Printable cheat sheet

Texas area and acreage cheat sheet

Built for Texas sales agent exam prep. Anchor on 43,560 and 640, convert units before calculating, and match the final answer to square feet, acres, or unit price.

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Acre43,560 sq ft

This is the anchor. Do not round it to 40,000.

Section640 acres

Legal-description acreage starts with 640, then multiplies fractions.

RectangleLength x width

Keep both measurements in feet before calculating square feet.

TriangleBase x height / 2

The divide-by-2 step is the most common shape trap.

Sq ft to acresSq ft / 43,560

Acre answers are much smaller than square-foot answers.

Unit pricePrice / unit

Use square feet for price per square foot and acres for price per acre.

The exam setup rule

Name the final ask: square feet, acres, price per square foot, or price per acre.
Convert every measurement into the same unit before multiplying.
Use length x width for rectangles and base x height / 2 for triangles.
For legal descriptions, start with 640 acres and multiply the fractions.
Convert square feet to acres only after you have the full area.

Six worked examples

Rectangle area300 ft x 200 ft lot

300 x 200 = 60,000 square feet. 60,000 / 43,560 = 1.38 acres.

Acres to square feet2.5 acres to square feet

2.5 x 43,560 = 108,900 square feet.

Section fractionNW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of a section

640 x 1/4 x 1/4 = 40 acres.

Triangle parcelBase 180 ft, height 120 ft

180 x 120 / 2 = 10,800 square feet.

Price per acre$450,000 price, 10 acres

$450,000 / 10 = $45,000 per acre.

Price per square foot$450,000 price, 60,000 square feet

$450,000 / 60,000 = $7.50 per square foot.

Traps to check

Do not use 40,000 square feet for an acre. Use 43,560.
Do not add section fractions. Multiply every fraction by 640 acres.
Do not forget to divide by 2 when the parcel is a triangle.
Do not answer in square feet when the final ask is acres.
Do not use frontage alone as area. Area needs frontage and depth.

Sanity check

43,560 square feet should recreate exactly 1 acre.
Acre answers should be much smaller than square-foot answers.
Bigger length or width should produce bigger area.
A quarter of a quarter section should be 40 acres, not 160 acres.
If the final answer is a price, check whether the unit is square feet or acres.