The Challenge
Feet show up everywhere in US daily life — ceiling heights, swimming pool lengths, building floors, hiking elevation gain — but the rest of the world files, builds, and publishes in meters. A 6-foot person needs 1.83m on a European medical form. A 1,500-foot mountain trail is 457 meters of elevation gain on a metric topo map. US real estate lists room dimensions in feet; international buyers want meters. The exact conversion: 1 foot = 0.3048 meters exactly. To estimate mentally, multiply feet by 0.3 — error is under 1.6%. Key references: 1ft = 0.3048m, 6ft = 1.8288m, 100ft = 30.48m, 1,000ft = 304.8m.
Feet to Meters Conversion Chart
| Feet (ft) | Meters (m) | Feet & Inches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 ft | 0.305 m | 1 ft 0 in |
| 2 ft | 0.610 m | 2 ft 0 in |
| 3 ft | 0.914 m | 3 ft 0 in |
| 4 ft | 1.219 m | 4 ft 0 in |
| 4 ft 11 in | 1.499 m | 4 ft 11 in |
| 5 ft | 1.524 m | 5 ft 0 in |
| 5 ft 3 in | 1.600 m | 5 ft 3 in |
| 5 ft 6 in | 1.676 m | 5 ft 6 in |
| 5 ft 7 in | 1.702 m | 5 ft 7 in |
| 5 ft 9 in | 1.753 m | 5 ft 9 in |
| 5 ft 10 in | 1.778 m | 5 ft 10 in |
| 5 ft 11 in | 1.803 m | 5 ft 11 in |
| 6 ft | 1.829 m | 6 ft 0 in |
| 6 ft 1 in | 1.854 m | 6 ft 1 in |
| 6 ft 2 in | 1.880 m | 6 ft 2 in |
| 6 ft 4 in | 1.930 m | 6 ft 4 in |
| 6 ft 6 in | 1.981 m | 6 ft 6 in |
| 7 ft | 2.134 m | 7 ft 0 in |
| 8 ft | 2.438 m | 8 ft 0 in |
| 9 ft | 2.743 m | 9 ft 0 in |
| 10 ft | 3.048 m | 10 ft 0 in |
| 20 ft | 6.096 m | 20 ft 0 in |
| 25 ft | 7.620 m | 25 ft 0 in |
| 50 ft | 15.240 m | 50 ft 0 in |
| 100 ft | 30.480 m | 100 ft 0 in |
| 500 ft | 152.400 m | 500 ft 0 in |
| 1000 ft | 304.800 m | 1000 ft 0 in |
Common Heights and Depths: Feet to Meters
| Reference | Feet | Meters |
|---|---|---|
| Standard US ceiling (8ft) | 8 ft | 2.438 m |
| Standard US ceiling (9ft) | 9 ft | 2.743 m |
| Basketball hoop | 10 ft | 3.048 m |
| Standard shipping container | 8.5 ft | 2.591 m |
| Olympic diving platform | 32.8 ft | 10.0 m |
| Niagara Falls (Horseshoe) | 188 ft | 57.3 m |
| Statue of Liberty (to torch) | 305 ft | 93.0 m |
| Eiffel Tower | 1,083 ft | 330.0 m |
| Empire State Building | 1,454 ft | 443.0 m |
| Burj Khalifa | 2,717 ft | 828.0 m |
| Commercial cruising altitude | ~35,000 ft | ~10,668 m |
| Mount Everest | 29,032 ft | 8,849 m |
Converting Feet and Inches to Meters
- Convert inches to a decimal foot fraction — divide inches by 12. Example: 10 inches ÷ 12 = 0.8333 feet
- Add to the feet value — 5 feet + 0.8333 = 5.8333 feet
- Multiply total decimal feet by 0.3048 — 5.8333 × 0.3048 = 1.778 meters
- Shortcut: multiply total inches by 0.0254 directly — 70 inches × 0.0254 = 1.778 meters
The US Survey Foot vs the International Foot
Until January 1, 2023, the United States officially used two different definitions of a foot. The international foot — 0.3048 meters exactly — was used for everyday measurement. The US survey foot — defined as 1200/3937 meters (approximately 0.3048006096m) — was used for geodetic surveying and land records. The difference is tiny: about 0.6mm per mile, or 3mm per 5km. Over a large state, however, coordinate systems using different foot definitions could disagree by several meters. NOAA and the National Geodetic Survey retired the survey foot in 2023 to eliminate this ambiguity ahead of the new National Spatial Reference System. All new US survey data now uses the international foot. For any conversion work outside of historical land records, 1 foot = 0.3048 meters is the only definition in use.
