13-gallon trash can dimensions

A 13-gallon kitchen trash can is typically 24 to 28 inches tall, 10 to 15 inches wide and 10 to 15 inches deep, with a rim circumference around 40 to 48 inches. Thirteen US gallons is 49.2 liters or 52 quarts. The variation is large because capacity is a volume, and the same volume can be tall and narrow or short and wide.

That is the honest answer, and the range is the point. If you need a can to fit a specific gap, the gallon figure will not tell you whether it fits — you need the actual dimensions of the actual model.

A worked example, with published figures

iTouchless publishes full dimensions for its 13-gallon sensor can, which makes it a useful reference point: 12.7 inches long, 10.7 inches wide, 27.3 inches high — and 35.7 inches high with the lid open. That last figure is the one people forget, and it is the one that decides whether a can works under a counter overhang or a wall cabinet.

The pattern in that table is consistent: a taller can has a smaller footprint and vice versa, because the volume has to go somewhere. In a galley kitchen a tall rectangular can is almost always the right shape; in a kitchen with a long empty wall, an extra-wide one is easier to use because the throat is wider. Which shape suits which spot.

Four numbers, and only one of them is the one people usually check.

1. Lid-open height. The single most-missed measurement. A step can needs roughly a foot of clear air above it, and the iTouchless figure above — 27.3 inches closed, 35.7 open — shows how much difference the lid makes. Measure from the floor to whatever is above the spot before you buy.
2. Rim circumference. Decides whether a bag stays on. Around 40 to 48 inches on a 13-gallon can.
3. Footprint including the pedal. A pedal projects forward two to four inches beyond the body. In a narrow kitchen that is the difference between a walkway and an obstacle, and it is never in the headline dimensions.
4. Internal height. Floor of the can to the underside of the rim, which is what a bag has to reach plus six to eight inches of fold.

If a manufacturer only publishes external height, width and depth — which is common — you can still work out the rim circumference approximately from the width and depth, but the lid-open height you simply cannot infer. Assume about eight to ten inches more than the closed height, and verify before you commit if clearance is tight.

For every other size, the full conversion chart is here. If you are choosing a can rather than measuring one you already own, our 13-gallon picks are here.