Height conversion chart
| Feet/Inches | Inches | cm | Meters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4'0" | 48 | 121.9 | 1.22 |
| 4'2" | 50 | 127 | 1.27 |
| 4'4" | 52 | 132.1 | 1.32 |
| 4'6" | 54 | 137.2 | 1.37 |
| 4'8" | 56 | 142.2 | 1.42 |
| 4'10" | 58 | 147.3 | 1.47 |
| 5'0" | 60 | 152.4 | 1.52 |
| 5'2" | 62 | 157.5 | 1.57 |
| 5'4" | 64 | 162.6 | 1.63 |
| 5'6" | 66 | 167.6 | 1.68 |
| 5'8" | 68 | 172.7 | 1.73 |
| 5'10" | 70 | 177.8 | 1.78 |
| 6'0" | 72 | 182.9 | 1.83 |
| 6'2" | 74 | 188 | 1.88 |
| 6'4" | 76 | 193 | 1.93 |
| 6'6" | 78 | 198.1 | 1.98 |
| 6'8" | 80 | 203.2 | 2.03 |
| 6'10" | 82 | 208.3 | 2.08 |
| 7'0" | 84 | 213.4 | 2.13 |
How to measure your height accurately
DMV forms, passport applications, and driver's licenses ask for height in feet and inches, but most people guess, and a guessed number can easily be off. If you want a measurement you can trust on a medical form or a fitness app, take two minutes and do it the same way a doctor's office does it.
- Take off your shoes and stand on a hard floor, not carpet. Carpet compresses under your weight and makes the reading less reliable.
- Stand against a flat wall with your heels, glutes, shoulder blades, and the back of your head touching the wall. Look straight ahead, not up or down. Pulling your chin up adds artificial height.
- Use a flat object like a hardcover book or a small ruler on top of your head. Keep it parallel to the floor and slide it down until it rests on your crown.
- Mark the wall at the bottom edge of the book, step away, and measure from the floor to the mark with a tape measure.
- Measure in the morning. Spinal disc compression makes you shorter by the end of the day, so morning measurements are the most accurate baseline.
This calculator accepts fractions of an inch or centimeter; the feet-and-inches result is rounded to the nearest whole inch. If a form asks for a particular rounding, follow the form.
Average height in the U.S.
| Adults 20 and over | Inches | cm | Nearest ft/in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 68.9 | 175.0 | 5'9" |
| Women | 63.5 | 161.3 | 5'4" |
Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, FastStats: Body Measurements, measured August 2021–August 2023. The centimeter and feet-and-inch columns are converted from CDC's inches.
Why your height changes during the day
You are not quite the same height at night as in the morning. The discs between the vertebrae in your spine are water-rich cushions, and while you are upright your body weight slowly squeezes them, so you lose a little height over the day.
When you lie down at night, the load comes off and the discs recover, so you are back to your full height by morning. A few practical implications:
- Measure at the same time of day if you are comparing readings, ideally in the morning.
- A later appointment can record you as slightly shorter than a morning one. The difference is real, not a measurement error.
Separately, many people lose some height permanently in later life, as posture changes, discs thin and bone density falls. That change doesn't reverse overnight.
What actually determines adult height
Genetics is the headline answer. NIH's MedlinePlus Genetics says scientists estimate that about 80 percent of a person's height is determined by the DNA variations they inherit, with a smaller contribution from the environment, such as nutrition (source).
| Factor | How much it matters |
|---|---|
| Genetics | About 80% (MedlinePlus). No single "tall gene": more than 700 gene variants have been found so far. |
| Childhood nutrition | The main environmental factor MedlinePlus names. |
| Childhood illness | Severe or long-lasting illness while a child is growing can hold growth back. |
| Hormone disorders | Growth hormone deficiency, thyroid disorders, and early puberty all alter final height. |
The simplest prediction is Tanner's mid-parental height: add the parents' heights, add 13 cm for a boy or subtract 13 cm for a girl, and halve the total. That is the parents' average plus or minus 6.5 cm (about 2.6 inches), roughly half the gap between average adult men and women (CDC's U.S. averages differ by 5.4 inches). For a father of 5'10" and a mother of 5'4", it gives 176.7 cm (about 5'10") for a son and 163.7 cm (about 5'4") for a daughter.