Feet vs Meters: Where Each Unit Is Standard
Step-by-Step Workflow
Enter your feet value in the input field
Meters result appears instantly below
Click swap to reverse and convert meters back to feet
Specifications
- Formula
- meters = feet × 0.3048
- 1 foot equals
- 0.3048 m (exact, defined)
- 1 meter equals
- 3.28084 feet
- Quick estimate
- multiply by 0.3 (1.6% error)
- 6 ft
- 1.8288 m
- 100 ft
- 30.480 m
- 1,000 ft
- 304.800 m
Best Practices
- Multiply by 0.3048 for exact result — this is a defined constant, not a rounded figure
- For feet and inches combined: convert inches to decimal feet first (inches ÷ 12), then multiply total by 0.3048
- Height references: 5ft=1.524m, 5ft 6in=1.676m, 5ft 10in=1.778m, 6ft=1.829m, 6ft 4in=1.930m
- Altitude: 1,000ft=304.8m, 5,000ft=1,524m, 10,000ft=3,048m, 30,000ft=9,144m
- Room heights: 8ft ceiling=2.438m, 9ft=2.743m, 10ft=3.048m
Frequently Asked Questions
How many meters is 1 foot?
1 foot equals exactly 0.3048 meters. This is a defined value, not a measurement — the 1959 International Yard and Pound Agreement set 1 yard as exactly 0.9144 meters, making 1 foot = 0.9144 ÷ 3 = 0.3048 meters with no rounding or approximation.
How do I convert feet to meters without a calculator?
Multiply by 0.3 for a quick estimate — error stays under 1.6%. Examples: 10ft × 0.3 = 3m (exact: 3.048m). 100ft × 0.3 = 30m (exact: 30.48m). For better accuracy, multiply by 0.3 then add 1.6% of the original: 10ft → 3m + 0.016 = 3.016m, closer to 3.048m.
How do I convert feet and inches to meters?
Convert everything to decimal feet first, then multiply by 0.3048. Example: 5 feet 10 inches — divide 10 by 12 = 0.833, add to 5 = 5.833 feet, multiply by 0.3048 = 1.778 meters. Alternatively, convert total inches to meters: 70 inches × 0.0254 = 1.778 meters.
What is 6 feet in meters?
6 feet = 6 × 0.3048 = 1.8288 meters. This is one of the most searched height conversions — 1.80m is often described as '6 feet' in casual reference, but 1.80m is actually 5 feet 10.9 inches. True 6 feet is 1.8288m, nearly 3cm taller.
What is 5 feet 11 inches in meters?
5 feet 11 inches = 71 inches total. 71 × 0.0254 = 1.8034 meters. Alternatively: 5.9167 feet × 0.3048 = 1.8034 meters. This height sits between the commonly confused 1.80m (5ft 10.9in) and 1.83m (6ft 0.0in).
How do altitude measurements convert from feet to meters?
Multiply feet by 0.3048. Key references: 1,000ft=304.8m, 5,000ft=1,524m, 10,000ft=3,048m, 29,032ft (Everest)=8,849m, 35,000ft (typical cruising altitude)=10,668m. The reverse — meters to feet — is needed for ICAO aviation filings, where feet are mandatory regardless of aircraft origin.
Why did the US retire the survey foot in 2023?
The US survey foot (defined as 1200/3937 meters = 0.3048006096m) differed from the international foot (0.3048m exactly) by about 0.6mm per mile. Over large land survey distances this compounded into real discrepancies. The National Geodetic Survey retired the survey foot on January 1, 2023, leaving the international foot as the single US definition. For everyday conversion, the difference was never relevant — both round to 0.3048m at any practical precision.