What is the average height for a man in the US?

175.3 cm, which is 5′9″, per CDC/NHANES 2015-2018 measured data.

What is the average height for a woman in the US?

161.3 cm, which is 5′4″, per CDC/NHANES 2015-2018 measured data.

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Average height in the United States

The CDC's measured numbers, and why self-reported heights run taller.

The average U.S. adult man is 175.3 cm (5′9″) and the average U.S. adult woman 161.3 cm (5′4″).
Source: CDC/NCHS, NHANES 2015-2018 (Vital and Health Statistics Series 3, Number 46, 2021), the U.S. national body-measurement survey.

These are measured averages from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which physically measures a representative sample of the U.S. population - not self-reported figures, which run taller.

How this site uses these numbers

Every person page compares its subject against the matching U.S. average so a number like 180 cm has an anchor. The averages describe adults age 20 and over across all ages; averages for specific age bands differ by a centimeter or two.

Measured vs. self-reported

Surveys that measure people (like NHANES) consistently find shorter averages than surveys that ask people - self-reported heights round up. When a recorded celebrity height surprises you, that gap is usually why.

Primary source: CDC/NCHS Anthropometric Reference Data, United States 2015-2018 (PDF).

Compare yourself against the averages in the comparison tool.