Treat that as an illustration, not a forecast: it is a centre point with a wide range either side, and children regularly finish well above or below it. CDC's growth charts are the official U.S. reference for how a child is growing, and a paediatrician is the right person to read them.
Weight in stones: stone to pounds conversion
In the UK and Ireland, weight is often expressed in stones. One stone equals 14 pounds (6.35 kg). Here's a quick reference:
| Stones | Pounds (lbs) | Kilograms (kg) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 stone | 84 lbs | 38.1 kg |
| 7 stone | 98 lbs | 44.5 kg |
| 8 stone | 112 lbs | 50.8 kg |
| 9 stone | 126 lbs | 57.2 kg |
| 10 stone | 140 lbs | 63.5 kg |
| 11 stone | 154 lbs | 69.9 kg |
| 12 stone | 168 lbs | 76.2 kg |
| 14 stone | 196 lbs | 88.9 kg |
For example, 6 stone equals 84 lbs or 38.1 kg. To convert stones to pounds, multiply by 14. To convert stones to kg, multiply by about 6.35. The stone is still commonly used for body weight in the UK, while the US uses pounds and most other countries use kilograms.
Frequently asked questions
How do you convert feet and inches to centimeters?
Turn the height into inches first (feet × 12, plus the leftover inches), then multiply by 2.54, which is exact by definition. So 5'8" is 68 inches, and 68 × 2.54 = 172.72 cm.
What is the average height for men and women?
CDC's National Center for Health Statistics puts the average U.S. man aged 20 or over at 68.9 inches (175.0 cm, about 5'9") and the average woman at 63.5 inches (161.3 cm, about 5'4"), from measurements taken August 2021–August 2023.
How do you measure height accurately?
Stand barefoot on a flat surface against a wall. Keep heels, buttocks, shoulder blades, and the back of your head touching the wall. Look straight ahead (the Frankfurt plane, the bottom of the eye socket level with the ear canal). Have someone place a flat object on your head touching the wall, and mark the spot. Measure from floor to mark.
When do you stop growing taller?
Growth in height stops once the growth plates, the areas of cartilage near the ends of the long bones, harden into bone after puberty. Girls usually reach that point earlier than boys. If a child seems to be growing unusually early, late or slowly, a paediatrician can check them against growth charts.
What factors affect height?
NIH's MedlinePlus says scientists estimate that about 80 percent of a person's height comes down to inherited DNA differences, spread across many genes rather than one. The rest is environment, with nutrition the example it gives; illness and hormone problems during childhood can also hold growth back.
How accurate are height predictors for children?
Only roughly. The mid-parental method gives a centre point with a wide range either side, and a child can end up well outside it. Methods that also use the child's own height and weight, such as Khamis-Roche, or a bone-age X-ray read by a doctor, narrow it down. None of them is a guarantee.
What is the average height by age for children?
It varies a lot between children of the same age, so the official reference is a range, not one number: CDC's growth charts show height-for-age percentiles for boys and girls. A doctor plots a child on them over several visits to see whether growth is on track.
Does height affect BMI calculation?
Yes. BMI divides weight by height squared, so an error of an inch or two in the height you enter changes the result noticeably. Measure rather than guess before using our BMI calculator.
What is the formula to convert cm to feet and inches?
Divide the centimeters by 2.54 to get inches, then divide by 12: the whole number is feet and what is left over is inches. For 175 cm: 175 ÷ 2.54 = 68.9 inches, which is 5 feet and 8.9 inches, or 5'9" to the nearest inch.