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Height Converter
To convert a height in centimetres to feet and inches, divide by 2.54 to get inches, round, then split into feet of 12 inches. 170 cm is 66.93 inches, which rounds to 67, so 5 ft 7 in. Back the other way, 5 ft 7 in is 67 inches × 2.54 = 170.18 cm.
Type in either box.
| Feet and inches | Centimetres | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 4 in | 162.6 cm | 64 in |
| 5 ft 5 in | 165.1 cm | 65 in |
| 5 ft 6 in | 167.6 cm | 66 in |
| 5 ft 7 in | 170.2 cm | 67 in |
| 5 ft 8 in | 172.7 cm | 68 in |
| 5 ft 9 in | 175.3 cm | 69 in |
| 5 ft 10 in | 177.8 cm | 70 in |
Type in either side: centimetres, or feet and inches. The other side follows. The figures above are an example. Worked out in this browser and kept there; nothing is sent anywhere.
Type a height in centimetres, or in feet and inches, and the other side fills in. Round the inches to the nearest inch, half inch or tenth, and see the heights around yours in both units.
A height converter changes a person’s height between centimetres and feet and inches. It uses the exact factor 1 inch = 2.54 cm and 12 inches to the foot.
- No sign-up
- Nothing uploaded
- Exact factors
- Works offline
- Says when it rounds
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Directions | cm to feet and inches, and feet and inches to cm |
| Example | 170 cm = 66.93 in = 5 ft 7 in; 5 ft 7 in = 170.18 cm |
| Factor | 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly; 12 in = 1 ft |
| Range | 30 to 280 cm (1 ft to 9 ft 2 in) |
| Rounding | Nearest inch, half inch or tenth, applied to the total |
| Where your numbers are kept | This browser only |
How to convert cm to feet and inches
The same steps work with a pencil, and the converter shows each one.
Divide by 2.54
170 cm ÷ 2.54 = 66.93 inches.
Round the inches
To the nearest inch for most uses: 67.
Divide by 12
67 ÷ 12 = 5 feet with 7 inches left over.
Write it as feet and inches
5 ft 7 in, or 5′ 7″.
Going back
Feet × 12 plus inches, times 2.54: 67 × 2.54 = 170.18 cm.
Check the neighbours
The table shows the heights an inch either side.
Who converts a height
People moving a height between a metric form and an imperial one.
Forms and applications
A visa or medical form in cm when you know your height in feet.
Dating and social profiles
A profile that asks in the other unit.
Sports rosters
Players listed in cm in Europe and in feet and inches in the US.
Parents
A child’s height from a clinic in cm, read in feet.
Online clothing
Size charts that give height in one unit only.
Writers and casting
A character or actor’s height in both.
Why some converters say 5 ft 12 in, and 5.7 ft is not 5 foot 7
A height converter has one job that is easy to get wrong: turning a number of inches into feet and inches when the inches are nearly a whole foot. 182.8 cm is 71.97 inches. Split into feet first and it is 5 feet and 11.97 inches, and if only the 11.97 is then rounded, the answer comes out as “5 ft 12 in”. Converters that do this are not rare. The right answer rounds the total first, 71.97 to 72 inches, and only then splits it: 6 ft 0 in.
| Height | Inches, exactly | Split, then round (wrong) | Round, then split (right) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 152.3 cm | 59.96 | 4 ft 12 in | 5 ft 0 in |
| 182.8 cm | 71.97 | 5 ft 12 in | 6 ft 0 in |
| 213.3 cm | 83.98 | 6 ft 12 in | 7 ft 0 in |
The second trap is decimal feet. Some forms and apps show a height as 5.7 ft, and people read it as 5 foot 7. It is not: 0.7 of a foot is 8.4 inches, so 5.7 ft is 5 ft 8.4 in, or 173.7 cm. If you type a decimal into the feet box and leave the inches empty, this converter works it out as decimal feet and says what it is in feet and inches, so the two readings cannot be mixed up.
A third, smaller one: metres typed as centimetres. 1.7 typed into the centimetre box is 1.7 cm, not a person. The converter refuses heights under 30 cm and, when the number looks like metres, says what it would be in centimetres.
Height tables in both directions
The two directions answer different questions, so they get different tables. Centimetres to feet and inches is what a European or Asian measurement looks like to an American or British reader; feet and inches to centimetres is the reverse, for a form or a medical record that only takes metric.
| Height | Nearest inch | To a tenth of an inch | Inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 cm | 4 ft 11 in | 4 ft 11.1 in | 59.1 in |
| 155 cm | 5 ft 1 in | 5 ft 1 in | 61 in |
| 160 cm | 5 ft 3 in | 5 ft 3 in | 63 in |
| 165 cm | 5 ft 5 in | 5 ft 5 in | 65 in |
| 170 cm | 5 ft 7 in | 5 ft 6.9 in | 66.9 in |
| 175 cm | 5 ft 9 in | 5 ft 8.9 in | 68.9 in |
| 180 cm | 5 ft 11 in | 5 ft 10.9 in | 70.9 in |
| 185 cm | 6 ft 1 in | 6 ft 0.8 in | 72.8 in |
| 190 cm | 6 ft 3 in | 6 ft 2.8 in | 74.8 in |
| 195 cm | 6 ft 5 in | 6 ft 4.8 in | 76.8 in |
| 200 cm | 6 ft 7 in | 6 ft 6.7 in | 78.7 in |
| Height | Centimetres | Metres |
|---|---|---|
| 4 ft 10 in | 147.3 cm | 1.47 m |
| 5 ft 0 in | 152.4 cm | 1.52 m |
| 5 ft 2 in | 157.5 cm | 1.57 m |
| 5 ft 4 in | 162.6 cm | 1.63 m |
| 5 ft 6 in | 167.6 cm | 1.68 m |
| 5 ft 8 in | 172.7 cm | 1.73 m |
| 5 ft 10 in | 177.8 cm | 1.78 m |
| 6 ft 0 in | 182.9 cm | 1.83 m |
| 6 ft 2 in | 188 cm | 1.88 m |
| 6 ft 4 in | 193 cm | 1.93 m |
| 6 ft 6 in | 198.1 cm | 1.98 m |
The centimetre values in the second table are rounded only to the nearest millimetre: every whole inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so the exact value never has more than two decimals (4 ft 10 in is exactly 147.32 cm). The first table cannot be: a whole number of centimetres is almost never a whole number of inches, so the nearest-inch column is rounded and the tenth-of-an-inch column shows by how much.
