Feet to metres
Convert feet to metres and back with the exact international factor, plus a chart covering heights, room sizes and altitudes.
1 ft = 0.3048 m
metres = feet × 0.3048
feet to metres
| ft | m |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.3048 |
| 2 | 0.6096 |
| 3 | 0.9144 |
| 4 | 1.2192 |
| 5 | 1.524 |
| 10 | 3.048 |
| 15 | 4.572 |
| 20 | 6.096 |
| 25 | 7.62 |
| 50 | 15.24 |
| 75 | 22.86 |
| 100 | 30.48 |
| 500 | 152.4 |
| 1,000 | 304.8 |
One foot is exactly 0.3048 metres.
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The formula
metres = feet × 0.3048
feet = metres ÷ 0.3048 = metres × 3.280839895The factor is exact by definition. It follows from the International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959, which set the yard at exactly 0.9144 metres - making a foot exactly 0.3048 m and an inch exactly 2.54 cm.
Quick reference
| Feet | Metres | Feet | Metres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.3048 | 20 | 6.096 |
| 2 | 0.6096 | 25 | 7.620 |
| 3 | 0.9144 | 30 | 9.144 |
| 5 | 1.5240 | 50 | 15.240 |
| 6 | 1.8288 | 100 | 30.480 |
| 10 | 3.0480 | 1000 | 304.80 |
| 15 | 4.5720 | 5280 | 1609.34 |
That last row is a mile - 5,280 feet, or 1,609.34 metres.
Heights in feet and inches
| Height | Metres |
|---|---|
| 5’0” | 1.524 |
| 5’4” | 1.626 |
| 5’6” | 1.676 |
| 5’8” | 1.727 |
| 5’10” | 1.778 |
| 6’0” | 1.829 |
| 6’2” | 1.880 |
| 6’4” | 1.930 |
To convert a height yourself: multiply the feet by 12, add the inches, then multiply by 0.0254. So 5’8” is (5 × 12 + 8) × 0.0254 = 68 × 0.0254 = 1.7272 m.
Where feet persist
Even in fully metric countries, feet survive in specific domains:
- Aviation. Altitude is reported in feet almost worldwide, by ICAO convention. China, Russia and a few others use metres, and the mismatch is a known source of aviation risk requiring conversion tables in the cockpit.
- Diving. Depth in feet in the US, metres elsewhere.
- Construction in the US. Lumber, room dimensions and land plots.
- Elevation. Mountains are often quoted in both - Everest is 29,032 feet or 8,849 metres.
Mental arithmetic
Feet → metres: divide by 3, then subtract about 9%. Or multiply by 0.3 and add a bit. For 20 feet: 20 ÷ 3 = 6.67, minus 9% ≈ 6.07 m. (True: 6.096)
Metres → feet: multiply by 3, then add 10%. For 10 m: 30 + 3 = 33 feet. (True: 32.81)
The simplest anchor of all: a metre is about a long stride, or roughly 3 feet 3 inches.
Square feet and square metres
Area conversion squares the factor, which catches people out:
square metres = square feet × 0.092903
square feet = square metres × 10.7639A 1,500 sq ft apartment is 139.4 m². A 100 m² apartment is 1,076 sq ft. The rough rule is to divide square feet by 10 and add 8%, or multiply square metres by 10 and add 8%.
Common questions
What is the exact conversion factor?
One foot is exactly 0.3048 metres, following from the 1959 definition of the inch as exactly 2.54 cm - a foot is 12 inches, so 12 × 2.54 = 30.48 cm. Conversely one metre is 3.280839895 feet.
How do I estimate it quickly?
Multiply feet by 0.3, then add 1.6%. Or simply remember that 3 feet is a little under a metre - 0.914 m, since 3 feet is a yard. For rough work, treating a metre as 3.3 feet is accurate to within 0.6%.
What is a US survey foot?
A slightly different foot, defined as 1200/3937 metres, used in US land surveying and differing from the international foot by about 2 parts per million. Over a mile that is roughly 3 mm - negligible for most purposes but significant in cadastral surveying. NIST officially deprecated it at the end of 2022.
How tall is 6 feet in metres?
6 feet is exactly 1.8288 metres, usually written as 1.83 m. For heights given in feet and inches, convert the whole thing to inches first, then multiply by 0.0254.
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