topsoil” bags are closer to unscreened quality than to premium screened soil.)

Per-ton equivalents at site densities

If your supplier quotes by the ton, convert with this site's published densities (ASTM-consistent typical loose bulk values):

Soil weight swings with moisture, so a quote per ton can drift from these conversions after rain. When comparing a per-ton quote to a per-yard quote, multiply the per-ton price by the tons-per-yard above and check whether the result lands in the $25–$60 band.

Delivery fees & minimums

Delivery runs $50–$150 per trip for a standard dump truck carrying 10–14 cubic yards (typical US range, as of Oct 2026). The trap for small projects is the minimum order: many suppliers enforce a 2–3 yard minimum or charge a $30–$75 minimum-order fee, which can push the effective price of a single yard to $100+. If your project needs less than a yard, that is the universe telling you to buy bags instead. On the other end, bigger loads improve the per-yard price — a $100 delivery fee spread over 10 yards adds just $10/yd.

A practical middle path exists between bags and a full truck: many nurseries and landscape-supply stores run a smaller trailer or dump-bed service for 2–5 yard orders at $75–$200 delivered. If your project needs 3–4 yards, one of these small-load deliveries usually beats both the bag route (too expensive per yard) and the full-size dump truck (too much fee for the volume). Call the smaller outlets, not just the big aggregate yards — they compete hardest on residential delivery, and their quotes are often all-inclusive.

Cost by project: worked examples

Material-only costs at $25–$60/yd screened. Run your exact dimensions through the topsoil calculator — the math below is length × width × depth ÷ 27, with the settlement buffer from our soil ordering guide added for the order column (topsoil settles 10–20%).

The worked case: 20 × 20 × 0.5 ft = 200 ft³ ÷ 27 = 7.407 yd³, priced at $25–$60/yd = $185–$444. Add the 15% buffer — 8.52 yards — and the order is $213–$511 before delivery. Planning sod on top of this soil? See how much topsoil for sod for depth guidance, and compare soil products in topsoil vs compost vs garden soil.

Inspecting a load before you pay

Topsoil is the material where the bill and the product disagree most often, so a two-minute inspection protects you more than any quote comparison:

• Color and texture. Good topsoil is dark brown, crumbly, and holds together loosely when squeezed. Gray or pale soil is subsoil; greasy or rainbow-sheened soil may be contaminated.
• Smell. It should smell earthy, not sour, chemical, or like a construction site. A strong petroleum or solvent smell is a walk-away signal.
• Screening. Grab a handful and look for rocks over ½ inch, roots, glass, or trash. Screened soil should be uniform; if you find debris, you were sold unscreened at screened prices.
• Moisture. Soil delivered soaking wet weighs more and compacts harder — you pay the same for less workable soil. Dry-to-damp is ideal.
• Weed seeds. Ask whether the pile has been sitting and whether it's weedy. Fresh, hot composted blends have fewer viable seeds than a year-old topsoil pile covered in weeds.

If possible, visit the yard and see the pile before ordering. A reputable supplier will show you the product without hesitation — reluctance is information. And if you are buying premium compost-blended soil, ask the blend ratio (a common mix is 70% screened topsoil / 30% compost); a “blend” that is 95% topsoil and 5% compost is just topsoil with a premium price tag.

Buying tips & common mistakes

Specify “screened” in writing. Yards sometimes sell unscreened soil as topsoil without mentioning it. Do not price-shop on per-yard alone — delivery fees and minimums decide small-order bills. Order the settlement buffer (10–20% for topsoil): a second trip's delivery fee almost always costs more than the extra soil would have. Use fill dirt for deep fills. Anything more than 6 inches of grade raise should be built up with $10–$25 fill dirt and capped with 4–6 inches of screened topsoil — see our topsoil vs fill dirt breakdown. Ask what the soil is made of. Good topsoil is dark, crumbly, and smells earthy; gray, greasy, or construction-smelling soil is subsoil sold as topsoil. Spring prices run hot — ordering fall topsoil for a spring project can save 10–20%. Do the depth math before the price math. A 20×20 ft lawn at 6 inches needs 7.407 yd³, but at 4 inches it needs only 4.938 — $62–$148 less. Sod needs 3–4 inches of prepared soil, seed needs 2–3: over-ordering depth is the most common way homeowners buy a yard they did not need.

Finally, remember that topsoil is sold by volume but graded by eye: there is no bag label or spec sheet on a dump-truck load. The inspection habits above — color, smell, screening, moisture — are your quality control. Two minutes at the pile routinely saves more money than two hours of price shopping, because the cheapest quote on bad soil is the most expensive mistake on this page.