Feet (ft)
The foot is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems equal to 12 inches, or exactly 30.48 centimeters.
Convert feet to any length unit
1 foot = 12 inches
Quick facts
- Unit
- Foot (plural: feet)
- Symbol
- ft
- Measures
- Length / Distance
- System
- Imperial & US customary
- Equals
- 0.3048 meters
- Definition
- Exactly 0.3048 meters, or 12 inches.
1 foot in other units
| Inches | 12 in |
| Meters | 0.3048 m |
| Centimeters | 30.48 cm |
| Kilometers | 0.0003048 km |
| Miles | 0.000189393939 mi |
| Millimeters | 304.8 mm |
| Yards | 0.3333333333 yd |
| Micrometers | 304,800 µm |
What is a foot?
The foot is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems equal to 12 inches, or exactly 30.48 centimeters. Three feet make a yard and 5,280 feet make a mile. Its symbol is "ft" or the prime (′), as in 6′.
The foot is still the standard unit for human height and building dimensions in the United States, and for aircraft altitude around the world.
Where the foot sits among length units
The foot is number 86 of 231 on our scale of length units, ordered from smallest to largest.
What feet are used for
- Height of people in the US and UK (6 ft = 1.83 m)
- Aircraft altitude and flight levels worldwide
- Real estate: room sizes and square footage in the US
- Building, lumber and ceiling heights in the US
- Water depth on US charts and pool signs
Feet in real life
- A standard US ceiling is 8 feet high
- A basketball hoop is 10 feet above the floor
- Commercial jets cruise at 30,000–40,000 feet
- A standard ruler is 1 foot long
- A typical adult man is about 5 ft 9 in tall
One foot is about the length of a 12-inch ruler, or about 3.6 credit cards laid end to end, or about 9.2 paperclips laid end to end, or about 2 smartphones laid end to end.
History of the foot
Nearly every ancient culture had a foot, usually between 25 and 34 cm. The English foot was standardized as one third of a yard. In 1959 the international foot was fixed at exactly 0.3048 m; the US kept a slightly longer "survey foot" for land measurement until 2022.
Top foot conversions
Common amounts of feet
- 0.1 ft
- 0.2 ft
- 0.3 ft
- 0.4 ft
- 0.5 ft
- 0.6 ft
- 0.7 ft
- 0.8 ft
- 0.9 ft
- 1 ft
- 1.5 ft
- 2 ft
- 2.5 ft
- 3 ft
- 3.5 ft
- 4 ft
- 4.5 ft
- 5 ft
- 6 ft
- 7 ft
- 7.5 ft
- 8 ft
- 9 ft
- 10 ft
- 11 ft
- 12 ft
- 13 ft
- 14 ft
- 15 ft
- 16 ft
- 17 ft
- 18 ft
- 19 ft
- 20 ft
- 21 ft
- 22 ft
- 23 ft
- 24 ft
- 25 ft
- 26 ft
- 27 ft
- 28 ft
- 29 ft
- 30 ft
- 31 ft
- 32 ft
- 33 ft
- 34 ft
- 35 ft
- 36 ft
- 37 ft
- 38 ft
- 39 ft
- 40 ft
- 41 ft
- 42 ft
- 43 ft
- 44 ft
- 45 ft
- 46 ft
- 47 ft
- 48 ft
- 49 ft
- 50 ft
- 51 ft
- 52 ft
- 53 ft
- 54 ft
- 55 ft
- 56 ft
- 57 ft
- 58 ft
- 59 ft
- 60 ft
- 61 ft
- 62 ft
- 63 ft
- 64 ft
- 65 ft
- 66 ft
- 67 ft
- 68 ft
- 69 ft
- 70 ft
- 71 ft
- 72 ft
- 73 ft
- 74 ft
- 75 ft
- 76 ft
- 77 ft
- 78 ft
- 79 ft
- 80 ft
- 81 ft
- 82 ft
- 83 ft
- 84 ft
- 85 ft
- 86 ft
- 87 ft
- 88 ft
- 89 ft
- 90 ft
- 91 ft
- 92 ft
- 93 ft
- 94 ft
- 95 ft
- 96 ft
- 97 ft
- 98 ft
- 99 ft
- 100 ft
- 110 ft
- 120 ft
- 130 ft
- 140 ft
- 150 ft
- 160 ft
- 170 ft
- 180 ft
- 190 ft
- 200 ft
- 210 ft
- 220 ft
- 230 ft
- 240 ft
- 250 ft
- 260 ft
- 270 ft
- 280 ft
- 290 ft
- 300 ft
- 310 ft
- 320 ft
- 330 ft
- 340 ft
- 350 ft
- 360 ft
- 370 ft
- 380 ft
- 390 ft
- 400 ft
- 410 ft
- 420 ft
- 430 ft
- 440 ft
- 450 ft
- 460 ft
- 470 ft
- 480 ft
- 490 ft
- 500 ft
- 600 ft
- 700 ft
- 800 ft
- 900 ft
- 1,000 ft
- 1,200 ft
- 1,500 ft
- 2,000 ft
- 2,500 ft
- 3,000 ft
- 4,000 ft
- 5,000 ft
- 10,000 ft
Convert feet to all 230 other units
Metric (SI)
- ft to m
- ft to cm
- ft to km
- ft to mm
- ft to µm
- ft to nm
- ft to dm
- ft to pm
- ft to fm
- ft to dam
- ft to hm
- ft to Gm
- ft to Mm
Imperial & US customary
- ft to in
- ft to mi
- ft to yd
- ft to ftm
- ft to fur
- ft to hh
- ft to th
- ft to ch
- ft to lea
