Height Converter
Convert height between feet and inches, decimal feet, total inches, centimeters and metres. The calculator uses exact unit definitions, normalizes feet-and-inches entries, and shows decimal and practical fractional-inch formats.
- Five height input formats
- Exact rational arithmetic
- Automatic feet-inch normalization
- Fractions from 1/2 to 1/64 inch
Convert Your Height
Choose the format you have, enter a positive height, and review every common equivalent. Conversion factors stay exact until the selected display rounding is applied.
Exact unit definitions applied to 5 ft 8 in.
Calculation Steps
- Convert 5 ft to 60 in, then add 8 in for 68 total inches.
- Multiply 68 in by exactly 2.54 cm/in.
- The exact metric height is 172.72 cm, or 1.7272 m.
- The selected 1/8-inch fraction is already exact.
The unit factors are exact. Decimal-place and fractional-inch settings affect presentation only; they do not improve the original measurement.
How to Use This Height Converter
- Select the input format. Choose feet and inches, decimal feet, total inches, centimeters or metres.
- Enter the height. Feet must be a whole number. The inches field accepts a decimal, a fraction such as 7/8, or a mixed number such as 8 1/2. Other modes accept a decimal or scientific-notation value.
- Set decimal precision. Choose decimal places or significant figures, enter the count, and select the tie rule.
- Set fractional-inch precision. Choose the nearest 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 or 1/64 inch.
- Press Convert Height. Review the normalized feet-and-inches form, decimal feet, total inches, centimeters, metres, millimetres and exact calculation steps.
- Copy or reset. Copy the active result or restore the 5 ft 8 in example.
The converter requires a height greater than zero and does not assign a typical, healthy or expected range. It changes units only. If you enter 12 or more inches with a feet value, the calculator carries complete groups of 12 inches into feet and clearly labels the normalization.
Height Conversion Formulas
The international foot and inch have exact metric definitions. One foot equals exactly 12 inches. One inch equals exactly 2.54 centimeters, and 100 centimeters equal one metre. These relationships support every mode in the calculator.
Feet and inches to centimeters
First turn the feet portion into inches, then add the remaining inches. Multiply the total by 2.54 only once. For 5 ft 8 in, total inches are 5 × 12 + 8 = 68. Multiplying 68 by 2.54 gives exactly 172.72 cm.
Centimeters to feet and inches
Divide total inches by 12 to get whole feet. The remainder is the inches portion. Because 50/127 is the exact reciprocal of 2.54, most metric heights produce a repeating decimal number of inches. The selected fractional-inch increment provides a practical rounded form.
Metres and decimal feet
The calculator performs these operations as exact rational arithmetic. It does not shorten 2.54 to 2.5 or 0.3937007874 to 0.39.
Worked Height Conversion Examples
Example 1: Convert 5 ft 8 in to centimeters
Five feet equals 60 inches. Add 8 inches to get 68 inches. Multiply by 2.54, giving exactly 172.72 cm. Divide by 100 for 1.7272 m.
Example 2: Convert 180 cm to feet and inches
Divide 180 by 2.54 to get approximately 70.8661417 total inches. Sixty inches make 5 feet, leaving about 10.8661417 inches. Rounded to the nearest 1/8 inch, the height is 5 ft 10 7/8 in. Rounded to the nearest whole inch, it is 5 ft 11 in.
Example 3: Convert 1.75 m to feet and inches
Multiply 1.75 by 100 to get exactly 175 cm. That equals approximately 68.8976378 inches, or 5 feet plus about 8.8976378 inches. At the nearest 1/16 inch, the practical result is 5 ft 8 7/8 in.
Example 4: Convert 67.5 inches to metric height
Multiply 67.5 by 2.54 to get exactly 171.45 cm. This is 1.7145 m. The same height is exactly 5 ft 7 1/2 in.
Common Feet and Inches to Centimeters Chart
Each centimeter value below is exact for the listed whole-inch height because 2.54 cm per inch is exact.
| Feet and inches | Total inches | Centimeters | Metres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 ft 6 in | 54 in | 137.16 cm | 1.3716 m |
| 4 ft 8 in | 56 in | 142.24 cm | 1.4224 m |
| 4 ft 10 in | 58 in | 147.32 cm | 1.4732 m |
| 5 ft 0 in | 60 in | 152.40 cm | 1.5240 m |
| 5 ft 2 in | 62 in | 157.48 cm | 1.5748 m |
| 5 ft 4 in | 64 in | 162.56 cm | 1.6256 m |
| 5 ft 6 in | 66 in | 167.64 cm | 1.6764 m |
| 5 ft 8 in | 68 in | 172.72 cm | 1.7272 m |
| 5 ft 10 in | 70 in | 177.80 cm | 1.7780 m |
| 6 ft 0 in | 72 in | 182.88 cm | 1.8288 m |
| 6 ft 2 in | 74 in | 187.96 cm | 1.8796 m |
| 6 ft 4 in | 76 in | 193.04 cm | 1.9304 m |
| 6 ft 6 in | 78 in | 198.12 cm | 1.9812 m |
How Feet and Inches Are Normalized
A conventional feet-and-inches height keeps the inches portion below 12. The same total height can still be entered in another form. For example, 5 ft 14 in, 6 ft 2 in, 74 total inches and 6.1666... decimal feet represent the same length.
The converter accepts a nonnegative inches portion of any size. It first calculates total inches, then divides by 12 to rebuild the normalized result. Fraction rounding happens after this exact normalization. If rounding pushes 11 15/16 inches to 12 inches, the display carries the value into the next foot instead of showing an invalid 12-inch remainder.
The inches field also accepts exact fractions. Entries such as 7/8 and 10 3/4 are stored as rational numbers, so their fraction does not pass through a binary floating-point approximation.
Exact Factors, Display Rounding and Measurement Precision
The unit definitions are exact, but a measured height is not automatically exact. A wall mark, tape measure, stadiometer or self-reported value has a resolution and measurement method. Converting a value into more digits does not add information that was absent from the original reading.
- Exact factor: 1 ft = 12 in and 1 in = 2.54 cm by definition.
- Exact calculation: the typed decimal or fraction is converted without shortening the factor.
- Decimal display: centimeters, metres, millimetres, inches and decimal feet are rounded to your selected decimal places or significant figures.
- Fraction display: the feet-and-inches output is rounded once from exact total inches to your selected inch increment.
- Measurement report: the suitable final precision depends on how the original height was measured and why it is being used.
The default tie rule is nearest, ties to even. In an exact halfway case, it selects the result with an even retained digit or tick. The alternate rule sends exact ties away from zero. Both rules agree on values that are not exact midpoints.
How to Measure Standing Height More Consistently
Conversion quality starts with the source measurement. For a basic standing-height check, remove shoes and bulky headwear, use firm level flooring, and stand against a flat vertical surface. Keep feet flat, legs straight, shoulders level and eyes looking forward. Place a rigid flat object at a right angle to the wall and lower it to the crown of the head, then mark and measure the vertical distance.
Professional anthropometry uses a stadiometer and a defined head position, often described as the Frankfort horizontal plane. A home wall method is less controlled. Hair, shoes, carpet, posture, a tilted book and a sloping floor can change the reading. Measure in the same way when comparing values over time.
Standing height and recumbent length are different procedures. They should not be substituted silently in child growth records. This converter changes units only and does not adjust one measurement method into another.
Common Height Conversion Mistakes
- Treating 5 ft 8 in as 5.8 ft. Eight inches are 8/12 of a foot, so 5 ft 8 in equals about 5.6667 ft, not 5.8 ft.
- Multiplying feet directly by 2.54. Convert feet to inches first, or multiply feet by exactly 30.48.
- Dividing centimeters by 12. Twelve relates inches to feet. Convert centimeters to inches with 2.54 before dividing by 12.
- Using a shortened factor. The exact centimeter-to-inch multiplier is 50/127, not exactly 0.39.
- Leaving 12 or more inches unnormalized. Carry each full group of 12 inches into the feet value.
- Rounding twice. Keep the exact intermediate value and round only the final decimal or fraction display.
- Reading a unit conversion as a health assessment. The answer does not determine growth, fitness, BMI or medical status.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert feet and inches to centimeters?
Multiply feet by 12, add the remaining inches, then multiply total inches by exactly 2.54. For example, 5 ft 8 in is 68 inches, which equals exactly 172.72 cm.
How do I convert centimeters to feet and inches?
Divide centimeters by 2.54 to get total inches. Divide the whole-inch portion by 12 for feet, then use the remainder as inches. Round the remainder only at the end.
How tall is 170 cm in feet and inches?
170 cm is approximately 66.9291 inches, or 5 ft 6.9291 in. Rounded to the nearest 1/8 inch, it is 5 ft 6 7/8 in. Rounded to the nearest whole inch, it is 5 ft 7 in.
How tall is 180 cm in feet and inches?
180 cm is approximately 70.8661 inches, or 5 ft 10.8661 in. Rounded to the nearest 1/8 inch, it is 5 ft 10 7/8 in. Rounded to the nearest whole inch, it is 5 ft 11 in.
Is 5 ft 8 in the same as 5.8 feet?
No. Five feet eight inches equals 5 + 8/12 feet, or approximately 5.6667 feet. A value of 5.8 feet equals 5 ft 9.6 in.
Is one inch exactly 2.54 centimeters?
Yes. The international inch is defined as exactly 25.4 millimeters, which is exactly 2.54 centimeters. One international foot is therefore exactly 30.48 centimeters.
Can I enter a fraction of an inch?
Yes. In feet-and-inches mode, enter a decimal, a simple fraction such as 7/8, or a mixed value such as 8 1/2. The converter keeps the fraction exact internally.
What happens if I enter more than 12 inches?
The calculator accepts the value and normalizes it. Each complete group of 12 inches becomes one additional foot, so 5 ft 14 in becomes 6 ft 2 in.
Why do different converters show slightly different answers?
They may use different display precision or fraction increments. A correct converter should use the exact 2.54 cm per inch definition and round only the final display.
Does this converter assess whether a height is healthy?
No. It converts units only. It does not interpret age, sex, growth, BMI, health, athletic eligibility or medical status.
Calculation Method and Review Basis
The foot, inch and metric relationships were checked against NIST length guidance, the 2026 NIST Handbook 44 conversion tables, and the BIPM metre definition. Standing-height guidance was reviewed against the CDC height-measurement instructions and the NHANES Anthropometry Procedures Manual.
Measurement and health disclaimer: This tool converts a positive typed height with exact unit factors. Rounded outputs do not establish measurement accuracy, growth status, BMI, health, eligibility or a clinical conclusion. Use a suitable measurement method and follow the required professional protocol for medical, research, sport, safety or regulated decisions.