Average Height in the United States for Men and Women

The CDC numbers

The most recent national reference figures come from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), reported by the National Center for Health Statistics in Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults: United States, 2015–2018. The tables cover adults aged 20 and over.

• Men aged 20 and over: mean height 175.3 cm, or 69.0 inches (about 5′9″).
• Women aged 20 and over: mean height 161.3 cm, or 63.5 inches (about 5′3½″).
• The difference between the two means is about 14 cm, or 5.5 inches.

Measured, not self-reported

In NHANES, trained staff measure standing height to the nearest 0.1 centimeter with a wall-mounted stadiometer. That is different from asking people how tall they are.

Self-reported height tends to run high. A CDC study of NHANES data from 2001 to 2006 concluded that men and women significantly overreport their height, increasingly so at older ages, with men overreporting more than women. This is one reason the heights people state on forms and profiles can be a little taller than what a stadiometer would show.

What average means

A mean is the sum of all the heights divided by the number of people. It describes the middle of a very large group, not any one person. The report also lists percentiles, and they show a wide spread. For women, the 5th percentile is 59.0 inches and the 95th is 67.9 inches. For men, the 5th percentile is 64.1 inches and the 95th is 73.8 inches.

Being above or below the mean is ordinary. Most adults are somewhere in the broad range around it, and the two ranges for men and women overlap.

Limits of the figures

These numbers describe the U.S. civilian population during one survey period. Means differ by age group, by race and Hispanic origin, and over time, and the CDC report presents separate tables for those groups. The figures do not describe other countries.

Use them as a reference point when you compare two heights in the tool. They are not a target, and they say nothing about health. If you have questions about your own or your child’s growth, a doctor or pediatrician is the right person to ask.