Yards to Meters conversion

Yards to meters

The yard is the imperial unit that sits between the foot and the mile: 3 feet, 36 inches. It survives in American football, golf, fabric and carpet sales, and in older British road signs. Since 1959 it has been defined as exactly 0.9144 meters, so yards × 0.9144 = meters. The yard and the meter are close enough that people sometimes treat them as equal; the 9 % difference adds up fast over a golf hole or a running track.

Quick estimate

Take 10 % off the yards: 100 yd ≈ 90 m (91.4 exactly), 500 yd ≈ 450 m (457).

• 1 yd = 0.91 m
• 10 yd = 9.14 m
• 50 yd = 45.72 m
• 100 yd = 91.44 m (an American football field between goal lines)
• 110 yd = 100.58 m (the old "110-yard hurdles" ≈ 100 m)
• 220 yd = 201.17 m
• 440 yd = 402.34 m (a quarter mile, one lap of an old track)
• 1760 yd = 1 609.34 m (one mile)

Sport

Golf courses in the US and UK are measured in yards; a 400-yard par 4 is 366 m. Rangefinders can usually switch units, but course cards cannot. Swimming pools in the US come in 25-yard lengths (22.86 m), which is why American short-course records are kept separately from metric ones. Track events moved from yards to meters in the 1970s: the 100-yard dash (91.44 m) became the 100 m.

Fabric and materials

Fabric stores in the US sell by the yard, elsewhere by the meter. A pattern that calls for 3 yards needs 2.74 m — buy 2.8 m. Rope, chain and cable are quoted either way; convert before ordering so the cut is long enough.

Worked examples

A 550-yard par 5. 550 × 0.9144 = 503 m. Continental scorecards would print 503 m for the same hole.

A 100-yard dash. 100 × 0.9144 = 91.44 m. A sprinter's 100 m time is roughly 0.9 s slower than the same athlete's 100-yard time.

5 yards of fabric. 5 × 0.9144 = 4.57 m. A European fabric shop cuts in 10 cm steps, so ask for 4.6 m.

Frequently asked questions

How many meters are in a yard? Exactly 0.9144, by definition since 1959. That makes the inch 25.4 mm and the foot 0.3048 m.

Is a yard bigger than a meter? No — a meter is about 9 % longer. 100 yards is only 91 m.

Where does the word come from? Old English "gerd", a rod or stick; the unit was once the length of a girdle or a rod used for measuring cloth.

Related conversions

Yards to feet is × 3, yards to inches × 36; for larger distances, miles to kilometers (× 1.609) is the usual pair.

Good to know

Yards linger in a few specific trades. Carpet and turf are sold by the square yard in the US (0.836 m²), concrete by the cubic yard (0.765 m³), and gravel and topsoil by the "yard", which in that context means a cubic yard. When a landscaper quotes 5 yards of mulch, that is 3.8 m³. Golf course architects still design in yards, and yardage books convert hole lengths at 1.094 yards per metre. In sailing and archery, distances to marks and targets are in metres internationally but yards in older American and British material.