This area converter turns a measurement in one area unit into any of 16 others, from square inches and square feet to acres, hectares and square miles. Every factor runs through the square meter, and the ones built on the inch are exact: 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m², and 1 international acre = 43,560 ft² = 4,046.8564224 m².
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How to use the area converter
- Enter the area you have, for example 1,500 for a 1,500 ft² apartment.
- Choose the unit it is in and the unit you want.
- Read the converted value. The area converter keeps full precision and rounds only the displayed number.
If you only have side lengths, multiply them first, or use the square footage calculator, which handles room dimensions. Remember that area units scale with the square of length units: 1 m is 3.28 ft, but 1 m² is 10.76 ft².
What is area?
Area measures the size of a surface. The SI unit is the square meter (m²). Hectares and acres are used for land, square feet for homes in the US, and square kilometers or square miles for regions. One acre is exactly 43,560 square feet.
Conversion formula
Every unit is stored as a multiple of the base unit, the square meter (m²). To convert:
value in target unit = value × (factor of source unit ÷ factor of target unit)
where each factor is the size of the unit in square meters.
Common area conversions
| From | To | 1 unit equals |
|---|---|---|
| square meter (m²) | square foot (ft²) | 10.76391 ft² |
| square foot (ft²) | square meter (m²) | 0.09290304 m² |
| hectare (ha) | acre (ac) | 2.471054 ac |
| acre (ac) | hectare (ha) | 0.4046856 ha |
| square kilometer (km²) | square mile (mi²) | 0.3861022 mi² |
| square mile (mi²) | square kilometer (km²) | 2.589988 km² |
| square meter (m²) | acre (ac) | 0.0002471054 ac |
| square inch (in²) | square centimeter (cm²) | 6.4516 cm² |
| square yard (yd²) | square meter (m²) | 0.8361274 m² |
| hectare (ha) | square meter (m²) | 10,000 m² |
Area converter worked example
Convert 25 hectares to acres:
- Factor of ha = 10,000 m²
- Factor of ac = 4,046.8564 m²
- 25 × 10,000 ÷ 4,046.8564 = 61.77635 ac
Area unit reference
| Unit | Symbol | Group | Equals (m²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Meter | m² | Metric | 1 |
| Square Kilometer | km² | Metric | 1,000,000 |
| Square Centimeter | cm² | Metric | 0.0001 |
| Square Millimeter | mm² | Metric | 1 × 10−6 |
| Hectare | ha | Metric | 10,000 |
| Acre (international) | ac | US/Imperial | 4,046.856422 |
| Square Foot | ft² | US/Imperial | 0.09290304 |
| Square Yard | yd² | US/Imperial | 0.83612736 |
| Square Inch | in² | US/Imperial | 0.00064516 |
| Square Mile | mi² | US/Imperial | 2,589,988.11 |
| Are | a | Metric | 100 |
| Centiare | ca | Metric | 1 |
| Rood | ro | Imperial | 1,011.714106 |
| Square Chain | ch² | Survey | 404.6856422 |
| Section (US survey) | section | Survey | 2,589,988.11 |
| Township (US survey) | township | Survey | 93,239,571.97 |
Reverse factors for each area unit
The reference table gives each unit in square meters. To go the other way, divide by that factor; the list below does the division for you.
- Square Kilometer (km²), Metric: 1 km² = 1,000,000 m², so 1 m² = 1 × 10−6 km².
- Square Centimeter (cm²), Metric: 1 cm² = 0.0001 m², so 1 m² = 10,000 cm².
- Square Millimeter (mm²), Metric: 1 mm² = 1 × 10−6 m², so 1 m² = 1,000,000 mm².
- Hectare (ha), Metric: 1 ha = 10,000 m², so 1 m² = 0.0001 ha.
- Acre (international) (ac), US/Imperial: 1 ac = 4,046.856 m², so 1 m² = 0.0002471054 ac.
- Square Foot (ft²), US/Imperial: 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m², so 1 m² = 10.76391 ft².
- Square Yard (yd²), US/Imperial: 1 yd² = 0.8361274 m², so 1 m² = 1.19599 yd².
- Square Inch (in²), US/Imperial: 1 in² = 0.00064516 m², so 1 m² = 1,550.003 in².
