Pint to Pound Converter
Find what a pint of water, milk, beer, berries, ice cream, honey or flour weighs in pounds, or how many pints are in a pound, using a US liquid, US dry or UK pint.
Pounds = pints × litres per pint × density (kg/L) ÷ 0.4536
“A Pint's a Pound the World Around”: Is It True?
The American rhyme works for water in a US pint: 16 fluid ounces of water weighs about 1.04 lb, so it's only 4% off. It doesn't work "the world around". The British version of the saying is "a pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter", because the imperial pint is 20% bigger. Both rhymes are right for their own pint.
| Pint | Litres | Water (lb) | Water (lb oz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| US liquid pint | 0.4732 | 1.041 | 1 lb 0.7 oz |
| US dry pint | 0.5506 | 1.211 | 1 lb 3.4 oz |
| UK imperial pint | 0.5683 | 1.25 | 1 lb 4 oz |
The rhyme also only holds for things about as dense as water. A pint of honey is closer to 1½ lb and a pint of flour is about half a pound.
Weight of a Pint of Common Foods
Liquids at room temperature. Berries and tomatoes are loosely filled, and flour is spooned in and levelled. Berries are sold by the dry pint, so use that column for a market basket.
| Substance | US liquid pt | US dry pt | UK pt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 1.04 lb | 1.21 lb | 1.25 lb |
| Whole milk | 1.07 lb | 1.25 lb | 1.29 lb |
| Beer | 1.05 lb | 1.23 lb | 1.27 lb |
| Heavy cream | 1.05 lb | 1.22 lb | 1.26 lb |
| Ice cream (FDA minimum, 4.5 lb/gal) | 0.56 lb | 0.65 lb | 0.68 lb |
| Blueberries | 0.65 lb | 0.76 lb | 0.78 lb |
| Strawberries, whole | 0.63 lb | 0.74 lb | 0.76 lb |
| Cherry tomatoes | 0.66 lb | 0.76 lb | 0.79 lb |
| Honey | 1.48 lb | 1.72 lb | 1.78 lb |
| Maple syrup | 1.39 lb | 1.61 lb | 1.67 lb |
| Olive oil | 0.95 lb | 1.1 lb | 1.14 lb |
| All-purpose flour | 0.55 lb | 0.64 lb | 0.66 lb |
| Granulated sugar | 0.88 lb | 1.03 lb | 1.06 lb |
| Butter | 1 lb | 1.16 lb | 1.2 lb |
Worked Example: Is a Pint of Blueberries a Good Deal?
A farm stand sells blueberries at $4.00 a pint. The supermarket has them at $4.99 a pound. Which is cheaper? Farm-stand pints are dry pints. (This is the Load Example.)
Step 1: Dry pint to litres
Step 2: Litres to kilograms (blueberries ≈ 0.626 kg/L loosely filled)
Step 3: Kilograms to pounds
Step 4: Price per pound
The pint works out at about $5.27/lb, so the supermarket is slightly cheaper unless the farm berries are heaped. A generously heaped pint can weigh closer to 0.9 lb, which brings it down to about $4.45 a pound and makes the farm stand the better buy.
Pints of Beer, by the Glass and by the Keg
Beer is about 1% denser than water, so a pint weighs a little more than a pint of water:
- US pint (16 fl oz): about 1.05 lb (0.48 kg) of beer, plus the glass.
- UK pint (20 imperial fl oz): about 1.27 lb (0.57 kg).
- US half-barrel keg: 15.5 US gallons, or 124 US pints. The beer weighs about 131 lb, and with a steel shell of around 30 lb a full keg is roughly 160 lb.
- UK 11-gallon keg: 88 imperial pints (50 L), about 111 lb of beer before the keg.
Bar staff who need to know how much is left in a keg often weigh it: subtract the empty-keg weight and divide by the beer weight per pint.
Why a Pint of Ice Cream Weighs Less Than a Pound
Ice cream is churned while it freezes, which whips air into it. The extra volume is called overrun. In the US, the FDA standard for ice cream sets a floor of 4.5 lb per gallon, which is 9 oz (0.56 lb) per pint. A pint of milk weighs about 1.07 lb, so a minimum-weight pint of ice cream is close to half air.
Premium brands churn in less air, so their pints feel noticeably heavier. Weighing a pint is a quick way to compare two brands: the heavier one is denser and usually creamier. The tool's ice cream option uses the legal minimum, so treat its result as the lightest a US pint can be.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a pint of water weigh?
About 1.04 lb (16.7 oz) for a US pint and 1.25 lb (20 oz) for a UK pint, at room temperature.
How many pints are in a pound of strawberries?
About 1.4 US dry pints of whole berries. Sliced berries pack more tightly, so you get fewer pints.
Is a pint of milk heavier than a pint of water?
Yes, by about 3%. A US pint of whole milk is about 1.07 lb and a UK pint is about 1.29 lb.
How many pints are in 5 lb of flour?
About 9 US pints (18 cups), measuring flour spooned and levelled at 125 g per cup.
Sources
- NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C: US liquid pint = 28.875 in³ (473.18 mL); US dry pint = 33.6 in³ (550.61 mL).
- UK Units of Measurement Regulations 1995: imperial gallon = 4.54609 L, so a pint is 568.26 mL.
- 21 CFR 135.110, Ice cream and frozen custard: minimum 4.5 lb per gallon.
- USDA FoodData Central: cup weights for berries, cherry tomatoes, flour, sugar and butter.
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