TimberMath

Wood Density Chart

Air-dry wood density at 12% moisture content, in lb/ft³ and kg/m³, with specific gravity for each species. Values here run from Balsa at about 11 lb/ft³ (179 kg/m³) up to Kaneelhart at about 67 lb/ft³ (1,075 kg/m³). Sort the chart by any column or filter by name; the last column gives weight per board foot for quick lumber estimates.

Air-dry density at 12% moisture content. Click a column to sort.
Kaneelhart imported 0.96 67.1 1,075 5.59
Macawood imported 0.94 65.7 1,052 5.48
Ipe imported 0.92 64.3 1,030 5.36
Live Oak hardwood 0.88 61.5 985 5.13
Marishballi imported 0.88 61.5 985 5.13
Azobe imported 0.87 60.8 974 5.07
Manbarklak imported 0.87 60.8 974 5.07
Bulletwood imported 0.85 59.4 951 4.95
Goncalo alves imported 0.84 58.7 940 4.89
Karri imported 0.82 57.3 918 4.77
Brazilian Rosewood imported 0.8 55.9 895 4.66
Greenheart imported 0.8 55.9 895 4.66
Mora imported 0.78 54.5 873 4.54
Sucupira imported 0.78 54.5 873 4.54
Wallaba imported 0.78 54.5 873 4.54
Indian Rosewood imported 0.75 52.4 839 4.37
Pignut Hickory hardwood 0.75 52.4 839 4.37
Mockernut Hickory hardwood 0.72 50.3 806 4.19
Piquia imported 0.72 50.3 806 4.19
Shagbark Hickory hardwood 0.72 50.3 806 4.19
Bubinga imported 0.71 49.6 795 4.13
Courbaril imported 0.71 49.6 795 4.13
Kempas imported 0.71 49.6 795 4.13
Black Locust hardwood 0.69 48.2 772 4.02
Keruing imported 0.69 48.2 772 4.02
Shellbark Hickory hardwood 0.69 48.2 772 4.02
Willow Oak hardwood 0.69 48.2 772 4.02
Caribbean pine imported 0.68 47.5 761 3.96
White Oak hardwood 0.68 47.5 761 3.96
Degame imported 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Jarrah imported 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Ovangkol imported 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Post Oak hardwood 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Purpleheart imported 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Scarlet Oak hardwood 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Swamp Chestnut Oak hardwood 0.67 46.8 750 3.9
Chestnut Oak hardwood 0.66 46.1 738 3.84
Pecan Hickory hardwood 0.66 46.1 738 3.84
Peroba Rosa imported 0.66 46.1 738 3.84
Angelin imported 0.65 45.4 727 3.78
Benge imported 0.65 45.4 727 3.78
Pilon imported 0.65 45.4 727 3.78
Sweet Birch hardwood 0.65 45.4 727 3.78
American Beech hardwood 0.64 44.7 716 3.73
Bur Oak hardwood 0.64 44.7 716 3.73
Kapur imported 0.64 44.7 716 3.73
Laurel Oak hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Northern Red Oak hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Opepe imported 0.63 44 705 3.67
Overcup Oak hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Para-angelium imported 0.63 44 705 3.67
Pin Oak hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Rock Elm hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Sugar Maple hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Water Oak hardwood 0.63 44 705 3.67
Peroba de campos imported 0.62 43.3 694 3.61
Yellow Birch hardwood 0.62 43.3 694 3.61
Afrormosia imported 0.61 42.6 682 3.55
Black Oak hardwood 0.61 42.6 682 3.55
Angelique imported 0.6 41.9 671 3.49
Ekop imported 0.6 41.9 671 3.49
Honeylocust hardwood 0.6 41.9 671 3.49
White Ash hardwood 0.6 41.9 671 3.49
Longleaf Pine softwood 0.59 41.2 660 3.43
Slash Pine softwood 0.59 41.2 660 3.43
Southern Red Oak hardwood 0.59 41.2 660 3.43
Blue Ash hardwood 0.58 40.5 649 3.38
Manni imported 0.58 40.5 649 3.38
Tanoak hardwood 0.58 40.5 649 3.38
Black Maple hardwood 0.57 39.8 638 3.32
Green Ash hardwood 0.56 39.1 626 3.26
Pond Pine softwood 0.56 39.1 626 3.26
Sepetir imported 0.56 39.1 626 3.26
Black Walnut hardwood 0.55 38.4 615 3.2
Ocota pine imported 0.55 38.4 615 3.2
Oregon Ash hardwood 0.55 38.4 615 3.2
Paper Birch hardwood 0.55 38.4 615 3.2
Sapele imported 0.55 38.4 615 3.2
Teak imported 0.55 38.4 615 3.2
Andiroba imported 0.54 37.7 604 3.14
Iroko imported 0.54 37.7 604 3.14
Red Maple hardwood 0.54 37.7 604 3.14
Hackberry hardwood 0.53 37 593 3.08
Slippery Elm hardwood 0.53 37 593 3.08
Tamarack softwood 0.53 37 593 3.08
Determa imported 0.52 36.3 581 3.03
Mersawa imported 0.52 36.3 581 3.03
Pitch Pine softwood 0.52 36.3 581 3.03
Ramin imported 0.52 36.3 581 3.03
Sweetgum hardwood 0.52 36.3 581 3.03
