Average Female Height for Women in the US and Worldwide

If you’re curious about what the average height for women in America and in the world is, then this article is for you.

We’ve based all of our facts and statistics on detailed data sets that measured the heights of thousands of women.

So if you want to learn the average height of women of different ages and groups, our guide will give you the accurate information that you’re looking for.

Related Measurement Guides:

Table of Contents show

What is the average height for women in the US?

A US female height chart displaying the average height for American women by age

What is the average height for women in the US? According to US anthropometric data, which measured the heights of 5,510 women, the average female height in America is 161.3 cm, which is equal to 63.5 inches, or almost 5 feet 4 inches tall. ^[1]

To gain a better understanding of the relationship between age and height—and to see which generation is the tallest—here is the US average female height by age.

The average height for a woman in the US aged 20-29 is 162.6 cm, which works out at 64 inches or 5ft 4in.

The average height of American women who are aged 30-39 is 162.7 cm, which, again, works out at 64 inches or 5ft 4 inches tall.

American ladies aged 40-49 are slightly shorter at 162.3 cm. This measurement is equal to 63.9 inches or 5ft 3.9 inches tall.

The average American female height for women aged 50-59 is 161.3 cm (63.5 inches/5ft 3.5in), which is a full centimeter shorter than the 40-49 age bracket.

According to the same data, ladies aged 60-69 measure 160.7 cm on average, which equals out to 63.3 inches or 5ft 3.3in.

Next, the average women’s height for females aged 70-79 is 158.2 cm, which is the equivalent of 62.3 inches or 5ft 2.3 inches—more than 2 cm shorter than the previous age bracket.

Finally, the average height of an American woman aged 80 and over—by far the shortest age group—is 155.6 cm, which is the same as 61.3 inches or 5ft 1.3 inches.

What is the average female height worldwide?

An image depicting the average female height worldwide

What is the average height for women in the world? According to data collected and analyzed from an NCD-RisC report, the average female height worldwide is 160.9 cm, which works out at roughly 5 feet 3 inches. ^[2]

As you can see in the above women’s height chart, this value factors in every single country in the world.

So, based on the data, American women are around an inch taller than the average woman in the world, although, overall, they’re only the 48th tallest nation in the world.

Notably, women throughout the world appear to be getting taller over time, which could indicate that many countries now have access to good nutrition on a more regular basis.

See How Your Height Compares:

What is the average height for girls in America?

A chart showing the average height for girls in the US

What is the average height for a girl in the US? According to a Vital and Health Statistics report from the National Center for Health Statistics, the average height for girls in America is 89.8 cm (2ft 11in) at age 2, 154.8 cm (5ft 1in) at age 12, and 162.2 cm (5ft 4in) at age 19.

If you’d like to get a quick overview of the average girl height by age, then the female height chart above will give you the information that you’re looking for.

Alternatively, if you want more detail and greater levels of analysis for each age, then you can see our age-specific series of articles.

What is the average height for a teenage girl in the United States?

A female height chart showing the average height for teenage girls in the US

What is the average height for a teenage girl in the US? Based on anthropometric data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average height for American teenage girls is 158.1 cm (5ft 2in) at age 13, 161 cm (5ft 3in) at age 15 and, finally, 162.2 cm (5ft 4in) at age 19.

To get more detail on the height of teenage girls of all ages, you can see our age-specific guides.

What are the height percentiles for American women?

A women's height chart showing the female height percentiles for ladies in the USA

Height percentiles are useful for working out how much taller or shorter you are than the average American woman. So, if you’re in the 50th percentile, then you’re taller than 50% of the women who were measured for this study (there were over 5,000).

The 5th and 10th height percentiles for women are 149.8 cm (4ft 10.9in) and 152.5 cm (5 foot exactly), respectively.

The 25th and 50th female height percentile values are 156.4 cm (5ft 1.5in) and 161.3 cm (5ft 3.5in).

The 75th and 85th percentiles are 166 cm (5ft 5.3in) and 168.4 cm (5ft 6.3in).

Finally, the 90th and 95th percentiles are a tall 170.2 cm (5ft 7in) and 172.5 cm (almost 5ft 8in).

What is the average height for American women of different races?

A women's height chart displaying the average female height by race

This section outlines the average height for women by race using the racial groups from the CDC anthropometric data; Non-Hispanic white, Non-Hispanic black, Non-Hispanic Asian, Mexican-American, and Hispanic.

