Are you curious about the average height for 16 year olds? Perhaps you want to see how your own height stacks up? Or maybe you want to find out how tall or short a specific height is for a sixteen year old.
Either way, we have you covered. This article, which draws on detailed anthropometric data, outlines the precise average height for a 16 year old male and the exact average height for a 16 year old female.
See Our Other Height Guides:
- Median male height
- Average height for a teenage girl
- Average height for a 11 year old girl
- Average height for a 12 year old girl
- Average height for a 13 year old girl
- Average height for a 14 year old girl
- Average height for a 15 year old girl
- Average height for a 17 year old girl
- Average height for a 18 year old girl
- Average height for a 19 year old girl
What’s the average height for a 16 year old boy?
What’s the average height for a 16 year old boy? According to US government data, the average height of a 16 year old male is 173.5 cm, which is around 5 feet 8 inches tall.
This data is based on a sample size of 152 sixteen year old boys who were professionally measured with a stadiometer, which is the gold standard for measuring height.
Based on the chart above, we can see that, on average, boys tend to get slightly taller after 16, but not by much.
Interestingly, researchers from Italy, which measured the heights of young athletes, found that most 16 year old boys were around 175.4 cm tall, which is bang on 5 feet 9 inches.
So we can see that height does vary from place to place. This is the case for states, countries, and even small towns.
So, where you live, for example, the average height for a 16 year-old boy could be 5 feet 9 inches, or potentially even lower than the national average. It just depends on the sample size and how accurately the boys are measured.
Additionally, it’s possible that the high amounts of physical activity performed by the young athletes in the Italian study may have helped them to maximize their height growth.
What is the average height for a 16 year old girl?
What is the average height for a 16 year old girl? According to US height research, which measured the stature of 170 sixteen year old girls, the average height for a 16 year old female in feet is almost 5 feet 4 inches tall, which is equal to 161.9 cm.
As you can see on the chart, girls don’t get any taller after age 14, which, not coincidentally, is the age that the majority of girls stop growing in height.
In the previously-cited Italian study, sixteen-year-old girls were roughly 167.6 cm tall on average (almost 5 feet 6 inches), which is a full two inches taller than the average 16 year old female height for girls living in the US.
Now, as mentioned elsewhere, the American adolescent height data is for boys and girls of all races and ethnicities, so the average does tend to be a bit lower than in more homogeneous countries.
What is considered tall for a 16 year old boy?
What is considered tall for a 16 year old boy? Any height that is equal to or greater than 5 feet 11 inches is definitely on the tall side for a sixteen year old boy—for 3 reasons.
One, a height of 5’11 would, based on the data, put you slightly beyond the 75th height percentile, meaning that—in this sample dataset, at least—you’d be taller than approximately 75% of your peers.
Second, 5’11 is a full 3 inches taller than the average height of a 16 year old boy. That’s a noticeable height difference.
Third, five foot 11 is pretty tall for a fully grown adult man. So to have achieved this height by age 16 is a strong indication that you’re going to remain taller than average.
See Also: How to grow taller at 16 years old
What is considered tall for a 16 year old girl?
What is considered tall for a 16 year old girl? For a sixteen year old girl, any height over 5 feet 6 inches is pretty tall because such a height would put you in the 75th percentile, meaning that you’d be taller than around 75% of 16-year-old girls.
As for what’s considered really tall for a 16-year-old girl, I’d say that anything close to 5 feet 8 inches is very tall because, based on this particular group of sixteen year old girls, that height would mean that you’d be taller than around 95% of your peers.
Of course, for anyone to develop properly and enjoy their best health, it’s important that they consume a nutritious diet complete with all of the necessary macro and micronutrients. [2]
How tall should a 16 year old boy and girl be?
How tall should a 16 year old boy be? On average, a 16-year-old boy should be around 5 feet 8 inches tall, give or take an inch or so.
How tall should a 16 year old girl be? At age sixteen, most girls should be around 5 feet 4 inches tall, give or take a couple of inches.
With the averages out of the way, let’s analyze some specific heights so that we can determine how short (or tall) they are for 16 year olds.
Is 4’11 short for a 16 year old?
Is 4’11 short for a 16 year old? Yes, 4’11 is extremely short for a 16-year-old female, as are even smaller heights like 4’9 and 4’10. Statistically, it’s quite rare for a sixteen year old to only be four feet 11 inches tall.
Is 5 feet short for a 16 year old?
Is 5 feet short for a 16 year old? Yes, 5 feet is a very short height for just about anyone, and that most definitely includes 16-year-old girls.
Still, there are certainly some sixteen year old girls out there—perfectly healthy and normal—who just so happen to be only 5ft tall. After all, not everyone has the genetics to grow tall or even reach an average height.
Is 5’1 short for a 16 year old?
Is 5’1 short for a 16 year old? Yes, 5’1 is pretty short because it’s nearly 3 inches less than the average height for a 16 year old girl, which isn’t exactly tall itself.
If you’re 5’1, then you’d be in the 10th percentile, meaning that around 90% of girls your age would be taller than you.
Is 5’2 short for a 16 year old female?
Is 5’2 short for a 16 year old female? Yes, while not really small, 5’2 is definitely on the short side for a sixteen year old girl because such a height is nearly 2 inches under the average height of a 16 year old female.
