What is the Average Height of a Man?

The average male height worldwide is 5 feet, 8.1 inches (173 cm). The average American man stands just under 5 feet, 10 inches -- or about 5 feet, 9.7 inches to be precise (177 cm), slightly above the global average male height. This measure gives the U.S. 47th place in the world for male height. (The Netherlands ranks first. There the average man is nearly six feet or 182.5 centimeters.)

The average height in a certain region can say a lot about the quality of life in that place. For example, a poor diet and sickness during childhood can prevent you from growing as tall as you might have otherwise. So, when researchers keep tabs on the height from country to country, they can use the data to help learn about a country's health and well-being.

What follows is an explanation of how doctors measure men's height and data about the average male height in the U.S. and around the world.

Doctors and scientists usually measure height in centimeters, not feet and inches. That's because most people worldwide use the metric system to measure height.

Average Height for Men in U.S.

Let us look at the average height for American men broken down by age and race.

According to the latest Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics, the average height for men in the U.S. based on age is:

Ages 20 to 39: 176.1 centimeters, or roughly 5 feet, 9 inches

Ages 40 to 59: 175.8 centimeters, or roughly 5 feet, 9 inches

Age 60 and older: 173.4 centimeters, or roughly 5 feet, 8 inches

The average male height in the U.S. by race is:

Non-Hispanic white: 177.4 centimeters, or just under 5 feet, 10 inches

Non-Hispanic black: 175.5 centimeters, or just over 5 feet, 9 inches

Non-Hispanic Asian: 169.7 centimeters, or just under 5 feet, 7 inches

Hispanic: 169.5 centimeters, or just under 5 feet, 7 inches

Average Male Height Worldwide

Around the world, the average male height ranges from 6 feet in the Northwestern European nation of the Netherlands to 5 feet, 3 inches in the Southeast Asian nation of Timor Leste. The average male height in Japan falls somewhere in the middle range at around 5 feet, 7 inches.

Here is the average male height from a selection of other countries in centimeters and feet:

The average male height is a dynamic number and has changed over the last 100 years or so, as have average female heights. The global average heights remained mostly static for the previous 2000 years, as recorded from skeletal remains, but in the last 100-plus years, the world population has grown taller by 5%, that is, by around 10 cm. The height increases have varied with regions, and the greatest gains were seen in Europe, North Africa, and Central Asia.

American men were the tallest in the world in the 1800s, but the increase in the average height for an American man was comparatively lower than the global average, at around 8 cm, and many countries have overtaken the U.S. in average male height. In the last few decades, the average height of men and women has stagnated and even started declining in the U.S. and other affluent countries. Researchers attribute this to factors such as increased consumption of fast food and sedentary habits, which have contributed to overweight and obesity, and consequently, shorter stature. It is also possible that genetic upper limits for average male height have been reached with optimal health and nutrition.

What Determines a Man’s Height?

Your genes and what you ate as a kid play big parts in how tall you grow. So far, scientists have identified 697 different genes that impact height.

While men are often similar in height to their fathers and other male relatives, this isn't always the case. Men inherit height genes from their mothers as well. And different combinations of genes can lead to very different heights, even among men from the same family.

Nutrition, especially early in life, is a big factor when it comes to height. Protein supports healthy growth and development. And there's evidence that kids who eat high-protein diets are taller than kids who don't. High-protein foods include eggs, dairy, red and white meat, and legumes like beans and lentils.

Other factors can affect a man's height besides genetics, ethnicity, and nutrition, such as certain growth hormone disorders, tobacco, alcohol, or drug use by the mother during pregnancy, or by the individual himself during the growing years. Growth hormone disorders can cause extreme growth such as gigantism, acromegaly, or dwarfism on the shorter end of the spectrum.

The tallest ever man recorded to have lived was Robert Pershing Wadlow from the USA at an impressive 2.72 m, or 8 feet 11.1 inches. Wadlow's abnormal growth was due to an overactive (hypertrophy) pituitary gland and he continued to grow until his untimely death at age 22 in 1940, due to a septic blister in his ankle from an ill-fitting brace. It is likely he will remain the tallest man/human ever because treatments are now available for abnormal growth. The tallest person/man alive currently in 2024 is Sultan Kosen from Turkey, at 2.51 m (8 feet 2.8 inches).

The shortest ever man to have lived was Chandra Bahadur Dangi from Nepal at just 54.6 cm or 21.5 inches (1 foot, 9.5 inches). He was also the shortest human ever, shorter than the shortest ever woman Pauline Musters who measured 59 cm. Chandra Bahadur Dangi died at the ripe old age of 75, in 2015. The shortest living man in 2024 is Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh born in 2002 in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), who measures 65.24 cm (2 feet, 1.6 inches).

The Right Way to Measure Height at Home

Want to know how you measure up? You'll need someone's help to get your exact height. Here's how to do it accurately:

Take off your shoes.

Stand on a hard floor -- not on a rug or carpeting.

Press your back and heels against a flat wall.

Stand up straight. Look straight ahead and try not to raise or lower your chin.

Have someone place something flat and level -- like a book -- on top of your head against the wall.

Have that person mark a line on the wall at the bottom of the flat object.

Using a tape measure, measure the height from the floor to the line on the wall.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about average male height

A "respectable" male height is subjective, but for many, it would perhaps fall in the average to above average height of a population. Historically, tall stature has been admired and coveted, likely simply because a superior height has a commanding presence. Stereotypical notions of good looks could have contributed to this. In the modern world and a progressive society, where one learns to embrace all body types, the term "respectable male height" would be an affront. Whatever height one is genetically endowed with is a "respectable" height.

There are certain professions where a taller-than-average person has an advantage, such as in certain sports or the fashion industry. For instance, the average male height for models is considered to range between 5'11" and 6'3", because a good height contributes to an impressive presence on the catwalk and suits most high fashion garments. However, that does not mean shorter people cannot make good and successful models.

More significant perhaps is the question, "What is the average size of a man?" While the average height has stagnated in the U.S. for the last few decades, the weight and body mass index (BMI) have increased. The average American has added at least 15 pounds in the last 20 years, and overweight and obesity are an increasing concern globally. The average weight of an American man has gone up from 181 to 196 pounds between 1988 and 2014.

The global average male height is 173 cm, or approximately 5 feet 8 inches, so 5’9” is just above average and definitely not short. Is 6'2" tall for a man? Definitely, yes. The average male height is only 6 feet in the Netherlands, the country of the tallest people in the world, so 6'2" is a significant height for a man from anywhere in the world.

Adult height has a normal distribution around the mean height. The percentage of men over 6 feet would vary with region, based on the average height. The percentage would be negligible in countries where the average height is below the global average, whereas, in a country like the Netherlands where the average male height is 6 feet, half the male population will be over 6 feet. The percentage of men 6 feet or above in the U.S. is about 14.5%. The global average male height is 173, and the percentage of men 6 feet and over may be about 5% worldwide.

Currently, the men and women of the Netherlands attain the tallest average height in the world.

References

(c)2019 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

NCD Risk Factor Collaboration: "Height."

Our World in Data: "Human Height."

CDC: "National Health Statistics Report: Mean Body Weight, Height, Waist Circumference, and Body Mass Index Among Adults: United States, 1999–2000 Through 2015–2016," "Measuring Children’s Height and Weight Accurately At Home."

Guinness World Records. "A history of the world's shortest people and the countries they are from." Published: August 17, 2021.
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John Casablancas International. "The World of Male Runway Modeling." Dated: 02/28/2024.
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