01
Formula
Percent = (rise ÷ run) × 100.
Angle = arctan(rise ÷ run). The third line is how many units of run you travel for one unit of rise. A 5 percent grade is 20 units of run per 1 unit of rise.
Apply for financingSlope calculator
Slope calculator for percent grade and angle
This slope calculator turns a vertical rise and a horizontal run into percent grade and degrees. The same result is what a grade calculator, a percent grade calculator, and an elevation grade calculator report: elevation change divided by horizontal distance.
Percent grade
5.00%
Angle2.86°
Rise over run2.00 / 40.00
Run per 1 of rise20.00
Planning estimate from the numbers you enter. Coverage, density, waste and price are assumptions, not a supplier quote or an engineering specification.
How it works
Percent grade is rise divided by run.
Divide the vertical rise by the horizontal run, then multiply by 100. A 2 foot rise over 40 feet of run is 5 percent. The angle is the arctangent of that same ratio, converted from radians to degrees. Run must be the level distance, not the distance along the slope. Roof pitch uses the same ratio with the run often written as 12; that page is the roof pitch calculator. This page is the grade of a drive, a ramp, a ditch, or a pad. A land grading calculator uses the same rise and run.
02
Example
2 feet of rise over 40 feet of run.
The grade is 5.00 percent. The angle is 2.86 degrees. Those are the fields already filled in. Change either distance and both results move. An elevation grade calculator uses the same two measurements: change in elevation, and the horizontal distance between them.
03
Tips
Do not measure the slope as the run.
A tape laid on the ground follows the hypotenuse. Run is the map distance, level. On a short ramp you can level the tape. On a long grade, a survey or a consistent rod reading is more honest than one wheel pass.
04
Equipment
Grading is loader work.
A skid steer or compact loader cuts and places the material that makes the grade. Dengaro arranges equipment financing from $15,000 to $2 million. The percent on this page is not a loan amount.
Important questions
Know what to expect.
How is a percent grade calculator different from degrees?+
Percent is rise over run times 100. Degrees are the angle whose tangent is rise over run. Five percent is about 2.86 degrees, not 5 degrees. This page shows both.
What does an elevation grade calculator need?+
The difference in elevation between two points, and the horizontal distance between them. Enter the elevation difference as the rise and the horizontal distance as the run.
Is a 6/12 roof the same tool?+
The math is the same ratio. A 6/12 pitch is a 50 percent slope. Use the roof pitch calculator when the run is the conventional 12 and you also want rafter length and shingle squares.
Can the grade be downhill?+
Enter the rise as a positive drop. The percent is the steepness either way. This form does not accept a negative number.
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