LandMeasure How to calculate the acreage of an irregular lot
Length × width lies to you on anything that isn't a rectangle. Trace every corner instead and let the whole outline give you the area — tap the corners on the satellite map in LandMeasure and read the acreage straight off. A five-sided lot of 11,769.9 m² comes out at 2.91 acres, or 1.18 hectares.
Why length × width gives the wrong acreage
Length × width only works on a rectangle. Average the opposite sides of an odd lot, or chop it into guessed triangles, and you can be off by a lot — the angles matter as much as the side lengths. Two lots with the same four side lengths can have wildly different areas depending on how skewed one is.
The reliable way uses the coordinates of every corner, same as surveyors do with the shoelace method. LandMeasure runs the same idea on the corners you tap, but with a formula built for the curved Earth (spherical excess, Earth's mean radius 6,371,008.8 m), so a big parcel doesn't get inflated the way a flat-map calculation would inflate it.
How to find the acreage of a property with LandMeasure
- In Settings > Units, set Area to Acres (ac) (or Hectares (ha)).
- On the Map tab, pick Satellite with the map button at the top right and zoom in on the lot.
- Tap Measure > Measure Area.
- Tap every corner in order around the lot, including small jogs in the boundary.
- Read Area and Perimeter in the panel, then tap the green checkmark to save.
Worked example: a five-sided lot
| Unit | Area |
|---|---|
| Acres | 2.91 ac |
| Hectares | 1.18 ha |
| Square meters | 11,769.9 m² |
| Square feet | 126,689.5 ft² |
| Square yards | 14,076.6 yd² |
Perimeter of that same lot: 415.2 m, or 1,362.3 ft, for free alongside the area — no extra tapping.
Converting square feet, square meters, hectares and acres
| From | Equals |
|---|---|
| 1 acre | 43,560 ft² / 4,046.9 m² |
| 1 hectare (10,000 m²) | 2.47 ac / 107,639 ft² |
| 11,769.9 m² | 2.91 ac / 1.18 ha |
No hand conversion needed. Switch the unit in Settings > Units and every saved measurement redraws itself in the new one, on the spot.
Adding up a property made of several parcels
Two fields split by a lane? Measure each as its own shape in the same project, and the project rolls them up: Total Area, combined Perimeter, and a count of Polygons.
| Shape | Area | Perimeter |
|---|---|---|
| Field 1 | 7.76 ac / 3.14 ha | 719.1 m |
| Field 2 | 2.73 ac / 1.11 ha | 420.8 m |
| Total Area | 10.49 ac / 4.25 ha | 1,139.9 m |
Here's the catch: the free version keeps one measurement per project, so that two-field total needs LandMeasure Pro (Unlimited Measurements). Without it, you're measuring each field in its own project and adding the figures yourself with a calculator.
Comparing with the deed or plat
- Your deed figure comes from a survey; your tapped shape comes from imagery. Small differences are normal, not a bug.
- Gap bigger than expected? Zoom in, walk each corner again on screen, look for one you skipped.
- Some lots are measured to the center of a road or stream; imagery shows what's visible, so pick which line you're actually tracing.
- No subtraction tool here — a pond or a house inside the lot stays in the total unless you measure it separately and take it off by hand.
Questions and answers
How many acres is my property?
How do I calculate the area of an irregular lot by hand?
Why is there no area when my outline crosses itself?
How many square feet are in an acre?
You might also like
- How to Convert Acres, Hectares and Square Feet on iPhone · LandMeasure
More LandMeasure guides
- How to measure land area with your iPhone, in acres or hectares
- How to measure land by walking the boundary with GPS
- How to measure fence line length on iPhone: on the map or by walking it
- How to measure yard or lawn square footage from satellite imagery
- How to measure a roof from satellite imagery (footprint area)
- How accurate is phone GPS for measuring land and property lines?
- How to make a KML file of a plot of land on iPhone
- How to Measure Driveway or Patio Square Footage With Your iPhone
- How to Convert Acres, Hectares and Square Feet on iPhone
- How do I measure a field in hectares with my iPhone?
- How do I measure the area of a rice paddy field with my phone?
- Why does my own measurement of a farm plot not match the SIGPAC area?
- Can I measure land offline on my iPhone, with no signal at all?
- All questions about LandMeasure
- Back to LandMeasure