Is 5’3 short for a 16 year old female?
Is 5’3 short for a 16 year old female? Although a height of 5’3 is statistically 0.7 inches smaller than average for a sixteen year old girl, it’s by no means a small height.
There are plenty of 16-year-old girls—and even some boys—who are five feet 3 inches tall.
Is 5’4 short for a 16 year old boy and girl?
Is 5’4 short for a 16 year old boy and girl? For a sixteen year old girl, 5’4 is not short because it’s the average height for girls of this age.
For 16-year-old boys, on the other hand, a height of 5 feet 4 inches is a bit on the small side because it’s around 4 inches shorter than average. Stil, it’s not terribly small, and many boys do get taller at 16, if not by all that much.
Is 5’5 short for a 16 year old boy and girl?
Is 5’5 short for a 16 year old boy and girl? For a sixteen year old female, a height of 5’5 is more than a full inch above the average, so you’ll definitely be taller than most of your peers if you’re a 5’5 16-year-old girl.
Comparatively, 5 feet 5 inches is, based on the available data, a bit short for a boy of the same age. Of course, there are a fair few adult men out there who are enjoying life at 5’5.
Is 5’6 short for a 16 year old?
Is 5’6 short for a 16 year old? No, 5’6 isn’t short for a sixteen year old of either gender. In fact, for girls, it’s quite the opposite; 5 feet 6 inches is more than 2 inches taller than average.
As for boys, while 5’6 is obviously shorter than usual, I wouldn’t necessarily put it in the short category—especially not for a growing 16-year-old.
And just remember, at the height of 5’6, you’re still over 2 inches taller than the average girl, so you definitely shouldn’t feel small.
Is 5’7 short for a 16 year old?
Is 5’7 short for a 16 year old? No, definitely not. A height of 5’7 is pretty tall for a 16-year-old girl and only one inch smaller than average for a boy of the same age.
Is 5’8 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 5’8 tall for a 16 year old? 5 feet 8 inches is the average height for a 16 year old boy, but I wouldn’t say that it’s particularly tall. Of course, given that it’s the average height for 16-year-old American males, 5’8 is hardly short, either.
For girls, however, 5’8 is most definitely tall. Indeed, being 5’8 would mean that you’d be taller than approximately 95% of your peers.
Is 5’9 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 5’9 tall for a 16 year old? Yes, 5’9 is definitely on the taller-than-average side for both genders, but to different degrees.
For boys, 5’9 is a full inch taller than normal. It’s also the typical height for an adult male.
For girls, 5’9 is getting into the very tall category, which is unsurprising given that such a height is a whopping 5 inches taller than the average height for a 16-year-old female.
Is 5’10 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 5’10 tall for a 16 year old? Yes, absolutely. At 2 inches taller than normal for boys and 6 inches taller than usual for girls, a height of 5’10 is tall for any kind of sixteen year old person.
Is 5’11 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 5’11 tall for a 16 year old? Considering that 5’11 is already pretty tall for a fully developed adult man, it’s definitely a pretty tall height for a 16-year-old male.
Is 6ft tall for a 16 year old boy?
Is 6ft tall for a 16 year old boy? Yes, without a doubt. The coveted height of 6ft is definitely tall for a 16 year old boy because being 6 feet tall would put you in the 85th height percentile, meaning that you’d be taller than roughly 85% of boys your age.
Is 6’1 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 6’1 tall for a 16 year old? Yes, not only is 6’1 tall for an adult man, it’s very tall for a 16-year-old boy as well. At this noticeably tall height, you’d tower above 90-95% of your male peers.
Is 6’2 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 6’2 tall for a 16 year old? Yes, an impressive stature of 6’2 is exceptionally tall for a sixteen year old, especially considering that it’s a massive 6 inches taller than the average height for a 16 year old male.
Is 6’3 tall for a 16 year old?
Is 6’3 tall for a 16 year old? Yes, the towering height of 6’3 is very tall and is an extremely rare height for a boy to achieve at sixteen. Anyone who’s 6’3 at this age definitely has some great height growth genetics, that’s for sure.
Who is the tallest 16 year old in the world?
Who is the tallest 16 year old in the world? It was once thought, at a towering 7 feet 3 inches, that British teenager Brandon Marshall was the tallest 16 year old in the world. [3] But now it seems that at a staggering 7 feet 5 inches, basketball player Olivier Rioux has set a new record as the world’s tallest 16 year old.
In conclusion: Who should know the average height for 16 year olds?
Obviously, most people who want to know the average height for 16 year olds are just curious about how their height compares to people of their age.
But such data and information can also have more sophisticated uses, such as for monitoring the physical development of teenagers.
This research could also be used to compare the heights of sixteen year old males and females across different states and countries, which we did to an extent in the first section.
References
- Mascherini, G., Galanti, G., Massetti, L., Calà, P., & Modesti, P. A. (2019). Growth Charts for Height, Weight, and BMI (6-18 y) for the Tuscany Youth Sports Population. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(24), 4975. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244975
- Healthy Eating During Adolescence. (2021, August 8). Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/healthy-eating-during-adolescence
- This 16-year-old might be the world’s tallest teen. (2018, March 9). New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2018/03/08/this-16-year-old-might-be-the-worlds-tallest-teen/