Height Converter
Centimeters to feet and inches, in the format people actually say, with the rounding boundaries made explicit.
Enter a number.
Nobody says 5.58 feet. Decimal feet is what most converters return and what no person has ever used to describe their height. This tool takes and gives feet and inches as two separate numbers, and tells you which whole inch you round to when you are near a boundary.
Why the boundary questions come up
Whole inches are 2.54 cm apart, so each one covers a band of centimeter values. 170 cm falls at 5 feet 6.93 inches, which is inside the 5 foot 7 band but only just: the changeover between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 7 happens at 169.545 cm. A centimeter either way moves you across.
That is why searches like "is 170 cm 5 foot 6 or 5 foot 7" exist at all. The tool shows the exact decimal inches rather than only the rounded figure, so you can see where you sit in the band.
Height conversion table
| Centimeters | Feet and inches (exact) | Nearest whole inch | Total inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 cm | 4 ft 11.06 in | 4 ft 11 in | 59.1 |
| 155 cm | 5 ft 1.02 in | 5 ft 1 in | 61.0 |
| 160 cm | 5 ft 2.99 in | 5 ft 3 in | 63.0 |
| 165 cm | 5 ft 4.96 in | 5 ft 5 in | 65.0 |
| 170 cm | 5 ft 6.93 in | 5 ft 7 in | 66.9 |
| 175 cm | 5 ft 8.90 in | 5 ft 9 in | 68.9 |
| 180 cm | 5 ft 10.87 in | 5 ft 11 in | 70.9 |
| 185 cm | 6 ft 0.83 in | 6 ft 1 in | 72.8 |
| 190 cm | 6 ft 2.80 in | 6 ft 3 in | 74.8 |
| 195 cm | 6 ft 4.77 in | 6 ft 5 in | 76.8 |
The formula
feet = total inches ÷ 12, rounded down
inches = total inches − (feet × 12)
The 2.54 is exact by definition. The rounding, not the arithmetic, is where the ambiguity lives.
Where this conversion is needed
Passport and visa forms, international job and dating profiles, sports rosters and medical records are the common cases. Most of the world records height in centimeters; the United States and to some extent the United Kingdom use feet and inches.
This page converts heights and nothing more. It gives no health, growth, or body-composition interpretation of any figure.
Common questions
Is 170 cm 5 foot 6 or 5 foot 7?
170 cm is 5 feet 6.93 inches, so it rounds to 5 foot 7. It sits very close to the boundary, which is why the question comes up: 5 foot 7 exactly is 170.18 cm.
Is 180 cm 6 feet?
Not quite. 180 cm is 5 feet 10.87 inches. Six feet exactly is 182.88 cm.
Is 176 cm 5 foot 9 or 5 foot 10?
176 cm is 5 feet 9.29 inches, so it rounds to 5 foot 9. The boundary between the two is 176.53 cm.
What is 5 foot 7 in centimeters?
5 feet 7 inches is exactly 170.18 centimeters. That is 67 inches at exactly 2.54 centimeters each. Note that 170 cm isn't 5 foot 7 but 5 foot 6.93, so the boundary between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 7 sits at 170.18 cm.
Related converters and guides
Sources
- NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B: Conversion Factors. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Source for every conversion factor on this page, and for which factors are exact rather than rounded.