- Square Mile (mi²), US/Imperial: 1 mi² = 2,589,988 m², so 1 m² = 3.86102 × 10−7 mi².
- Are (a), Metric: 1 a = 100 m², so 1 m² = 0.01 a.
- Centiare (ca), Metric: 1 ca = 1 m², so 1 m² = 1 ca.
- Rood (ro), Imperial: 1 ro = 1,011.714 m², so 1 m² = 0.0009884215 ro.
- Square Chain (ch²), Survey: 1 ch² = 404.6856 m², so 1 m² = 0.002471054 ch².
- Section (US survey) (section), Survey: 1 section = 2,589,988 m², so 1 m² = 3.86102 × 10−7 section.
- Township (US survey) (township), Survey: 1 township = 9.32396 × 107 m², so 1 m² = 1.07251 × 10−8 township.
Room sizes: square feet to square meters
Floor plans in the US list square feet, while most of the world uses square meters. These are common room sizes run through the area converter:
| Room size (ft) | ft² | m² |
|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 | 100 | 9.29 |
| 10 × 12 | 120 | 11.15 |
| 12 × 15 | 180 | 16.72 |
| 15 × 20 | 300 | 27.87 |
| 20 × 25 | 500 | 46.45 |
| 30 × 40 | 1,200 | 111.48 |
A quick check: divide square feet by about 10.76 to get square meters, or multiply square meters by 10.76 for square feet.
Land: acres to hectares
One hectare is 10,000 m², a square 100 m on each side, and equals about 2.471 acres. One square mile is exactly 640 acres. The chart below, made with the area converter, covers common lot and farm sizes:
| Acres | Hectares | ft² | m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 | 0.1012 | 10,890 | 1,011.7 |
| 0.5 | 0.2023 | 21,780 | 2,023.4 |
| 1 | 0.4047 | 43,560 | 4,046.9 |
| 2 | 0.8094 | 87,120 | 8,093.7 |
| 5 | 2.0234 | 217,800 | 20,234.3 |
| 10 | 4.0469 | 435,600 | 40,468.6 |
| 40 | 16.1874 | 1,742,400 | 161,874.3 |
| 160 | 64.7497 | 6,969,600 | 647,497 |
| 640 | 258.9988 | 27,878,400 | 2,589,988.1 |
Regional land units such as the bigha, kanal or cent vary by country and even by state, so they are not part of this area converter. Check the local definition in square feet or square meters, then convert from there.
Related converters and calculators
For dimensions instead of finished areas, or for a single pair of units, these pages are a better fit than the general area converter:
- Square footage calculator: area of rooms from length and width
- Acres to square feet: with a chart
- Square feet to acres: for lot sizes
- Tile calculator: tiles needed for a floor
- Mulch calculator: cubic yards for a bed
- Volume converter: for cubic units
Sources
NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B; NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C (units of area); BIPM: SI Brochure.
Questions about this calculator
What is the SI unit of area?
The SI unit of area is the square meter (m²). The area converter stores every unit as a multiple of it.
How do I convert square feet to square meters?
To convert square feet to square meters, multiply by 0.09290304. For example, 200 ft² × 0.09290304 = 18.58 m².
How do I convert square meters to square feet?
To convert square meters to square feet, multiply by 10.7639 (or divide by 0.09290304). For example, 50 m² = 538.2 ft².
How many square feet are in an acre?
An international acre is exactly 43,560 square feet, which is about 4,046.86 m² or 0.4047 hectares. The area converter uses this international acre.
How do I convert acres to hectares?
To convert acres to hectares, multiply by 0.40468564224. For example, 10 acres = 4.047 ha.
Why does squaring matter when converting area?
The area converter handles this for you, but it helps to know why: area units are squared length units, so the length factor is squared too. Since 1 ft = 0.3048 m, 1 ft² = 0.3048² = 0.09290304 m².
Are these area conversion factors exact?
Factors based on the international inch, foot, yard and mile are exact by definition. The square mile, section and township are rounded to about 10 significant digits, following NIST SP 811.
Check the assumptions and units before relying on a result. Financial, tax and health estimates do not replace advice for your individual circumstances.
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