How precise a height really is
A conversion is only as good as the measurement it starts from, and for a person the measurement varies more than the arithmetic. Two tenths of an inch is half a centimetre, which is about the difference between measuring in shoes with thin soles and without them, or between standing straight and standing as you usually do.
| Source | Usually given to | So convert to |
|---|---|---|
| US driver’s licence or ID | Whole inches (5′-07″) | Nearest inch |
| UK and EU documents, medical records | Whole centimetres | Nearest centimetre, or 1 decimal |
| Clinic stadiometer | 1 mm (0.1 cm) | A tenth of an inch |
| Sports rosters and draft combines | Quarter or half inches | Nearest half inch |
| Self-reported on an app | Whole inches or centimetres | The same unit, no more precision |
Measure against a wall without shoes, heels together, with a flat object such as a book held level on the head, then mark and measure the wall. For a body measure that uses height, such as the BMI calculator, or a ratio such as waist-to-height ratio, both numbers must be in the same unit system; this converter gives the height in either.
What this converter does not do
This converts a height between units. It does not judge it. It carries no growth charts, no averages by country and no healthy ranges, and it does not predict a child’s adult height. Heights from 30 cm (1 ft) to 280 cm (9 ft 2 in) are accepted, a range that covers a newborn and the tallest person on record, Robert Wadlow, at 272 cm (8 ft 11.1 in). For other lengths, use the length converter.
| It does | It does not |
|---|---|
| Centimetres to feet and inches, and back | Say whether a height is tall or short |
| Round on the total, so never 5 ft 12 in | Give growth charts or percentiles |
| Spot decimal feet and metres typed as cm | Store or send your height anywhere |
This converter or a one-way one
What this page adds to a typical one-formula converter.
| This converter | A typical converter | |
|---|---|---|
| Both directions | In one tool: type in either side | One page per direction |
| Rounding carry | Total rounded first: 6 ft 0 in | Sometimes 5 ft 12 in |
| Decimal feet | 5.7 ft explained as 5 ft 8.4 in | Read as 5 ft 7 in, or not mentioned |
| Precision | Inch, half inch or tenth, your choice | Fixed |
| Nearby heights | Three inches either side, both units | None |
| Your height leaves the browser | Never | Varies |
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Frequently asked questions
How tall is 170 cm in feet and inches?
170 cm is 66.93 inches, which is 5 ft 6.93 in, or 5 ft 7 in to the nearest inch. In the other direction 5 ft 7 in is 170.18 cm, so the two are the same height to within 2 mm. To a tenth of an inch, 170 cm is 5 ft 6.9 in.
How do you convert cm to feet and inches?
Divide the centimetres by 2.54 to get inches, round to the precision you want, then divide by 12: the whole number is feet and the remainder is inches. 160 cm is 62.99 inches, which rounds to 63, so 5 ft 3 in. Round before you split, or you can end up with 12 inches.
How do you convert feet and inches to cm?
Multiply the feet by 12 and add the inches to get the total in inches, then multiply by 2.54. For 5 ft 10 in that is 70 inches × 2.54 = 177.8 cm. The result is exact, because an inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so any whole number of inches has an exact centimetre value.
Is 5.7 feet the same as 5 foot 7?
No. 5.7 feet means five and seven-tenths of a foot, and 0.7 of a foot is 8.4 inches, so 5.7 ft is 5 ft 8.4 in, about 173.7 cm. 5 foot 7 is 5 ft 7 in, 170.2 cm. Type 5.7 into the feet box with the inches empty and the converter shows the difference.
How tall is 6 feet in cm?
6 feet is 72 inches, and 72 × 2.54 = 182.88 cm, usually given as 183 cm. A height of 180 cm, often quoted as six foot in Europe, is 5 ft 10.9 in, more than an inch (1.13 in, 2.88 cm) short of six feet.
Why does my height show as 5 ft 12 in?
The converter split the height into feet before rounding the inches. 182.8 cm is 71.97 inches, which is 5 ft 11.97 in; rounding only the 11.97 gives 12. Round the total first and it is 72 inches, 6 ft 0 in. This converter always rounds the total.
How many cm is 5 foot 4?
5 ft 4 in is 64 inches, and 64 × 2.54 = 162.56 cm, so 162.6 cm to one decimal place or 163 cm to the nearest centimetre. The table under the converter lists the heights three inches either side of whichever height you type.
Should I round my height to the nearest inch or centimetre?
Round to the precision the measurement had. A height measured at home is good to about half a centimetre or a quarter of an inch, so the nearest inch or whole centimetre is honest. A clinic stadiometer reads to a millimetre, which supports a tenth of an inch.
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