Convert liters to gallons

1 liter equals 0.26417205 us gallons. Enter a value below to convert instantly.

Litres to US gallons is a fuel, container and beverage conversion — and the one where the word 'gallon' has to be pinned down first. This page uses the US liquid gallon of exactly 3.785411784 litres. The Imperial gallon still used in the UK for some purposes is 4.54609 L, about 20% larger.

Value

From

1 L

0.26417205 gal (US)

Multiply the number of liters by 0.264172052358 to get us gallons. How this is calculated

Decimals

Need the other direction? Convert us gallon to liter →

Formula

Multiply the number of liters by 0.264172052358 to get us gallons.

Step by step

Start with 1 L.
Multiply by the conversion factor 0.264172052358.
1 × 0.264172052358 = 0.26417205 gal (US).

Liters to US Gallons conversion table

Conversion table from Liters to US Gallons
Liters (L)	US Gallons (gal (US))
1	0.26417205
2	0.5283441
3	0.79251616
5	1.3208603
10	2.6417205
20	5.283441
50	13.208603
100	26.417205
500	132.08603
1,000	264.17205

Where liters and us gallons are used together

Fuel prices and tank sizes

Comparing a US pump price per gallon against a European price per litre requires this conversion before any currency conversion. A 15-gallon tank holds 56.8 litres; the same car sold in Europe lists the capacity as 57 L.

Aquariums and water tanks

Tank volumes are quoted in gallons in the US and litres elsewhere, and dosing for water treatment is per unit volume. A 55-gallon tank is 208 L — get the conversion wrong and the dose is out by whatever factor you missed.

Beverage and container sizes

A US gallon of milk is 3.79 L, while the nearest metric container is usually a round 4 L. They are close enough to look interchangeable on a shelf and different enough to matter in a recipe scaled from one to the other.

Paint and coating coverage

Coverage is quoted in square feet per gallon or square metres per litre. Converting both the area and the volume — not just one of them — is what makes the two figures comparable.

Everyday liters worth knowing

Values people actually look up, with the reason each one comes up. Every figure is calculated with the same engine as the converter above.

Liter (L)	US Gallon (gal (US))	What it is
1	0.26417205	The base conversion
3.7854118	1	Exactly one US gallon
5	1.3208603	A jerrycan
20	5.283441	A large fuel container
50	13.208603	A typical car fuel tank
100	26.417205	A round figure
200	52.83441	A large aquarium
1,000	264.17205	One cubic metre

How these two units are defined

A litre is one cubic decimetre — exactly 0.001 m³. The US liquid gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches, which works out to exactly 3.785411784 L. The Imperial gallon, redefined in 1985 as exactly 4.54609 L, is a different unit that shares the name. Both split into four quarts and eight pints, but a US pint is 473 mL against an Imperial pint's 568 mL, so the whole family of subdivisions differs too.

Rounding and precision

The factor is exact, so precision follows the input. Fuel volumes are measured to about 0.01 gallon at the pump, so two decimals is the practical ceiling. Where a figure will be compared against a legal limit — a container capacity, a shipping restriction on flammable liquids — check which gallon the limit is written in before converting, because the 20% US–Imperial gap is far larger than any rounding you might worry about.

Mistakes people make with this conversion

Using the wrong gallon

A US gallon is 3.785 L and an Imperial gallon is 4.546 L. Applying the US factor to a UK figure understates the volume by about 17%, which is the single largest error available in this conversion.
Mixing US and Imperial subdivisions

A US pint is 16 US fluid ounces (473 mL); an Imperial pint is 20 Imperial fluid ounces (568 mL). Even the fluid ounces differ — 29.57 mL against 28.41 mL.
Converting dry volumes with a liquid factor

The US dry gallon is a separate unit of about 4.405 L, used for produce. It is rare, but it does appear in agricultural figures.

Sources for this page

Special Publication 811 — Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI) NIST (US National Institute of Standards and Technology) · Conversion factors between US customary and SI units, and the rounding and significant-figure conventions this site follows.
Publications and Documentary Standards (NIST Handbook 44, Handbook 133) NIST Office of Weights and Measures · US legal metrology — the handbooks that define commercial weighing and measuring requirements adopted by all 50 states.

Content on this page last reviewed 12 August 2026. Spotted an error? Report it — see also how these values are calculated.