So, how tall is the average woman from each group? White females tend to be slightly taller than black women, who, in turn, tend to be taller than Asian and Hispanic women.

What is the average Asian female height?

A height chart for women showing the average Asian female height

What is the average height for Asian women living in the US? According to the data, the average Asian female height is 156.3 cm, which is just under 5 feet 2 inches tall.

This measurement, which is around 2 inches shorter than average for a woman living in the US, is based on the height measurements of 731 Asian women.

Now let’s look at the average height of Asian women by age.

The average height for an Asian female aged 20-39 is 158.1 cm (5ft 2.2in).

For Asian women aged 40-59, the normal female height is 156.6 cm (5ft 1.6in).

Finally, for Asian ladies over 60, the typical height is 152.7 cm (5ft), which is almost 4 cm shorter than average for Asian females of all ages.

What is the average height for Hispanic women?

A chart displaying the average height for Hispanic women by age

What is the average height for Hispanic women? According to the data, which measured 1,536 Hispanic women living in the US, the average Hispanic female height is 157.5 cm or 5 feet 2 inches tall.

Hispanic women aged 20-39 measured 158.7 cm (5ft 2.5 inches), whereas Hispanic ladies aged 40-59 were 157.3 cm (5ft 1.9in) tall on average.

Finally, 60-plus-year-old Hispanic women had an average stature of 154.6 cm (5ft 0.9in).

What is the average Mexican female height?

A chart showing the average Mexican female height by age

Here we would like to differentiate between Mexican-American height and the height of women who are actually living in the country of Mexico.

First of all, the average height for a Mexican-American woman is 156.8 cm or 5ft 1.7in, which is over 2 inches shorter than the female average height in the US.

For a breakdown by age, see the Mexican female height chart above.

Now for the average height for women in Mexico, which is to say women who actually live in Mexico itself. According to a 2014 Latin American study, the average female height in Mexico is 158 cm, which is just over 5 foot 2 inches tall. ^[3]

What is the average height for black women?

A chart showing the average height for black women in the United States

What is the average height for black women? Based on extensive American research, which collected the height measurements of 1,255 black women, the average height for a black female is 162.5 cm or 5 feet 4 inches.

Breaking it down by age, black women aged 20-39 measured 163.4 cm (5ft 4.3in), while those aged 40-59 had a stature of 5ft 4in exactly.

The oldest age group of black women—those aged 60 and over—were 160.4 cm or 5ft 3.1in tall on average.

What is the average height for white women?

A chart showing the average height for white women (caucasian females)

What is the average height for white women in the USA? Based on data that measured 1,779 caucasian women, the average white female height is 162.4 cm, which is roughly 5 feet 4 inches tall.

Young white females measured almost an inch taller than this, clocking in with an average height measurement of 164.5 centimeters, which is almost 5 foot 5 inches.

Caucasian women aged 40-59 had a relatively average height for a woman in the US, measuring 163.2 cm, which is just over 5ft 4in.

Finally, white women over the age of 60 were slightly shorter, measuring 159.7 cm, or just under 5ft 3in.

See Also:

Conclusion: Is knowing the average height of a woman in the USA important?

An American female who clearly has a very average height for women in the US

Knowing the average height for women in the US can help you to understand how tall or short you really are, both in comparison with other American women and those worldwide.

Of course, being of a particular height, whether it’s short or tall, is absolutely fine. Many people do worry about their height, and it can be interesting to know how you compare, but you certainly shouldn’t feel defined by your stature or lack thereof.

References

Fryar CD, Carroll MD, Gu Q, Afful J, Ogden CL. Anthropometric reference data for children and adults: United States, 2015–2018. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 3(46). 2021.
Evolution of height over time. (2022). NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Retrieved from https://www.ncdrisc.org/height-mean-ranking.html
Ruiz-Linares, A., Adhikari, K., Acuña-Alonzo, V., Quinto-Sanchez, M., Jaramillo, C., Arias, W., Fuentes, M., Pizarro, M., Everardo, P., de Avila, F., Gómez-Valdés, J., León-Mimila, P., Hunemeier, T., Ramallo, V., Silva de Cerqueira, C. C., Burley, M. W., Konca, E., de Oliveira, M. Z., Veronez, M. R., . . . Gonzalez-José, R. (2014, September 25). Admixture in Latin America: Geographic Structure, Phenotypic Diversity and Self-Perception of Ancestry Based on 7,342 Individuals. PLoS Genetics, 10(9), e1004572. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1004572