When asked — “How big is 10 acres?” — a buyer is trying to determine if 10 Acres of land meets their property needs and is within their budget. Maybe they want to keep horses or have a large shop, or simply want to stretch out and have room to breathe? But they can't fully visualize 10 acres without being on an actual property. It's hard to “see” 10 acres when you live in the city.

The Definition of an Acre

1 a archaic: a field especially of arable land or pastureland
b acres plural: LANDS, ESTATE
2: any of various units of area
specifically: a unit in the U.S. and England equal to 43,560 square feet (4047 square meters)
3: a broad expanse or great quantity
// acres of free publicity

Source: Meriam Webster

How Many Square Feet Is An Acre? How Many Yards in an Acre?

An acre is forty-three thousand five hundred sixty (43,560) square feet. A square yard is nine (9) square feet. Thus, an acre is four thousand eight hundred forty (4,840) square yards.

1 acre = 43,560 square feet

1 square yard = 9 square feet

1 acre = 4,840 square yards

How Many Acres in a Square Mile? How Many Acres in a Section?

A square mile is five thousand two hundred eighty feet (5280) by five thousand two hundred eighty feet (5280), or twenty-seven million eight hundred seventy-eight thousand four hundred (27,878,400) square feet, or thee million ninety-seven thousand six hundred (3,097,600) square yards, or six hundred forty (640) acres.

1 square mile = 27,878,400 square feet = 3,097,600 square yards = 640 acres

A “standard” section is a square mile, or 640 acres, but in practice, not all sections are standard.

The earth's curvature makes it impossible to superimpose a two-dimensional grid on a three-dimensional globe as the meridians converge towards the North Pole. As s result, “corrections” are made on the north and west sides of some sections, resulting in sections that deviate, bother larger and smaller, from the standard 640-acre section depending on the location.

How Many Acres Is a Football Field?

The American football field is frequently used to visualize distances in space. At 100 yards, goal line to goal line, it's easier to estimate yards visually and convert to feet as required when describing distances.

Less frequently used but equally helpful, a football field also helps visualize an area in space. Including two endzones, an American football field is 120 yards long by 53.3 yards wide, or 360 feet by 160 feet, which is 1.32 acres.

The Problem with Most Visual Representations

Articles abound online comparing 10 acres of land to a host of seemingly relatable, visual examples.

Commons visual representations include:

• 7.5 football fields
• 90 basketball courts
• 155 tennis courts
• 192 median-sized homes
• 1,361 shipping containers
• 1,560 parking spaces
• 13,610 sheets of plywood
• 15,840 potatoes

Although the math technically checks out, who's ever seen 155 tennis courts crammed together? No one! And potatoes! Really? That's not helpful.

The reality is that these are cute mathematics rather than relatable representatives.

Does it help you visualize the distance between the earth and the moon by knowing that it takes 240 billion stacked pennies to get there? I didn't think so!

How Big Is 10 Acres in Real-Life?

To take these clever examples into the real world, and answer the heart of your question — “How big is 10 acres?” — we've assembled twenty-four visual examples across the United States from satellite imagery and included GPS coordinates for you to see it for yourself.

10 Acres in California

Port of Longbeach, CA: Shipping Containers (GPS: 33.7285, -118.2544)

10 Acres in Nevada

Las Vegas, NV: Fountains of Bellagio (GPS: 36.1127, -115.1741)

10 Acres in Arizona

Tucson, AZ: 9 USAF C-5 Galaxies at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (GPS: 32.1499, -110.8359)

10 Acres in Kentucky

Louisville, KY: Churchill Downs (GPS: 38.2029, -85.7701)

10 Acres in Washington, DC

Washington, DC: The Pentagon (GPS: 38.871, -77.0559)

Washington, DC: The White House (GPS: 38.8977, -77.0366)

10 Acres in New York

New York, NY: Liberty Island, The Statue of Liberty (GPS: 40.6892, -74.0445)

New York, NY: Ellis Island, The Statue of Liberty (GPS: 40.6979, -74.0418)

The Bronx, NY: Yankee Stadium (GPS: 40.8295, -73.927)

New York, NY: Central Park and Two City Blocks (GPS: 40.7656, -73.9783)

10 Acres in Florida

Lake Nona, FL: 38 tennis courts at the USTA Nationa Campus (GPS: 28.4003, -81.279)

Kissimmee, FL: 4 baseball fields at the ESPN Wide World of Sports (GPS: 28.3349, -81.5598)

Kissimmee, FL: 4 football fields at the ESPN Wide World of Sports (GPS: 28.3405, -81.5559)

Orlando, FL: 1400 parking spaces at Hollywood Studios (GPS: 28.3564, -81.5558)

10 Acres in Texas

Cactus, TX: water retention pond (GPS: 36.11, -101.8837)

Bastrop, TX: Luecke Ranch (GPS: 30.0659, -97.1442)

Austin, TX: Tesla Gigafactory (GPS: 30.2211, -97.6188)

Arlington, TX: AT&T Stadium (GPS: 32.7479, -97.0929)

Grapevine, TX: International Terminal D at DFW International Airport (GPS: 32.8976, -97.0446)

The Colony, TX: Nebraska Furniture Mart (GPS: 33.0711, -96.8667)

Frisco, TX: 4 soccer fields at the Toyota Stadium Complex (GPS: 33.1621, -96.8361)

Frisco, TX: 50 houses in the Hollyhock Subdivision (GPS: 33.209, -96.8701)

Frisco, TX: 32 houses in Shaddock Creek Estates (GPS: 33.1651, -96.8523)

Dallas, TX: 9.68-acre private residence (GPS: 32.8857, -96.8234)