How to measure an acre of land in feet

What is the size of an acre?

The acre was originally an English unit of measurement that described the area of land that a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. It originally differed in size from one area to the next. In the 1900s it was fixed at 4,840 square yards (or 4,047 square meters). It is still used today to describe plots of land. Because an acre is a unit of area, rather than length, it would be incorrect to say "square acre" the way one might say "square mile".

In comparison to other traditional measurements, there are two and a half acres in a hectare. Or, in terms of miles, there are 640 acres in a square mile.

Does it have to be a rectangle?

The original definition of an acre was a furlong by a chain, a definition used by surveyors to measure plots. However, the area one derives from that measurement is an acre, even if it's contained within a different shape. 1 furlong is equal to 10 chains, or 660 feet. If you do the math, this means an acre is 10 square chains, or 43,560 square feet.

Because an acre is a unit of area, not length, it is defined in square feet. An acre plot can be of any shape-a rectangle, a triangle, a circle, or even a star-so long as its area is exactly 43,560 square feet.

To find the linear measurements of other rectangular acres, just divide 43,560 by the number of feet you want on one side. A square-shaped acre would then be about 208.7 by 208.7 feet (because 208.7 x 208.7 = ~43,560). An acre 100 feet wide would be 435.6 feet long (100 x 435.6 = 43,560) and an acre 1 foot wide would be 43,560 feet long.

How many acres is a football field?

An acre of land is often compared to a football field (that is to say, an American football field, not a football pitch). In reality, an acre equals about 76% of a football field, when you consider both end zones.

An NFL football field (including the two end zones) is 360 feet long and 160 feet wide for a total of 57,600 square feet. When you take away the two 30-foot-long end zones at each end, the field is 48,000 square feet, making an acre about 91% of the field.

If you are interested in more information check out our table of Standard Measurements in Sports.

  • Miscellaneous Units of Measure

Do you need to convert square feet to acres? Here’s a tool to help you make the square feet to acres conversion quickly and easily (just scroll down to the orange button if you’re in a big hurry), plus we’ve included some other related information that you may find interesting.

Square Feet to Acres Conversion

The more your work in real estate the more you see that each state or local market has a different way of doing things.  One of those differences is the unit of measurement that is most commonly used in each market for describing the area of a lot or parcel of land.

In the United States most people typically refer to land area in either square feet (ft²) or acres. Despite that, you still may find that some places use entirely different units of measurement for surveys and land, and you even may see that both square feet and acres are used in the same local market too (for example, square feet for smaller parcels and acres for larger parcels).

How to measure an acre of land in feet

It’s not that either is right or wrong, but it helps to understand how to convert square feet to acres (or convert acres to square feet) — whether you are buying, selling or just owning land. And while a surveyor typically is the source of the original measurements, the good news is that you don’t have to be a surveyor to convert between square feet and acres.

In fact, we have an easy-to-use square feet conversion calculator available on LotNetwork.com so you can quickly determine the size of your land in acres when you have the square feet value. For system-wide consistency we use Acres as the baseline unit of measurement for area on LotNetwork.com for describing lots and land (in listings, searches, etc.), so you can use this simple tool to convert your square feet to acres in a flash.  The conversion calculator is conveniently displayed at the bottom of each of our Resources pages, like:

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How to measure an acre of land in feet

You can go do your conversion now if you wish, but we also will provide a little background about the calculations in the square feet conversion tool.

43,560 square feet = 1 acre

The math is straight-forward for converting square feet to acres — just divide your property’s square footage area measurement by 43,560.  The result is the land area in acres.

For example, if you have a 17,200 sf lot and need to know the acreage:

17,200 sf / 43,560 = .39 acres

As noted above, our conversion tool is focused on helping you convert square feet to acres (not converting acres to square feet) because we use Acres as the primary unit of measurement for the area or size of lots and land on LotNetwork.com. Here’s what this calculation looks like on the LotNetwork.com square feet to acres conversion tool:

How to measure an acre of land in feet

LotNetwork offers this SF to Acre Conversion Tool and Other Calculators

How to measure an acre of land in feet
And converting acres to square feet is mathematically just the opposite.   Multiply your property’s acre measurement by 43,560.  The result is the land size in square feet.

For example, if you have a .75 acre lot and need to know the square footage:

.75 acres x 43,560 = 32,670 ft²

What is an Acre anyway?

A little history and backstory on the origin of the word “Acre”. The term acre goes back to the Middle Ages and is derived from farming — it essentially means the amount of land that can be plowed by a yoke of oxen in one day.

How to measure an acre of land in feet

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anthropic_Farm_Units.png [Public Domain]

The measurement of an “acre” historically varied based on local customs and measurements, but today an acre is uniformly equivalent to:

  • 66 feet × 660 feet (43,560 square feet)
  • 10 square chains (1 chain = 66 feet = 22 yards = 4 rods = 100 links)
  • Approximately 208.71 feet × 208.71 feet (a square)
  • 4,840 square yards
  • 43,560 square feet
  • 160 perches (A perch is equal to a square rod (1 square rod is 0.00625 acre))
  • 4 roods
  • A furlong by a chain (furlong 220 yards, chain 22 yards)
  • 40 rods by 4 rods = 160 rods2
  • 1⁄640 (0.0015625) square mile (1 square mile is equal to 640 acres)

A good way to visualize an acre is to think of a 100 yard American Football field.  An acre is the area that is approximately the width and 90.75% of the length of the field (excluding endzones). So you can take about 10 yards off the length of the in-bounds playing area of a football field to get a quick visual estimate of an acre.

How to measure an acre of land in feet

Use a football field to help you visualize the size of an acre

Here’s another nice visual that uses a football field — plus some other comparisons — to demonstrate the size of an acre.

How to measure an acre of land in feet

What equals an acre? Infographic by Washington Grown (Source: http://www.wagrown.com/what-does-an-acre-look-like/)

Related Resources:

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Check out our other resource pages for tips and information on the following topics:

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How to measure an acre of land in feet

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What is the length and width of 1 acre?

1 acre is approximately 208.71 feet × 208.71 feet (a square) 4,840 square yards. 43,560 square feet.

Is 200 ft by 200 ft an acre?

200 feet multiplying by 200 feet equal to 40,000 sq ft. Therefore, 40,000 sq ft divide by 43,560 sq ft equal to 0.92 acres approximately.

How do you measure acres into feet?

43,560 square feet = 1 acre The math is straight-forward for converting square feet to acres — just divide your property's square footage area measurement by 43,560. The result is the land area in acres.

What is the length of 1 acre?

The most standard shape for an acre is one furlong by one chain, or 660 feet by 66 feet. To find the linear measurements of other rectangular acres, just divide 43,560 by the number of feet you want on one side. A square-shaped acre would then be about 208.7 by 208.7 feet (because 208.7 x 208.7 = ~43,560).