Western Larch softwood 0.52 36.3 581 3.03
Loblolly Pine softwood 0.51 35.6 570 2.97
Shortleaf Pine softwood 0.51 35.6 570 2.97
American Elm hardwood 0.5 34.9 559 2.91
Black Cherry hardwood 0.5 34.9 559 2.91
Black Tupelo hardwood 0.5 34.9 559 2.91
Interior West Douglas-fir softwood 0.5 34.9 559 2.91
Southern Magnolia hardwood 0.5 34.9 559 2.91
Water Tupelo hardwood 0.5 34.9 559 2.91
American Sycamore hardwood 0.49 34.2 548 2.85
Black Ash hardwood 0.49 34.2 548 2.85
Sande imported 0.49 34.2 548 2.85
Albarco imported 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Avodire imported 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Bigleaf Maple hardwood 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Coast Douglas-fir softwood 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Cucumbertree Magnolia hardwood 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Interior North Douglas-fir softwood 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Virginia Pine softwood 0.48 33.5 537 2.79
Eastern Redcedar softwood 0.47 32.8 525 2.73
Silver Maple hardwood 0.47 32.8 525 2.73
Dark Red Lauan imported 0.46 32.1 514 2.68
Parana pine imported 0.46 32.1 514 2.68
Red Pine softwood 0.46 32.1 514 2.68
Sassafras hardwood 0.46 32.1 514 2.68
Yellow Meranti imported 0.46 32.1 514 2.68
Mountain Hemlock softwood 0.45 31.4 503 2.62
True Mahogany imported 0.45 31.4 503 2.62
Western Hemlock softwood 0.45 31.4 503 2.62
Yellow Cedar softwood 0.44 30.8 493 2.57
American Chestnut hardwood 0.43 30.1 482 2.51
Jack Pine softwood 0.43 30.1 482 2.51
Pacific Silver Fir softwood 0.43 30.1 482 2.51
Port-Orford Cedar softwood 0.43 30.1 482 2.51
African Mahogany imported 0.42 29.4 471 2.45
Banak imported 0.42 29.4 471 2.45
Black Spruce softwood 0.42 29.4 471 2.45
Yellow-poplar hardwood 0.42 29.4 471 2.45
Lodgepole Pine softwood 0.41 28.7 460 2.39
Red Alder hardwood 0.41 28.7 460 2.39
Spanish-cedar imported 0.41 28.7 460 2.39
Cativo imported 0.4 28 449 2.33
Eastern Cottonwood hardwood 0.4 28 449 2.33
Eastern Hemlock softwood 0.4 28 449 2.33
Ilomba imported 0.4 28 449 2.33
Old Growth Redwood softwood 0.4 28 449 2.33
Ponderosa Pine softwood 0.4 28 449 2.33
Primavera imported 0.4 28 449 2.33
Red Spruce softwood 0.4 28 449 2.33
Sitka Spruce softwood 0.4 28 449 2.33
Bigtooth Aspen hardwood 0.39 27.3 437 2.28
Black Willow hardwood 0.39 27.3 437 2.28
Noble Fir softwood 0.39 27.3 437 2.28
White Fir softwood 0.39 27.3 437 2.28
Butternut hardwood 0.38 26.6 426 2.22
California Red Fir softwood 0.38 26.6 426 2.22
Hura imported 0.38 26.6 426 2.22
Limba imported 0.38 26.6 426 2.22
Quaking Aspen hardwood 0.38 26.6 426 2.22
Western White Pine softwood 0.38 26.6 426 2.22
American Basswood hardwood 0.37 25.9 415 2.16
Grand Fir softwood 0.37 25.9 415 2.16
Incense Cedar softwood 0.37 25.9 415 2.16
Sugar Pine softwood 0.36 25.2 404 2.1
Balsam Fir softwood 0.35 24.5 392 2.04
Black Cottonwood hardwood 0.35 24.5 392 2.04
Eastern White Pine softwood 0.35 24.5 392 2.04
Engelmann Spruce softwood 0.35 24.5 392 2.04
Young Growth Redwood softwood 0.35 24.5 392 2.04
Balsam Poplar Cottonwood hardwood 0.34 23.8 381 1.98
Light Red And Red Lauan imported 0.34 23.8 381 1.98
Okoume imported 0.33 23.1 370 1.93
Atlantic White Cedar softwood 0.32 22.4 359 1.87
Subalpine Fir softwood 0.32 22.4 359 1.87
Western Redcedar softwood 0.32 22.4 359 1.87
Cuangare imported 0.31 21.7 348 1.81
Northern White Cedar softwood 0.31 21.7 348 1.81
Obeche imported 0.3 21 336 1.75
Ceiba imported 0.25 17.5 280 1.46
Balsa imported 0.16 11.2 179 0.93
African Ebony imported — — — —
Alaska Paper Birch hardwood — — — —
American Holly hardwood — — — —
Apitong imported — — — —
Balata imported — — — —
Cedar Elm hardwood — — — —
Cocobolo imported — — — —
Common Persimmon hardwood — — — —
East Indian Ebony imported — — — —
Gmelina imported — — — —
Imbuia imported — — — —
Jelutong imported — — — —
Merbau imported — — — —
Pacific Madrone hardwood — — — —
Pau Marfim imported — — — —
Pumpkin Ash hardwood — — — —
River Birch hardwood — — — —
Roble imported — — — —
Roble imported — — — —
Rubberwood imported — — — —
Striped Maple hardwood — — — —
Sweetbay Magnolia hardwood — — — —
White Lauan imported — — — —
White Meranti imported — — — —
Winged Elm hardwood — — — —
Yellow Buckeye hardwood — — — —