- ft to rd
- ft to cubit
- ft to barleycorn
- ft to li
- ft to span
- ft to line
- ft to ell
- ft to palm
- ft to Ramsden's chain
- ft to finger
- ft to nail
- ft to shaftment
US survey
Nautical
Astronomical
- ft to ly
- ft to au
- ft to pc
- ft to kpc
- ft to Mpc
- ft to R⊕
- ft to ls
- ft to light-minute
- ft to LD
- ft to R☉
- ft to Gpc
- ft to light-day
- ft to light-hour
- ft to RJ
- ft to light-week
- ft to Hubble length
- ft to siriometer
Scientific & atomic
Ancient
- ft to Roman mile
- ft to royal cubit
- ft to stadion
- ft to Biblical cubit
- ft to Roman foot
- ft to Greek foot
- ft to Roman pace
- ft to parasang
- ft to Egyptian common cubit
- ft to Egyptian digit
- ft to Egyptian palm
- ft to Gallic league
- ft to Greek cubit
- ft to Greek finger
- ft to Roman cubit
- ft to Roman digit
- ft to Roman inch
- ft to Roman palm
- ft to Roman stadium
- ft to Roman step
- ft to handbreadth
- ft to Biblical finger
- ft to Biblical parasang
- ft to Biblical span
- ft to Greek palm
- ft to Greek span
- ft to Sabbath day's journey
- ft to Talmudic mil
- ft to bema
- ft to beru
- ft to day's journey
- ft to diaulos
- ft to dichas
- ft to hippikon
- ft to iteru
- ft to khet
- ft to kondylos
- ft to kush
- ft to nindan
- ft to orgyia
- ft to plethron
- ft to pygme
- ft to reed
- ft to remen
- ft to shu-si
- ft to ush
East & Southeast Asian
- ft to 里
- ft to 尺
- ft to 寸
- ft to 尺
- ft to 里
- ft to 間
- ft to 寸
- ft to wa
- ft to 리
- ft to 丈
- ft to 步
- ft to 分
- ft to 厘
- ft to 分
- ft to 치
- ft to 町
- ft to 자
- ft to 丈
- ft to khuep
- ft to kujirajaku
- ft to nio
- ft to sen
- ft to sok
- ft to 引
- ft to yot
- ft to 厘
- ft to 푼
- ft to 毫
- ft to 忽
- ft to kraphiat
- ft to 毛
- ft to 丝
South Asian & Middle Eastern
- ft to gaj
- ft to kos
- ft to yojana
- ft to angul
- ft to farsakh
- ft to hasta
- ft to arsin
- ft to barid
- ft to danda
- ft to dhira
- ft to qasaba
European (pre-metric)
- ft to Swedish mil
- ft to versta
- ft to arshin
- ft to lieue
- ft to ligne
- ft to pied du roi
- ft to sazhen
- ft to toise
- ft to Irish mile
- ft to Prussian mile
- ft to Russian mile
- ft to Scottish mile
- ft to pouce
- ft to vershok
- ft to Danish mile
- ft to French point
- ft to Prussian ell
- ft to Prussian foot
- ft to Prussian inch
- ft to Prussian rod
- ft to Rhineland rod
- ft to Russian foot
- ft to Swiss hour
- ft to aln
- ft to aune
- ft to duim
- ft to dyuym
- ft to famn
- ft to liniya
- ft to pyad
- ft to Welsh mile
- ft to fjardingsvag
- ft to tochka
Spanish & Portuguese
- ft to Castilian vara
- ft to Spanish league
- ft to Texas vara
- ft to pulgada
- ft to Castilian foot
- ft to Mexican vara
- ft to braca
- ft to legua
- ft to Portuguese foot
- ft to Portuguese vara
- ft to palmo
- ft to polegada
- ft to Spanish pace
- ft to linea
- ft to linha
- ft to punto
Everyday comparisons
- ft to American football field
- ft to marathon
- ft to smoot
- ft to Earth circumference
- ft to Eiffel Tower height
- ft to Olympic pool length
- ft to banana
- ft to double-decker bus
- ft to soccer pitch length
- ft to Mount Everest height
- ft to blue whale length
- ft to credit card length
- ft to human hair width
- ft to Burj Khalifa height
- ft to Earth diameter
- ft to Empire State Building height
- ft to Statue of Liberty height
- ft to human height
- ft to giraffe height
- ft to grain of rice
- ft to paperclip length
- ft to pencil length
- ft to sheppey
- ft to smartphone length
Convert to feet
Frequently asked questions
What is a foot?
The foot is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems equal to 12 inches, or exactly 30.48 centimeters.
How is the foot defined?
Exactly 0.3048 meters, or 12 inches.
How many inches are in a foot?
One foot equals 12 inches.
How many meters are in a foot?
One foot equals 0.3048 meters.
How many centimeters are in a foot?
One foot equals 30.48 centimeters.