# How big is an acre?

An acre is 43,560 square feet, or about 4,047 square metres. Laid out as a square it measures about 208.7 feet (63.6 m) on each side. That is a little smaller than an American football field.

- 43,560 square feet
- 4,047 square metres
- 1 acre
- 0.4 hectares
- 0.76 football fields

Interactive map, to drop it on any town at its true size: https://how-big-is.com/an-acre/

## Where the acre comes from

The acre is an old English unit. It was defined as one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), a long thin strip that suited ploughing with oxen. Today it is fixed at exactly 43,560 square feet, and it is still the everyday unit for land in the US.

## Picturing an acre at home

Most suburban house lots are a fraction of an acre, so a single acre usually covers several houses and their yards. Drop it on your own street with the map above to see exactly what it would cover.

## How it compares

- 0.76 [American football fields](https://how-big-is.com/a-football-field/)
- 0.57 [soccer pitches](https://how-big-is.com/a-soccer-field/)
- 0.12% of the area of [Central Park](https://how-big-is.com/central-park/)
- 0.82% of the area of [Vatican City](https://how-big-is.com/vatican-city/)

## Questions people ask

**Is a football field an acre?**
Not quite. An American football field is 1.32 acres including the end zones, or 1.10 acres between the goal lines. An acre is about 91% of the playing field.

**How many square feet is an acre?**
Exactly 43,560 square feet.

**How big is an acre in metres?**
About 4,047 square metres, or 0.405 hectares. One hectare is about 2.47 acres.

## Where the numbers come from

Official figure: exactly 43,560 square feet. 

Credit: Map: how-big-is.com. Outline: Exact official dimensions.