A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE

How to Measure Your Height Accurately at Home

A useful comparison starts with a consistent measurement. Use the same method for everyone in your chart and record whether shoes are included.

What you need

Find a flat floor and a vertical wall, a rigid book with a straight edge, a tape measure and, if possible, someone to help. Avoid a thick carpet or a wall with a skirting board that prevents a straight stance.

Measure in five steps

  1. Remove shoes and bulky hair accessories.
  2. Stand upright with feet flat and heels together near the wall. Look straight ahead.
  3. Lower the flat book onto the crown of the head, keeping it level and square to the wall.
  4. Mark the wall at the underside of the book, step away and measure vertically from the floor.
  5. Repeat the measurement. If the results differ, check the book angle, posture and tape before recording a value.
Barefoot adult standing against a wall while a helper holds a level book on her head.
Stand barefoot on a flat floor and keep the book level against the wall. Mark the underside of the book, then measure from the floor. AI-generated instructional illustration; tape markings are not a reading.

Keep the context with the number

Use comparable conditions when tracking measurements over time. A photo taken in shoes should not be treated as a precise visual representation of a barefoot measurement. HeightCompare scales the image using the number you enter; it does not discover your height from pixels.

Convert without confusing feet and inches

One inch is exactly 2.54 cm and one foot is 12 inches. A height of 5 feet 8 inches is 68 inches, or 172.72 cm. It is not 5.8 decimal feet. In the Custom panel, the feet option accepts decimal feet, so use centimeters if you are starting with feet and inches.

Reference: NIST tables of units of measurement.