On this page
- How to convert acres to square feet
- How to convert square feet to acres
- Acres to square feet conversion table
- Square feet to acres conversion table
- Why an acre is 43,560 square feet
- Common lot sizes in acres and square feet
- Square footage of a house vs acres of land
- Acres in other area units
- Converting acres to square feet in one step
- Frequently asked questions
How to convert acres to square feet
Multiply the number of acres by 43,560 to get square feet. The factor is exact: one acre is defined as 43,560 square feet of area.
Acres to square feet examples
- 0.25 acres × 43,560 = 10,890 sq ft.
- 2.5 acres × 43,560 = 108,900 sq ft.
- 10 acres × 43,560 = 435,600 sq ft.
The converter above does the multiplication, and shows the same area in square yards, square meters, hectares and square miles. Use "Swap units" to go the other way.
How to convert square feet to acres
Divide the square feet by 43,560. A 7,500 sq ft city lot is 7,500 ÷ 43,560 = 0.17 acres; a 100,000 sq ft parcel is 2.30 acres. Keep four decimals for small lots, since 0.1 acre is already 4,356 sq ft.
Acres to square feet conversion table
Exact values for common land sizes, from a tenth of an acre to 100 acres.
| Acres | Square feet |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 4,356 |
| 0.2 | 8,712 |
| 0.25 | 10,890 |
| 0.33 | 14,375 |
| 0.5 | 21,780 |
| 0.75 | 32,670 |
| 1 | 43,560 |
| 1.5 | 65,340 |
| 2 | 87,120 |
| 2.5 | 108,900 |
| 3 | 130,680 |
| 5 | 217,800 |
| 10 | 435,600 |
| 20 | 871,200 |
| 40 | 1,742,400 |
| 100 | 4,356,000 |
Square feet to acres conversion table
Common lot and parcel sizes in square feet, converted to acres.
| Square feet | Acres |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | 0.0230 |
| 2,500 | 0.0574 |
| 5,000 | 0.1148 |
| 7,500 | 0.1722 |
| 8,000 | 0.1837 |
| 10,000 | 0.2296 |
| 10,890 | 0.2500 |
| 15,000 | 0.3444 |
| 20,000 | 0.4591 |
| 21,780 | 0.5000 |
| 43,560 | 1.0000 |
| 100,000 | 2.2957 |
| 1,000,000 | 22.9568 |
Why an acre is 43,560 square feet
The acre is a unit of area in the US customary and imperial systems. It was defined as a strip of land one chain wide and one furlong long: 66 ft × 660 ft = 43,560 square feet, roughly the land a team of oxen could plow in a day.
The square foot is the area of a square one foot on each side. Since 1959 the international foot has been exactly 0.3048 meters, so one acre is exactly 4,046.8564224 square meters. NIST Handbook 44 lists the acre as 43,560 square feet, or 4,840 square yards.
An acre has no fixed shape or length. It can be a square about 208.7 ft on each side, a strip 66 × 660 ft, or any outline that encloses 43,560 square feet. In the United States, land is still measured and sold by the acre, while builders measure houses and rooms in square feet.
Old surveys and the survey foot
Some older US surveys used the US survey foot, about 2 parts per million longer than the international foot. NIST deprecated it from January 1, 2023. For a house lot the difference is a fraction of a square foot.
Common lot sizes in acres and square feet
| Lot | Square feet | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Small city lot, 50 × 100 ft | 5,000 | 0.11 |
| Typical suburban lot, 75 × 100 ft | 7,500 | 0.17 |
| Quarter acre | 10,890 | 0.25 |
| Half acre | 21,780 | 0.50 |
| Football field with end zones | 57,600 | 1.32 |
| One acre | 43,560 | 1.00 |
Land listings use both units: lots under an acre are often listed in square feet, larger parcels in acres. Convert both to the same unit before you compare prices.
Measuring the land yourself? Get acres straight from the sides of the parcel, any shape.
Acreage calculatorSquare footage of a house vs acres of land
The square footage of a house is its floor area; the acreage of a property is the land. A 2,000 sq ft house on a 0.25 acre lot covers the ground with its footprint only, not its total floor area, since a second story sits on top of the first.
To see how much of a lot is built on, use the lot size to acres calculator, which adds lot coverage.
Acres in other area units
- 1 acre = 4,840 square yards = 4,046.86 square meters.
- 1 acre = 0.4047 hectares; 1 hectare = 2.471 acres (see the hectares to acres converter).
- 640 acres = 1 square mile = 27,878,400 square feet.
- 1 square foot = 144 square inches = 0.0929 square meters.
Converting acres to square feet in one step
Multiply acres by 43,560 to convert acres to square feet, divide square feet by 43,560 for acres, and use the converter above for every other land unit at once. For the acreage of a real parcel from its sides, use the acreage calculator and download the PDF report.
Frequently asked questions
How many square feet is 1 acre?
1 acre is exactly 43,560 square feet, the definition in NIST Handbook 44. It is also 4,840 square yards and about 4,047 square meters.
How do I convert square feet to acres?
Divide the square feet by 43,560. A 10,000 sq ft lot is 10,000 ÷ 43,560 = 0.23 acres, and a 1,000,000 sq ft parcel is 22.96 acres.
How many square feet is half an acre?
Half an acre is 21,780 square feet, a quarter acre is 10,890 square feet, and a third of an acre is 14,520 square feet.
Is a football field an acre?
No, it is larger. An American football field is 360 × 160 feet with both end zones: 57,600 sq ft, or about 1.32 acres. Between the goal lines it is 48,000 sq ft, about 1.1 acres.
How many acres is 5,000 square feet?
5,000 ÷ 43,560 = 0.115 acres, a little more than a tenth of an acre. A typical city lot of 7,500 sq ft is 0.17 acres.
Why is an acre 43,560 square feet?
The acre was defined as a strip one chain (66 ft) wide and one furlong (660 ft) long, roughly what a team of oxen could plow in a day. 66 × 660 = 43,560 square feet.
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