What this calculator does
Turn square feet into square meters, or back again, for any room, home or floor plan. Square feet are how homes, apartments, offices and shops are measured in the United States. They are still common in UK and Canadian property ads. Square meters are the standard almost everywhere else, and architects, builders and flooring suppliers use them on metric drawings. You'll need this conversion to compare listings across countries. It also helps when you order materials sold by the square meter for a room measured in feet.
A square foot is the area of a square one foot on each side. Because one foot is exactly 0.3048 m, one square foot is 0.3048² = 0.09290304 m² exactly. A square meter is about 10.764 square feet.
Where it's used
Why this math matters outside the classroom:
- Apartment listings. Renters moving abroad compare listings knowing a 750 ft² apartment is about 69.7 m².
- Flooring. Flooring sold by the square meter needs 200 ft² converted to about 18.6 m².
- Office space. A 10,000 ft² office floor is about 929 m².
- Squared factor. Students see why the factor is 0.3048² = 0.09290304 and not 0.3048.
- Paint coverage. A paint can rated to cover 10 m² covers about 108 ft².
Grade level and standards: Grades 6–7; Common Core State Standards for Mathematics 6.RP.A.3.d. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.
How to use it
- Enter the area. Decimals such as 1,250.5 are fine, but type the number without commas.
- Choose square feet to square meters, or the reverse.
- Read the result and the working. The table lists typical room and home sizes for the chosen direction.
What the inputs mean
- Value to convert
- An area in square feet (for ft² → m²) or square meters (for m² → ft²). If you only have room dimensions, multiply length by width first.
- Direction
- Which way to convert.
Formula and method
m² = ft² × 0.09290304 ft² = m² ÷ 0.09290304 ≈ m² × 10.7639104167
Here ft² means square feet and m² means square meters. Area factors are the square of the length factor. 0.3048 squared is 0.09290304, a decimal that ends instead of repeating forever. So square feet to square meters is exact.
The reverse factor 10.7639104167 is rounded. So the calculator divides by 0.09290304 instead, and no rounding creeps in.
Worked example
An apartment is advertised as 1,000 square feet. What is that in square meters?
- Use the exact factor, so the answer needs no rounding: 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m².
- Multiply the area by that factor: 1,000 × 0.09290304 = 92.90304.
Result: 1,000 ft² is 92.90304 m², about 93 m².
Understanding the result
Mental shortcut: divide square feet by 10, then take off 7%. For 1,000 ft² that gives 100 − 7 = 93 m², about 0.1% above the exact answer. For m² to ft², multiply by 10 and add 7.6%: 50 m² becomes 500 + 38 = 538 ft², close to the exact 538.2.
Handy values: 100 ft² (a 10 × 10 ft bedroom) is 9.29 m²; 2,000 ft² is 185.81 m²; 150 m² is about 1,614.6 ft².
A common slip is converting the side lengths and the area inconsistently. Converting 10 ft to 3.048 m and then squaring gives 9.290304 m², the same as converting 100 ft² directly. Dividing square feet by 3.28, the length factor, is wrong and gives an answer more than three times too big.
Assumptions and limitations
- The foot is the international foot, exactly 0.3048 m.
- The area is a flat, horizontal measurement.
- Listings may measure floor area differently (gross versus net, including or excluding walls). The conversion cannot fix a difference in what was measured.
- Flooring and tile need extra for cuts and waste. This converts the area only.
Frequently asked questions
How many square feet are in a square meter?
About 10.7639 ft². It is 1 ÷ 0.09290304, a decimal that never ends.
Why is it not 3.28?
3.28 is the number of feet in a meter, a length factor. An area involves two lengths, so the factor is squared: 3.28084² ≈ 10.764.
How do I convert a room measured in feet and inches?
Turn each side into decimal feet first (12 ft 6 in = 12.5 ft), multiply length by width to get square feet, then convert. The square footage calculator can help with irregular rooms.
How this calculator is checked
Method: 1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly (1959 agreement), so 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m². The calculation is covered by automated tests with known reference values and edge cases. Last updated 2026-10-18. Found a problem? Tell us.
Embed this calculator
Put this Square Feet to Square Meters Converter on your own website or blog for free. Paste this code where you want it to appear: