Height converter: feet and inches to cm

Height in feet and inches has two parts, so convert the total inches first:

• total inches = feet × 12 + inches
• cm = total inches × 2.54

Example: 5′10″ = 5 × 12 + 10 = 70 in, and 70 × 2.54 = 177.8 cm.

To go from centimeters back: divide by 2.54 to get inches, then divide by 12. The whole number is feet, and the remainder is inches. 165 cm ÷ 2.54 = 64.96 in = 5 ft 4.96 in, so about 5′5″.

• Feet and inches for US driver's licenses, doctor's offices and dating profiles.
• Centimeters for passports and visa forms in many countries, international sizing charts and most of the world's medical records.
• Meters (1.78 m) for some European forms and sports stats.
• Total inches for clothing inseams and some medical charts.
• Decimal feet (5.83 ft) for spreadsheets and calculations.

The tool shows all five at once, so you can copy whichever a form asks for.

Most forms want a whole number. Round centimeters to the nearest whole cm and feet and inches to the nearest whole inch, unless the form asks for decimals. If a form wants meters with two decimals, 177.8 cm becomes 1.78 m.

• Treating 5.10 as 5′10″. In decimal feet, 5.10 ft is 5 feet 1.2 inches. Always enter feet and inches in separate boxes.
• Rounding too early. Round only at the end; 5′9.5″ is 176.5 cm, not 176.
• Mixing up the marks. ′ (single prime) means feet and ″ (double prime) means inches.

The result is shown to one decimal place, which matches the precision of a typical height measurement (about 1 mm).

Stand barefoot with your heels, back and head against a wall, looking straight ahead. Place a hardcover book flat on your head, mark where it meets the wall, and measure from the floor to the mark. Height is typically a little greater in the morning than in the evening, because the discs in your spine compress during the day. For BMI or other health calculations, the height you measure here can be entered directly. Everything is calculated in your browser.