How big is an acre? It’s something that people are often confused about when interested in purchasing a small piece of land (or even a larger plot) to put their RV or camper on.
They may even want to add a tiny house instead if they plan to own it for a while, leaving their RV for vacation trips.
Whether it’s farmers or realtors, they’re keen to sound informed by letting people know that 1 acre is the equivalent of ‘one furlong long by 4 rods wide.
Also, in the Middle Ages, it was said that one acre could be plowed by an ox in a day. But that won’t mean much to the rest of us!
To put it in simpler terms: How big is 1 acre? It’s approximately 43,560 square feet.
That’s a lot of feet right there. But it is hard to appreciate the size, so we’d like to provide some other examples to help you with that problem.
Read Also: Is Buying an RV Lot a Good Investment?
Acre vs Football Field
How Many Square Feet in an Acre?
Most people are familiar with a football field. So, how many acres is a football field?
When they play for the Super Bowl, they’re playing on a field that’s approximately 48,000 square feet. So, it’s about 1.32 acres to give you some perspective.
Forget the end zones though – they’re not included. They’re extra!
Acre Comparison
It’s useful to see a few comparisons between different ways to express what an acre is. What are the dimensions of an acre?
Here we go…
- 1 acre is 66 feet by 660 feet
- 1 acre is 43,560 square feet
- 1 acre is 0.404686 hectares
- 1 acre is 4840 square yards
- 1 acre is 4046.86 square meters
How Many Acres Are in a Square Mile?
A square mile is a useful measurement when used to deal with maps a lot.
The answer is that 640 acres is the same as a square mile.
Visualize an Acre
It’s helpful to see what an acre looks like.
Ideally, do it in person to get a better sense of how far out it goes, and how long it takes to walk from one end to the other of land that could be yours.
If you’re unable to do so currently, then look at land plots for sale of different sizes. They’ll have photos and sometimes videos too.
When needing to get a better idea about how expansive an acre of land is, there’s no substitute for seeing it yourself either virtually or in person.
International Acres vs. US Acres
An acre is not the same the world over. No, sir.
In the United Kingdom, an acre is the same measurement. So, that’s easy.
Further north in Scotland, an acre is 1.27 times larger than the American acre. Also, across the Irish Sea, the Irish acre is even larger at 1.6 times the equivalent US/UK acre size dimensions.
The primary reason for the different sizes is that they were created at a time when each country has an independent form of measurement.
Later, this becomes standardized but because the land was already sold based on an acre being a certain size, it becomes cumbersome to change it later.
One Acre in Tennis Courts
A standard tennis court measures 23.77m by 10.97m (they use meters because it’s a European thing).
When compared to an acre of land, approximately 15 tennis courts (playable space only, not the grandstands too) could be fit inside an acre of land.
This is why Wimbledon Tennis Club isn’t as expansive as some people expect when first arriving to see Rafael Nadal play.
How Big are 4 Acres or How Big are 5 Acres?
For an interesting acre comparison, here’s an example from farmers in Washington State.
Their farms come in all shapes and sizes. In Washington State, the average is approximately 375 acres. They’re huge! But 7 percent of farms manage around 5 acres of land.
Also, over half of the farms don’t have more than 50 acres.
There are also over 20,000 farms that manage little more than an acre each, so not all farms are big landowners (many farmers lease the farmland from the landowner).
How Big are 10 Acres?
We’d say it’s a little more than 13 football fields laid down, side-by-side.
There are certain plots of land available that offer interested RVers, owners of a tiny home, homesteaders, and others the option to get greater space and privacy.
How Big are 20 Acres?
We’d say it’s a family-size plot!
Certainly, it’s 871,200 square feet. Few people need a parcel of land this substantial unless they want to create space between them and the rest of the world.
Going off-grid fits the bill here, especially if including a brook or stream with fresh drinkable water, a well, or other benefits to the larger parcel of land.
How Big are 100 Acres?
It’s huge! Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
At this stage, you’re looking to start an RV park or some other venture because of how expansive it is.
Also, the cost to own the land including land rates starts to become a factor at this size.
What is a Commercial Acre?
A commercial acre is a term that the realtor and real estate developers came up with. Some states and cities have accepted it as a useable form of measurement whereas others have not.
The idea is the commercial acre excludes non-livable space for a developed plot. Therefore, the measurement intentionally leaves out roads, alleyways, and sidewalks from the standard calculation.
Typically, a commercial acre is 82.6% of a typical acre of land to account for the removal of non-commercial usage. Rounding is used, so it doesn’t need to be exact.
