How area units relate to each other
Area measures a flat surface, and every area unit is really a length unit squared. A square meter is a square one meter on each side. Because the sides multiply, area units scale faster than length units: one kilometer is 1,000 meters, but one square kilometer is 1,000,000 square meters.
Land and building measurements mix several systems. Metric uses square meters, square kilometers and hectares (a hectare is 10,000 square meters). Imperial and US customary use square feet, square yards and acres. Property listings, farm records, and building plans often switch between them, which is where conversion errors creep in.
This converter works by turning your number into square meters first, then dividing by the target unit's size in square meters. That is why any unit can be converted to any other in a single step.
When you need to convert area
Typical cases include comparing a house listed in square feet with one listed in square meters, checking how many acres a plot of a given hectare size covers, or estimating flooring and paint quantities when a supplier quotes in a different unit than your floor plan.
Gardeners and farmers also meet this often. Seed and fertilizer rates are commonly printed per hectare or per acre, while your own plot may be measured in square meters. Converting first lets you scale the rate to the real size of your plot.
It also helps when reading maps and reports. A park described as 25 hectares or a lot described as 0.4 acres is easier to picture once it is in a unit you use every day.
How to convert area with this tool
- Type the amount into the number box under From. It starts at 1.
- Pick the unit you have in the From drop-down. The choices are Sq. Meters, Sq. Kilometers, Sq. Feet, Sq. Yards, Acres and Hectares.
- Pick the unit you want in the To drop-down, using the same six choices.
- Read the answer in the To box. It updates as you type or change either unit, so there is no convert button.
By default the tool starts on Sq. Meters to Sq. Kilometers. The result is rounded to six decimal places, which is why very small results can appear as 0. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Factors used and tips for accurate results
The tool uses these sizes in square meters: 1 sq. kilometer is 1,000,000; 1 sq. foot is 0.092903; 1 sq. yard is 0.836127; 1 acre is 4046.86; and 1 hectare is 10,000. Worked checks: 1 acre converts to 4046.86 square meters, and 100 square meters converts to about 1076.39 square feet.
Square feet and square yards are close but not interchangeable. One square yard is nine square feet, so mixing them up changes a result by a factor of nine. Also remember that you cannot convert area with a length converter. If you have a length and width in feet, multiply them first to get square feet, then convert. The Length Converter is useful for converting each side before you multiply.
Factors are given to a limited number of digits, so very large surveys needing legal precision should use official figures.