How much meat do you get from a pig?

Short answer

A 250-lb hog comes home as about 125–140 lb of bone-in pork or 110–120 lb boneless — roughly half its live weight — before curing and smoking

A market hog dresses at about 70–75% of its live weight (K-State, UW–Madison, University of Maine), so a 250-lb hog hangs at roughly 175–185 lb. It loses another 3–5% in the cooler at a small plant (Maine), and bone-in retail cuts come back at 74–80% of the chilled carcass — boneless and closely trimmed at 65–70% (UW–Madison, K-State). That is about 125–140 lb of packaged bone-in pork or 110–120 lb boneless, 45–55% of the pig's live weight. Cured hams, bacon and sausage weigh less once they are cured and smoked, and no extension service publishes a figure for that loss.

The arithmetic

Hanging weight = live weight × dressing percent. UW–Madison's example: 250 lb × 70% = 175 lb. K-State puts a market hog at 70–75%; at 72% the same hog hangs at 180 lb.
Chilled carcass = hanging weight × (1 − cooler shrink). UW–Madison uses 3.5%: 175 × 96.5% ≈ 169 lb. Maine reports under 1% at large plants and 3–5% at small ones.
Take-home = chilled carcass × cutting yield. UW–Madison's table gives 74% for bone-in retail cuts and 65% for boneless, closely trimmed: 169 × 74% ≈ 125 lb, 169 × 65% ≈ 110 lb. K-State's ranges are 74–80% and 65–70%.
K-State runs its own example: a 285-lb hog at 72% is a 205-lb carcass — about 154 lb of bone-in cuts at 75%, or 133 lb boneless at 65%.

Why do published pork yields differ by 10–30 lb?

Each source starts from a different hog and a different step in the process.

Dressing percent: 70% in UW–Madison's example, 70–75% at K-State, 70–73% skin-on and 64–75% for heritage breeds at Maine. On a 250-lb hog that is 160–187 lb of carcass before anyone picks up a knife
Cooler shrink: 3.5% in UW–Madison's example; under 1% at large plants and 3–5% at small ones (Maine). A few pounds, but it is the step most online calculators leave out
Bone-in vs. boneless: 74–80% bone-in against 65–70% boneless and closely trimmed (UW–Madison, K-State) — about ten points, or roughly 17 lb on a 169-lb carcass. You are mostly giving up bone, not meat
UW–Madison's own example: It ends at 125 lb, which is what its table's 74% bone-in gives. The example's last step prints 67%, which would give 113 lb. We use the table's figures and show both bone-in and boneless

A hog is not one number. "Half its live weight" is a fine rule of thumb; the pounds in your freezer depend on how the processor trims and which cuts you ticked on the sheet.

Get the hanging weight off the processor's ticket — and ask whether it is hot or chilled — then run the calculator below with that number instead of an average.

What changes your number

Skin on or off. Most commercial pork is skinned. Skin is around 6% of live weight (University of Maine), and published dressing percentages are quoted including skin, so ask which your processor does.
Heritage vs. commercial. Slow-growing heritage hogs run 64–75% dressing (Maine) against 70–73% for commercial hogs — a wider spread, so a heritage pig is the one to measure instead of assume.
Market weight. Every 10 lb of live weight is about 7 lb more carcass at 72% and roughly 5–6 lb more in the freezer. A bigger hog is more meat, not a better percentage.
Curing and smoking. Hams and bacon lose weight in the cure and the smoke. Extension tables only cover fresh cuts, so ask the processor what a ham or a side of bacon typically weighs when it is done.
Freezer space. Most freezers hold 30–40 lb of meat per cubic foot (Kentucky ASC-179). 125–140 lb of pork is about 3–4¾ cubic feet — plan the freezer before the pickup day.

A number we won't give you

How much weight cured hams, bacon and sausage lose. Extension tables give yields for fresh bone-in and boneless cuts only, so the calculator stops there; get cured weights from your processor.

Packaged pork by live weight

Live weight	Carcass (72%)	Chilled (−3%)	Bone-in (74–80%)	Boneless (65–70%)
200 lb	144 lb	140 lb	104–112 lb	91–98 lb
250 lb	180 lb	175 lb	129–140 lb	114–123 lb
280 lb	202 lb	196 lb	145–157 lb	127–137 lb
300 lb	216 lb	210 lb	155–168 lb	137–147 lb

Assumes 72% dressing (K-State: 70–75%) and 3% cooler shrink (Maine: 3–5% at small plants), with cutting yields from UW–Madison and K-State. Your hog and your processor will differ — the calculator lets you change every figure.

Run your own numbers

Start from the live weight or the hanging weight on the processor's ticket, pick whole or half and bone-in or boneless, and put in the prices you were quoted. Cured and smoked weights are not included — no extension publishes them.

The animal

SpeciesThe weight you knowLive weight, whole animal (lb)Your shareCuts74–80% (UW–Madison, K-State) of the chilled carcassDressing (%)70–75% (K-State); 70–73% skin-on (Maine)Cooler / aging shrink (%)under 1% at large plants, 3–5% at small ones (Maine)

What it costs — your numbers, not ours

Price per lb hanging ($)What the farm charges. Leave 0 if it is your own animal.Kill fee, whole animal ($)Split by your share.Cut & wrap, $ per lb hanging

Prices start at $0 because no extension service publishes processing or share prices. Yields are the extension figures named beside each field; change them if your animal isn’t the typical one.

Meat in your freezer, whole pork

134 lb

Live weight, whole animal: 250 lb
Hanging weight, your whole: 180 lb
After cooler shrink: 175 lb
Take-home as % of hanging: 75%
Freezer space: 3.4–4.5 cu ft

Freezer space at 30–40 lb per cubic foot (University of Kentucky). Odd-shaped cuts and bones need the high end.

What it means for the cost per pound

Processors bill on the hanging weight but you eat the packaged pounds. On a 250-lb hog that is about 175–180 lb hanging against 125–140 lb packaged — so every dollar quoted per hanging pound becomes roughly $1.25–1.45 per packaged pound, before the kill fee. Put your processor's quote in the calculator, and see what the pig itself costs to raise in the cost-to-raise guide.

Then stop planning from averages

The calculator is the estimate. In Homestead Paradise the processing record takes the hanging weight off the ticket and shows the real pounds that came home and your real cost per packaged pound — feed included — so next year's price is set on your animal, not an average. 14-day free trial, no card.

Start your 14-day trial — no card

Keep planning

What does it cost to raise a pig for meat?How much meat do you get from the hanging weight?How much meat do you get from a steer?How much meat do you get from a lamb?What does it cost to raise a steer for beef?What does it cost to raise a lamb for meat?

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from a land-grant university extension service, a government agriculture or energy agency, or a breed registry — never from another blog.