Centimeters to Feet Converter

What this calculator does

Find out how tall you are in feet, or convert any length between centimeters and feet. Most people search for this because of height. Passports, medical records and sports rosters outside the US list height in centimeters, while Americans think in feet and inches. The same conversion turns up for furniture, ceiling heights and luggage dimensions.

A foot is 12 inches, and each inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so a foot is exactly 30.48 cm. To go from feet to centimeters, multiply by 30.48; to go back, divide by it. The answer comes in decimal feet, such as 5.74 ft. The section on reading your result shows how to turn that into feet and inches.

Where it's used

Why this math matters outside the classroom:

• Height. A height of 180 cm is 180 ÷ 30.48 ≈ 5.91 ft, which is about 5 ft 10.9 in.
• Furniture. A 200 cm sofa is about 6.56 ft long, a check shoppers make before measuring a wall in feet.
• Ceiling heights. An apartment listing a 250 cm ceiling height has ceilings of about 8.2 ft.
• Decimal feet. Students learn that 5.5 ft is 5 ft 6 in, not 5 ft 5 in, by multiplying the 0.5 by 12.
• Garden spacing. A 90 cm row spacing on a seed packet printed abroad is about 2.95 ft, just under 3 ft.

Grade level and standards: Grades 5–6; Common Core State Standards for Mathematics 6.RP.A.3.d. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

How to use it

1. Enter a length in centimeters, or in decimal feet for the reverse direction.
2. Choose cm → ft or ft → cm.
3. Read the decimal-feet (or centimeter) result. For a height, split the decimal feet into feet and inches as shown below.

What the inputs mean

Value to convert

Centimeters (cm → ft) or decimal feet (ft → cm). Enter 5 ft 6 in as 5.5.

Direction

The unit you are converting from.

Formula and method

cm = ft × 30.48
ft = cm ÷ 30.48 ≈ cm × 0.0328083989501

Here cm means centimeters and ft means feet. The 30.48 comes from 12 inches × 2.54 cm. It is exact, so feet to centimeters involves no rounding.

The reverse factor, 0.032808…, never ends, so the calculator divides by 30.48 instead of using a rounded number.

Worked example

Convert a height of 175 cm to feet.

1. Divide by the exact factor: 175 ÷ 30.48.
2. 175 ÷ 30.48 = 5.7414698162…

Result: 175 cm is about 5.74 ft in decimal feet, which is 5 ft 8.9 in.

Understanding the result

Turning decimal feet into feet and inches: the whole number is the feet, and the decimal part times 12 is the inches. For 5.7414698 ft: 5 ft, then 0.7414698 × 12 = 8.8976 in, so about 5 ft 8.9 in, or 5 ft 9 in rounded. Reading 5.74 as "5 ft 7.4 in" is a common mistake and is off by about one and a half inches.

Mental shortcut: divide centimeters by 30 for feet. That overstates the result by 1.6%: 180 cm gives 6.0 ft against the exact 5.906 ft (about 5 ft 10.9 in). For feet to cm, multiply by 30 and add 1.6%.

Reference heights: 152.4 cm is exactly 5 ft; 160 cm is 5.249 ft (5 ft 3 in); 167.64 cm is exactly 5 ft 6 in; 182.88 cm is exactly 6 ft; 190 cm is 6.234 ft (6 ft 2.8 in).

Assumptions and limitations

• The foot is the international foot, exactly 30.48 cm.
• Heights are measured without shoes, as most records specify.
• The result is in decimal feet, not feet and inches; split it by hand with the rule above.
• Rounding height to the nearest inch, as many forms do, can shift the centimeter value by up to 1.27 cm either way.

Frequently asked questions

How this calculator is checked

Method: International yard and pound agreement (1959): 1 ft = 12 × 2.54 cm = 30.48 cm exactly. The calculation is covered by automated tests with known reference values and edge cases. Last updated 2026-10-18. Found a problem? Tell us.

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