--- title: "Understanding Measurements: How Big is an Acre?" description: This article will provide a basic understanding of measurements, focusing on the size of an acre. Learn how to properly measure acres and more with this helpful guide. image: https://pdxdirectrealty.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/image_296-3.png --- [Skip to content](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements#main-content) [![PDX Direct Realty](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Black%20logo%20-%20no%20background-2.png?width=150&height=147&name=Black%20logo%20-%20no%20background-2.png)](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/) - Services Show submenu for Services - [Listing Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/listing-services) - [Buyer Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/buyer-services) - [Additional Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/additional-services) - [About Us](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/about-us) - [Customer Portal](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/customer-portal) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Services Show submenu for Services - [Listing Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/listing-services) - [Buyer Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/buyer-services) - [Additional Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/additional-services) - [About Us](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/about-us) - [Customer Portal](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/customer-portal) - [Contact Us](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/contact-us) [Contact Us](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/contact-us) [All posts](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/all) December 22, 2023 # How Big Is an Acre? Understanding Measurements By  PDX Direct  ·  2 minute read This article will provide a basic understanding of measurements, focusing on the size of an acre. Learn how to properly measure acres and more with this helpful guide. ## How Big Is an Acre? Understanding Measurements Understanding measurements is important for many everyday activities from deciding what size of clothing to buy to navigating a new city. When it comes to acreage, understanding its size is essential for estimating the land for a construction project or measuring farmland. So, how big is an acre? An acre is 44,560 square feet in ground size, roughly the size of a football field. It also translates to 10 square chains, 1/640 of a square mile, or 43,560 square yards. It is also equal to 4,840 square yards. ## Thinking In Terms Of Acres In the United States, acreage is often used to express land size. To make it easier to visualize, some use the thought metric of “an acre is about a football-field size”. Translated to a less standard, everyday household object, an acre is equal to about 209 by 209 feet. In contrast to an acre's size, a square mile is a very large area with an acre covering only 1/640 of the size. Another large area for comparison is the city. For example, City Park in Denver Colorado, is about 330 acres in size. That is equivalent to 473 football fields. ## How Can Acres be Used? Knowing the size of an acre can be useful in various situations, whether it is for mapping out farmland or estimating the tree coverage in a park. Kansas City, Missouri is home to the largest urban tree canopy in the nation at 47 percent coverage per acre, and Kansas City, Kansas is close behind with 44 percent canopy per acre. In a construction project, understanding the acreage is key in guesstimating the amount of materials required for the project as well as the cost of the project. That is why many of the people involved in the project, from the designers to contractors, will double and triple check the size of the acreage. ## Conclusion Whether you are looking for the size of a football field, a household item, or the percentage of a tree canopy, understanding the size of an acre can be beneficial in many everyday activities. Fore the project manager, contractor, architect, surveyor, or even the homeowner, understanding acreage will help them estimate the size accurately and save time. ## More Articles to Consider Reading [Explore Real Estate in Portland Oregon Neighborhoods](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/explore-real-estate-in-portland-oregon-neighborhoods) [Relocation to Portland Oregon](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/relocation-to-portland-oregon) [Oregon Trail Visitors Center](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/oregon-trail-visitors-center) [Principal and Interest: Demystifying Mortgage Payments](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/principal-and-interest-demystifying-mortgage-payments) [What Is a Mortgage Note? Understanding Legal Documents](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/what-is-a-mortgage-note-understanding-legal-documents) [Best Places to Live: An Overview](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/best-places-to-live-an-overview) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements) [twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements) [![PDX Direct Realty](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Black%20logo%20-%20no%20background-2.png?width=150&height=147&name=Black%20logo%20-%20no%20background-2.png "PDX Direct Realty")](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/) [List@PDXDirectRealty.com](mailto:List@PDXDirectRealty.com) (503) 847-2199 M-F 8am-5pm PST 3225 SW 87th Ave. #25653 Portland, OR 97225 Our Services - [Property Listing Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/listing-services) - [Home Buyer Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/buyer-services) - [Business Listing Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/contact-us) - [Additional Services](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/additional-services) Company Information - [About Us](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/about-us) - [Contact Us](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/contact-us) - [Terms of Service](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/terms-of-service) - [Privacy Policy](https://legal.hubspot.com/privacy-policy) - [Real Estate Articles](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles) **Customer Portal** - [Submit Listing Data](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/submission-options) - [Submit Photos](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/photo-submission) - [Submit Changes](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/submit-changes-form) - [Submit Documents](https://pdxdirectrealty.com/document-submission-form) Copyright © 2026, PDX Direct Realty - All Rights Reserved - Licensed in the State of Oregon ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "PDX Direct", "url" : "https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/author/pdx-direct" }, "dateModified" : "2023-12-22T19:42:09.188Z", "datePublished" : "2023-10-28T07:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Understanding Measurements: How Big is an Acre?", "image" : [ "https://pdxdirectrealty.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/image_296-3.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://pdxdirectrealty.com/hubfs/Color%20logo%20-%20no%20background.png" }, "name" : "PDX Direct Realty" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : [ "PDX Direct" ] }, "datePublished" : "2023-10-28T07:00:00+0000", "description" : "This article will provide a basic understanding of measurements, focusing on the size of an acre. Learn how to properly measure acres and more with this helpful guide.", "headline" : "How Big Is an Acre? Understanding Measurements", "image" : "https://44162913.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44162913/Imported_Blog_Media/image_296-3.png", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://44162913.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44162913/Black%20logo%20-%20no%20background-2.png" }, "name" : "PDX Direct Realty" }, "url" : "https://pdxdirectrealty.com/articles/how-big-is-an-acre-understanding-measurements" } ```