how big is an acre?
An acre is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and United States customary systems, and here are several ways to understand its size:
Square Footage and Other Units
- An acre is exactly 43,560 square feet145.
- It is also equal to 4,840 square yards, 1/640 of a square mile, or approximately 4,046.8564224 square meters (or about 0.4047 hectares)145.
Visual Comparisons
- An acre is roughly the size of a standard American football field, but slightly smaller. It is about 90% of the size of a football field, which is 48,000 square feet235.
- It can also be visualized as 16 tennis courts or nine basketball courts4.
Dimensions
- Traditionally, an acre is defined as the area of one furlong (660 feet) by one chain (66 feet)124.
- If shaped as a square, each side of an acre would measure approximately 208.7 feet (or about 63.61 meters)3.
Historical Context
- The acre originated in the Middle Ages as the area of land that could be plowed by one man using a team of eight oxen in one day. However, this definition was standardized in the 13th century by Edward I of England to 4 rods wide by 40 rods long, with each rod being 16.5 feet45.