Feet to yards converter, divide by 3.

To convert feet to yards, divide the feet by 3. So 15 ft is 5 yd, 10 ft is 3.3333 yd and 1 ft is 0.3333 yd. A yard is exactly 3 feet, because NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.8 gives the yard as 0.9144 m and the foot as 0.3048 m, and 0.9144 ÷ 0.3048 = 3 (checked 24 Oct 2026).

How to use the converter

1. Type a length in the Feet (ft) box. The Yards (yd) box and the big result follow as you type.
2. Look at the cards under the result for the same length in other units. Choose Decimals in the side column to fix the number of places.
3. Click a row in Common values to load it. Use Copy result, Copy link, Copy table or Print chart to keep the answer, the ⇄ button to go the other way and Start again to reset.

Where the factor comes from

NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.8 lists the yard as exactly 0.9144 m, the foot as exactly 0.3048 m, the inch as exactly 0.0254 m and the statute mile as exactly 1609.344 m (checked 24 Oct 2026). Dividing the yard by the foot gives exactly 3, so no rounding enters the sum except the last digit you read.

The cubic yard trap

Concrete, soil and gravel are sold by the cubic yard, but measured in feet and inches. Dividing a volume in cubic feet by 3 is wrong, because a cubic yard is 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 cubic feet. For a slab 12 ft long, 10 ft wide and 4 inches thick, the thickness is 4 ÷ 12 = 0.3333 ft, so the volume is 12 × 10 × 0.3333 = 40 ft³. Divide by 27: 1.4815 yd³. Dividing by 3 would give 13.33, nine times too much. The concrete calculator does this sum with the units shown.

Feet to yards, common lengths

Worked examples

• A fence of 150 ft. 50 yd.
• Fabric of 15 ft. 5 yd.
• A lawn 36 ft by 24 ft. The sides are 12 yd by 8 yd. The area is 12 × 8 = 96 yd², which is 864 ft², since 1 yd² is 9 ft².
• A mile. 5,280 ft is 1,760 yd, and a mile is 1,760 yd.

A quick check in your head

Take the feet, divide by three. For 15 ft, 15 ÷ 3 = 5. For a number that does not divide cleanly, such as 10 ft, use thirds: 10 ft is 3 yd and 1 ft, which is 3 and one third yards, 3.3333. To check a long length, count in 3s or compare with 300 ft, which is 100 yd.

Write the sum as a unit chain

A unit chain shows why the sum works. Write the length, then a fraction that equals 1 with the unit you want on top: 15 ft × 1 yd / 3 ft = 5 yd. The ft on the left cancels the ft under the line, and only yd is left. You can also go through a third unit, inches, in two steps: 15 ft × 12 in / 1 ft × 1 yd / 36 in = 180 in × 1 yd / 36 in = 5 yd. Both routes give the same answer, which is a handy check when a factor looks odd. If the wrong unit is left over, the fraction is upside down.

Mixed units in one measurement

Lengths are often given in two or three units, such as 4 yd 2 ft 6 in. Convert each part to yards, then add. 4 yd stays 4 yd; 2 ft = 0.6667 yd; 6 in = 0.1667 yd. The total is 4.8333 yd. Rounded parts can drift in the last digit, so when the parts are not exact, convert the whole once instead. In feet the same length is 14.5 ft.

The imperial ladder

Read along a row: the row is one of that unit, and each column says how many of the column unit it holds. Exact values are shown in full. Long ones are rounded to five decimals.

Check by converting back

Type the number 15 in the Feet box and note the answer, 5 yd. Now press the ⇄ button, so the answer becomes the input. It should return 15 ft. If it does not, one of the boxes was read wrongly. This takes two seconds and catches a slipped decimal point.

Mistakes to avoid

The big one is the volume trap above. A smaller one: 10 ft is 3.3333 yd, which is 3 yd and 1 ft, not 3.1 yd. When you want yards and feet together, take the whole yards and keep the remainder in feet. For meters, see feet to meters.