Area Converter
Convert square feet, meters, acres, hectares—26 units total. Room calculator included.
Quick Reference - Popular Conversions
| From | To | Multiply By | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Feet | Square Meters | 0.092903 | 1000 ft² = 92.9 m² |
| Square Meters | Square Feet | 10.7639 | 100 m² = 1,076.4 ft² |
| Acres | Hectares | 0.404686 | 5 ac = 2.02 ha |
| Hectares | Acres | 2.47105 | 2 ha = 4.94 ac |
| Square Miles | Square Kilometers | 2.58999 | 1 mi² = 2.59 km² |
| Acres | Square Feet | 43,560 | 1 ac = 43,560 ft² |
| Hectares | Square Meters | 10,000 | 1 ha = 10,000 m² |
| Square Yards | Square Meters | 0.836127 | 100 yd² = 83.6 m² |
Mental Math Shortcuts
- 1 m² ≈ 10.76 ft² (round to 11)
- 1 ft² ≈ 0.093 m² (about 1/11 m²)
- 1 acre ≈ 4,000 m² (exact: 4,047)
- 1 hectare ≈ 2.5 acres (exact: 2.471)
- 10 ft² ≈ 1 m² (ballpark)
- 100 m² ≈ 1,000 ft² (ballpark)
How to Use This Converter
Three modes: convert between two units, see all units at once, or calculate area from room dimensions.
Metric Area Units
The square meter is the base. Hectare (10,000 m²) handles farms and land. Square kilometer covers cities and regions.
Imperial Area Units
US real estate runs on square feet, land parcels on acres (43,560 ft² each), regions on square miles (640 acres). The acre's odd number comes from ox plowing distances. Square yards show up for carpet. UK and Canada use these too.
Acres or Hectares?
- Acres: United States
- Hectares: Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Australia
- Both: UK, rural Canada
1 hectare = 2.47 acres—multiply hectares by 2.5 for a quick estimate, or acres by 0.4. An acre covers 90% of a football field; a hectare is 100m × 100m.
Watch Out For: The Square Factor
Feet to meters is 0.3048, but square feet to square meters is 0.3048² = 0.0929. A 10×10 ft room (100 ft²) = 3.048×3.048 m = 9.29 m², not 30.48 m². Using the wrong factor triples your error. Volume conversions cube the factor.
How Square Footage Gets Measured
US listings quote gross living area to exterior walls, excluding garages. European listings use usable floor space—smaller numbers for identical homes. Average sizes: USA ~2,300 ft², Australia ~2,000 ft², UK ~820 ft², Hong Kong under 500 ft².
US Land Survey System
The 1785 grid divided land west of the original colonies into townships (6 mi × 6 mi, containing 36 sections). One section = 1 square mile = 640 acres. Rural deeds use descriptions like "NW quarter of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 2 West."
International Area Units
Dunam (Middle East): 1,000 m². Bigha (India): 1,500-6,000+ m² depending on state. Mu (China): 667 m². Rai (Thailand): 1,600 m². Tatami (Japan): 1.65 m², used for room sizes. Pyeong (Korea/Taiwan): 3.3 m². Bigha in Bihar differs from West Bengal—verify local definitions.
Area Formulas
For irregular shapes, break them into rectangles and triangles and add up the pieces.
Quick Math
- ft² to m²: × 0.093
- acres to hectares: × 0.4
- hectares to acres: × 2.5
For legal docs, use exact factors—the 0.4 vs 0.404686 difference means a 100-acre farm is 40.47 hectares, not 40.