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How to measure your height accurately at home

· 4 min read

You don’t need a doctor’s stadiometer to get an accurate height. With a wall, a flat object and a tape measure you can measure yourself to within a few millimetres — if you get the details right.

What you need

A flat wall without skirting boards in the way, a hard floor (not carpet), a hardcover book or a box with a right angle, a pencil and a metal tape measure. A second person makes it easier, but you can do it alone.

Step by step

  • Take off shoes, thick socks and anything on your head, and undo buns or ponytails that push your head forward.
  • Stand with your heels, buttocks and shoulder blades touching the wall, feet together and weight evenly on both legs.
  • Look straight ahead so the line from the lower edge of your eye socket to the top of your ear opening is level. Tilting your chin up or down changes the reading.
  • Slide the book down the wall until it rests firmly on the top of your head, keeping it flat against the wall. Mark the underside with the pencil.
  • Step away and measure from the floor to the mark with the tape held straight against the wall. Repeat two or three times and use the average.

Measure in the morning

Your spine’s discs compress during the day, so most people are about 1 cm (0.4 in) shorter in the evening than just after getting up. For a height you can compare over time, always measure at the same time of day — ideally in the morning.

Converting and comparing

Heights in feet are usually rounded to the nearest inch, and one inch is 2.54 cm, so a quoted height can differ from yours by more than a centimetre. Use the height converter for exact values, and the comparison chart to see yourself next to friends, celebrities or the average person in your country.

Height converter →Convert cm to feet and inches and back, with a full conversion table.

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