Area converter

How to convert area units

Square the length factor. A foot is exactly 0.3048 m (NIST SP 811, Appendix B), so 1 ft² = 0.3048 × 0.3048 = 0.09290304 m², and 1,000 ft² = 92.90304 m². For any two area units, multiply by the size of the first unit in square meters, then divide by the size of the second.

Why a length factor gives the wrong area

A square foot is a square 0.3048 m on each side, so its area is 0.3048 m × 0.3048 m. Both sides change when you switch units, which is why the factor appears twice.

Multiplying 1,000 ft² by 0.3048 instead gives 304.8, about 3.28 times the correct 92.90304 m². Any unit pair fails the same way: an area always needs the length factor squared.

Square yards to square meters

One yard is 0.9144 m, so 1 yd² = 0.9144² = 0.83612736 m². Multiply square yards by 0.83612736: 20 yd² of carpet is 16.7225472 m². To go back, divide by the same number; one square meter is about 1.19599 yd².

Square inches to square feet

A square foot is 12 in × 12 in, so it holds 144 in². Divide square inches by 144: a 30 in × 60 in desktop covers 1,800 in², which is 12.5 ft². In metric terms, one square inch is exactly 6.4516 cm².

Area units in square meters

Each row gives one unit in square meters, rounded to at most six decimal places. Inch, foot, yard and mile units use the international foot of exactly 0.3048 m.

A hectare is a 100 m square, 10,000 m², and an are is 100 m². An acre is 43,560 ft², exactly 4,046.8564224 m², and a square mile holds 640 acres. One hectare is about 2.47105381467 acres.

Regional land units

The converter uses these sizes for South Asian land units:

• Cent: 1/100 acre, or 435.6 ft².
• Guntha: 1/40 acre, or 1,089 ft².
• Ground: 2,400 ft².
• Marla and kanal: a marla of 272.25 ft², and a kanal of 20 marla, or 5,445 ft².
• Bigha: 27,225 ft², a 165 ft square. The bigha has no single size and changes between districts, so treat any bigha result as approximate.

The same unit name can mean a different area in another region. Check the definition in the relevant land record before relying on a converted figure for a sale or a legal document.

Common mistakes

• Shifting the decimal by a length step. 1 m is 100 cm, but 1 m² is 100 × 100 = 10,000 cm². Likewise 1 km² is 1,000,000 m².
• Rounding the sides before multiplying. A 3.6 m × 4.2 m room is 15.12 m², about 162.75 ft². Rounding its sides to 12 ft × 14 ft first gives 168 ft², 3% too much.
• Comparing listings that measure different areas. Two converted figures compare fairly only when both measure the same thing: interior floor space in both, for example, or the whole footprint in both.

Related tools

If you know a room's length and width but not its area, multiply them first with the area and perimeter calculator. For a single direction with its own chart, use square feet to square meters or acres to hectares.