How many square feet are in an acre?

There are exactly 43,560 square feet in one acre. An acre can be any shape, but a common visualization is about 208.7 feet × 208.7 feet (a square roughly 70 yards on each side).

How big is an acre visually?

An acre is about 90% the size of a standard American football field (which is 48,000 sq ft including end zones). It is about 16 tennis courts, or roughly the size of a city block in many US cities.

How many acres is a football field?

A football field (without end zones) is 100 yards × 53.33 yards = 48,000 sq ft = about 1.1 acres. With end zones (120 yards long), it is about 1.32 acres.

How Many Square Feet in an Acre? (43,560)

The Quick Answer

There are exactly 43,560 square feet in one acre.

The acre is derived from the chain: 1 acre = 10 square chains = 10 × 66ft × 66ft = 43,560 sq ft.

Acre Conversions

Acres	Square Feet	Square Meters	Hectares
0.25	10,890	1,012	0.101
0.5	21,780	2,023	0.202
1	43,560	4,047	0.405
2	87,120	8,094	0.809
5	217,800	20,234	2.023
10	435,600	40,469	4.047
40	1,742,400	161,874	16.187
640 (1 sq mi)	27,878,400	2,589,988	259.0

Size Comparisons

1 acre ≈ 90% of a football field (with end zones)
1 acre ≈ 16 tennis courts
1 acre ≈ a 209 ft × 209 ft square
640 acres = 1 square mile
1 acre ≈ 0.405 hectares

Where This Comes Up

Real Estate

Home lots are measured in acres or fractions of acres. A quarter-acre lot (10,890 sq ft) is a typical suburban home lot.

Agriculture

Farmland is bought, sold, and taxed by the acre. Crop yield is reported as bushels per acre.

Zoning and Development

Building codes specify minimum lot sizes and density limits in units per acre. A developer needs to know the exact square footage to plan a project.

Use our area converter for any area conversion.