How many short tons are in 1 pound?

1 pound equals 0.0005 short tons, using the exact defined conversion factor rather than an estimate.

How do I convert pound to short ton?

Multiply the pound value by 0.0005. The converter above does this instantly to whatever precision you set.

How do I convert short ton back to pound?

Use the reverse factor: 1 short ton equals 2,000 pounds. You can also use the swap control in the converter above to flip the direction instantly.

Short ton (ton) is a unit of mass/weight.

Is the pound to short ton conversion exact?

Yes. The avoirdupois pound is legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms, fixed by international treaty in 1959. That fixed definition is what the converter above uses, so any rounding you see is a display choice, not a limitation of the math.

Pounds to Short tons Converter

Q: What is a pound?

Pound (lb) measures mass. The avoirdupois pound is legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms, fixed by international treaty in 1959. It is classified as a US/imperial customary unit.

About Converting Pounds to Short tons

Weight conversions between Pound and Short ton come up constantly in everyday commerce, shipping, and cooking, since US packaging is usually labeled in pounds while most of the rest of the world uses kilograms. Pound is most often used for body weight and food retail packaging in the united states.

Formula

short tons = pounds × 0.0005

This factor comes from each unit's defined relationship to the category's base unit: 1 pound equals 0.45359237 base units, and 1 short ton equals 907.18474 base units, so dividing one by the other gives the direct pound-to-short ton factor of 0.0005.

Simple example

1 lb × 0.0005 = 0.0005 ton

1 pound = 0.0005 short tons.

Real-world example

50 lb × 0.0005 = 0.025 ton

50 pounds = 0.025 short tons.

Conversion table

Pound (lb)	Short ton (ton)
1 lb	0.0005 ton
5 lb	0.0025 ton
10 lb	0.005 ton
25 lb	0.0125 ton
50 lb	0.025 ton
100 lb	0.05 ton

Reverse conversion: Short ton to Pound

0.0005 ton × 2000 = 1 lb

0.0005 short tons = 1 pound.

pounds = short tons × 2000

For a page dedicated to this direction, see Short ton to Pound.

Understanding the Pound

Pound (lb) measures mass. The avoirdupois pound is legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms, fixed by international treaty in 1959. It is classified as a US/imperial customary unit.

Where it's used: United States (primary mass/weight unit) United Kingdom (informal and some retail use) Various Caribbean and Pacific territories with historical UK/US ties

Pound-mass vs. pound-force. This page converts pound-mass (lbm), a unit of mass. Pound-force (lbf) is a separate unit measuring the force gravity exerts on one pound-mass, used in engineering contexts like pounds per square inch.

Uses of the Pound today

Body weight and food retail packaging in the United States
Postal, parcel, and freight weight in US shipping and logistics
Pound-force (lbf) and its derivatives (psi, foot-pounds) in US engineering and aerospace

History of the Pound

Unlike the kilogram's single documented birth in revolutionary France, the pound's history is a long, layered narrowing of competing regional standards. The avoirdupois pound — ancestor of today's standard — emerged among London merchants in the early 14th century (recorded use around 1303), used for weighing wool and other bulk goods under the system merchants called 'avoir de pois,' Old French for 'goods of weight.' Its 16-ounce structure suited large-scale trade better than the 12-ounce troy pound used for precious metals.

Wool merchants used a related 'wool pound' of about 6,992 grains — close enough to 7,000 that Elizabeth I's government formally fixed the avoirdupois pound at exactly 7,000 grains in 1588, the value still used today. Britain and the US then refined their physical standards separately over the following centuries, leaving small discrepancies between them.

Those discrepancies were resolved on 1 July 1959, when the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa signed the International Yard and Pound Agreement, fixing the pound at exactly 0.45359237 kg and the yard at exactly 0.9144 m. The US National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) adopted the value immediately; the UK followed via its Weights and Measures Act 1963 — the value used by virtually every country today.

Historical origin. Pound was not the invention of a single named person; it developed through the process described above.

Understanding the Short ton (ton)

A US short ton is 2,000 pounds.

Pound — sources

NIST — International yard and pound, Federal Register notice (1959) — Official 1959 refinement of the yard and pound values adopted by the US National Bureau of Standards.
Encyclopaedia Britannica — 'Pound (unit of weight)' — History of the Tower, troy, and avoirdupois pounds and their standardization in England.
UK Weights and Measures Act 1963, s.1(1) — Statutory UK definition of the pound as exactly 0.45359237 kilogram.

Pounds to Short tons Converter — lb to ton

Mass/Weight Converter