Data: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook FPL-GTR-282 (2021), public domain.

Using the chart — a worked example

You are planning a bookcase and weighing (literally) kaneelhart against balsa. The chart's last column does the lumber math for you: at 5.59 lb per board foot versus 0.93 lb, a 30-board-foot case comes out around 168 lb in the dense wood but only 28 lb in the light one — the difference between a piece you can shift alone and one you schedule help for.

What density means in wood

Wood is a cellular material: thin walls of dense cell-wall substance (about 94 lb/ft³ in every species) surrounding air-filled voids. Density differences between species are almost entirely differences in how much wall versus how much void — dense hickory simply has thicker walls and smaller cavities than airy white pine. That is why density predicts so much: stiffness, crushing strength, screw-holding, hardness, and fuel value all scale with the amount of actual wood substance present.

Specific gravity is the moisture-independent way to express the same idea — the ratio of a wood's oven-dry mass to the mass of an equal volume of water. The density column here is air-dry at 12% MC: 62.4 × specific gravity × 1.12, where 62.4 lb/ft³ is water's density and the ×1.12 adds back the roughly 12% bound water a dried, acclimated board actually carries. That is the number that matches a bathroom-scale check and the figures quoted by lumber references. (The underlying ovendry-weight figure, 62.4 × SG — wood substance only — is shown on each species page.) When you compare exotic species quoted in kg/m³ against domestic figures in lb/ft³, use the conversion column rather than eyeballing: 16 kg/m³ per lb/ft³ trips up even careful buyers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between density and specific gravity?
Density is mass per volume in real units (lb/ft³ or kg/m³) at a stated moisture content. Specific gravity is dimensionless — oven-dry wood weight relative to water — so it isolates how much wood substance is present. Two woods with equal specific gravity can differ slightly in as-used density depending on moisture.
Why is density always quoted at 12% moisture content?
Because 12% MC approximates lumber that has been dried and acclimated to typical indoor conditions, it became the standard reporting basis. Wood at a different moisture content weighs more or less; green wood can be dramatically heavier.
What does wood density tell me practically?
Density is the best single predictor of mechanical behavior: heavier woods are generally stronger, harder, hold screws better, blunt tools faster, and burn longer. Lighter woods work faster, weigh less in furniture, and take fasteners with less splitting.
How can I measure the density of a board I own?
Weigh it and divide by its volume: weight (lb) ÷ (thickness × width × length in inches ÷ 1728) gives lb/ft³. Compare that against the chart to sanity-check a species guess — a mystery 'oak' at 30 lb/ft³ is probably not oak.
How do I convert between lb/ft³ and kg/m³?
kg/m³ = lb/ft³ × 16.0185. The chart shows both, so no conversion is needed for the listed species.