Convert Liter to other volume units

1 L expressed in every other volume unit on this site.

Liter L 1
Milliliter mL 1,000
Centiliter cL 100
Deciliter dL 10
Dekaliter daL 0.1
Hectoliter hL 0.01
Kiloliter kL 0.001
Microliter µL 1,000,000
Nanoliter nL 1,000,000,000
Picoliter pL 1,000,000,000,000
Femtoliter fL 1,000,000,000,000,000
Attoliter aL 1e+18
Megaliter ML 0.000001
Gigaliter GL 1e-9
Petaliter PL 1e-15
Exaliter EL 1e-18
Dekastere dast 0.0001
Metric Cup cup (metric) 4
Metric Tablespoon tbsp (metric) 66.666667
Metric Teaspoon tsp (metric) 200
Cubic Meter m³ 0.001
Cubic Kilometer km³ 1e-12
Cubic Centimeter cm³ 1,000
Cubic Millimeter mm³ 1,000,000
Drop gtt 20,000
Cubic Mile mi³ 2.3991276e-10
Cubic Yard yd³ 0.0013079506
Cubic Foot ft³ 0.035314667
Cubic Inch in³ 61.023744
Hundred Cubic Feet ccf 0.00035314667
Ton Register RT 0.00035314667
Acre-foot ac·ft 8.1071319e-7
Acre-inch ac·in 0.0000097285583
Cord cord 0.00027589583
Cord Foot cord ft 0.0022071667
Board Foot bf 0.423776
US Gallon gal (US) 0.26417205
US Quart qt (US) 1.0566882
US Pint pt (US) 2.1133764
US Cup cup (US) 4.2267528
US Gill gi (US) 8.4535057
US Fluid Ounce fl oz (US) 33.814023
US Tablespoon tbsp (US) 67.628045
US Teaspoon tsp (US) 202.88414
US Dessertspoon dstspn (US) 101.44207
US Fluid Dram fl dr (US) 270.51218
US Minim min (US) 16,230.731
US Barrel (oil) bbl (oil) 0.0062898108
US Barrel (liquid) bbl (liq) 0.0083864144
US Barrel (federal, beer) bbl (beer) 0.0085216791
US Hogshead hhd (US) 0.0041932072
Tun tun 0.0010483018
US Bushel bu (US) 0.028377593
US Peck pk (US) 0.11351037
US Dry Gallon gal (US dry) 0.22702075
US Dry Quart qt (US dry) 0.90808298
US Dry Pint pt (US dry) 1.816166
US Barrel (dry) bbl (dry) 0.0086484898
Imperial Gallon gal (UK) 0.21996925
Imperial Quart qt (UK) 0.87987699
Imperial Pint pt (UK) 1.759754
Imperial Cup cup (UK) 3.519508
Imperial Gill gi (UK) 7.0390159
Imperial Fluid Ounce fl oz (UK) 35.19508
Imperial Tablespoon tbsp (UK) 56.312128
Imperial Teaspoon tsp (UK) 168.93638
Imperial Fluid Dram fl dr (UK) 281.56064
Imperial Minim min (UK) 16,893.638
Imperial Bushel bu (UK) 0.027496156
Imperial Peck pk (UK) 0.10998462
Imperial Dessertspoon dstspn (UK) 84.468191
Imperial Barrel bbl (UK) 0.0061102569
Acre-foot (US survey) ac·ft (US) 8.1070833e-7
Cor (Biblical) cor 0.0045454545
Homer (Biblical) homer 0.0045454545
Bath (Biblical) bath 0.045454545
Hin (Biblical) hin 0.27272727
Cab (Biblical) cab 0.81818182
Log (Biblical) log 3.2727273
Doe 되 0.55435235
Hop 홉 5.5435235
Jak 작 55.435235
Mal 말 0.055435235
Seom 섬 0.0055435235
Earth's Volume V⊕ 9.2336103e-25

About the liter

The liter (L) is a Metric unit of volume.

About the us gallon

The us gallon (gal (US)) is a US unit of volume.

Related conversions

Frequently asked questions

Is this a US gallon or an Imperial gallon?

This page uses the US liquid gallon of exactly 3.785411784 L. For the Imperial gallon of 4.54609 L, use the UK gallon converter — the two differ by about 20%.

How many litres is a 15-gallon fuel tank?

15 US gallons is 56.78 L. European specifications for the same vehicle typically list 57 L, rounding the same capacity metrically.

How do I compare fuel prices per litre and per gallon?

Multiply the per-litre price by 3.785 to get a per-US-gallon price, then convert currency. Doing it in the other order works too, but converting volume first keeps the two numbers directly comparable.

How many us gallons are in a liter?

One liter equals 0.26417205 us gallons.

How do you convert liters to us gallons?