Height Feet & Inches to CM Converter
Height converters that only accept decimal feet miss how people actually read a tape measure — 5 feet 9 inches, not 5.75 feet. Enter feet and inches separately and this tool converts to centimetres and metres using the exact factor 1 inch = 2.54 cm, with a precision you can set for medical or athletic contexts.
How to convert feet and inches to centimetres
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1
Enter feet
Type whole feet in the first field — no decimals needed.
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2
Enter inches
Type the remaining inches. Half and quarter inches (5.5, 5.25) are accepted.
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3
Read the centimetres
The output shows centimetres and metres simultaneously, rounded to one decimal by default.
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4
Toggle the direction
Flip the form to convert a centimetres value back into feet and inches in the traditional X' Y" notation.
Height conversion reference
Human height in English-speaking countries still dominates in feet and inches, while medical and scientific contexts use metric. The exact conversion is 1 inch = 2.54 cm (defined, not approximate, since 1959).
Common adult height conversions
| Feet & inches | Centimetres | Metres |
|---|---|---|
| 5’ 0“ | 152.4 cm | 1.524 m |
| 5’ 2“ | 157.5 cm | 1.575 m |
| 5’ 4“ | 162.6 cm | 1.626 m |
| 5’ 6“ | 167.6 cm | 1.676 m |
| 5’ 8“ | 172.7 cm | 1.727 m |
| 5’ 10“ | 177.8 cm | 1.778 m |
| 6’ 0“ | 182.9 cm | 1.829 m |
| 6’ 2“ | 188.0 cm | 1.880 m |
| 6’ 4“ | 193.0 cm | 1.930 m |
The formula
cm = (feet × 12 + inches) × 2.54
So a 5 ft 9 in person is (5 × 12 + 9) × 2.54 = 69 × 2.54 = 175.26 cm.
Where precision matters
- Passports and ID: centimetres rounded to nearest whole cm in most countries.
- Medical charts (paediatric): usually one decimal place, because 0.5 cm over a quarter matters for growth tracking.
- BMI calculation: use exact cm; rounding introduces error that changes BMI by up to 0.3.
- Athletics and fitness: whole centimetres are fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Passport forms round to the nearest whole centimetre for administrative simplicity. 5’7“ is exactly 170.18 cm, but issuing authorities either truncate or round to 170 depending on the country.
Type them as decimals: 5.5 for half an inch, 5.25 for a quarter, 5.75 for three-quarters. The tool accepts up to two decimals of inch precision.
Arithmetically yes, but the convention is to always reduce: write 6’ 0“ rather than 5’ 12“. If you enter 5 and 12, the tool normalises and displays 6’ 0“.
US clinical practice is inconsistent — paediatrics and public health usually record centimetres, while many adult practices still use inches. If you are filling a form that imports to an EHR, check which unit the field expects.
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