The Average 18 Year Old Height for Females and Males

This guide will outline the average 18 year old height for females and males so that you can see how your height compares.

Although you shouldn’t compare yourself to others too frequently, it can be fun to see how you stack up on a universally acknowledged physical measurement such as height.

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What is the average height for an 18 year old female in feet?

A chart showing the average height for an 18 year old female in feet

What is the average height for an 18 year old female in feet? According to a detailed report from the National Center for Health Statistics, the average height of an 18 year old female in feet is just under 5 feet 4 inches tall.

This value is right in line with the average measurement for adult women, so we can be fairly certain that it’s representative of the national average for 18 year old girls.

Interestingly, a German study found that 18 year old females were 167.9 cm on average, which is right around 5 feet 6 inches tall. ^[1]

Clearly, this is much taller than the above-noted American measurement of 5ft 4in, so it just goes to show how much height can vary throughout the world.

Additionally, European females tend to be taller than non-European females, and since this study was from the 1990s, the vast majority of the German participants were likely European.

On the contrary, the US data naturally encompasses multiple races and ethnicities, which, due to physical differences, naturally results in a slightly different average height.

What is the average height for an 18 year old male in feet?

A chart displaying the average height for an 18 year old male in feet

What is the average height for an 18 year old male in feet? Based on American anthropometric research, the average height of an 18 year old male in feet is 5 feet 9 inches.

Okay, so the true technical average is 5ft 8.9in or 175.2 cm, but I think any statistician would agree that we can round up in this case. After all, most males do tend to overestimate their height somewhat. ^[2]

What height is short for an 18 year old girl?

What height is short for an 18 year old girl? Statistically speaking, a height of 5’1 or less would definitely be considered short for an 18 year old female because such a height would mean that you’re smaller than around 85% of girls your age.

In case it wasn’t obvious already from the above chart, girls generally stop growing in height at around age 14, so the chance of an 18 year old girl getting any taller than her current height is close to zero.

Read More: How to grow taller at 18 years old

What height is considered short for an 18 year old boy?

What height is considered short for an 18 year old boy? Based on the data, a height of 5’6 or smaller would be considered short for an 18 year old male. This is because, at the height of 5’6, you’d be shorter than approximately 85% of your peers.

Case studies using the average 18 year old height

These mini case studies analyze how tall or short a given height is for an 18 year old person.

Is 4’11 short for an 18 year old female?

Is 4’11 short for an 18 year old female? Yes, 4’11 is definitely short for an 18-year-old female because it’s 5 inches smaller than average for a woman.

Is 5 feet short for an 18 year old girl?

Is 5 feet short for an 18 year old girl? Yes, a height of 5 feet is definitely considered small for an eighteen year old female because this height would put you in the 15th percentile, meaning that you’d only be taller than about 15% of girls your age.

Is 5’1 short for an 18 year old girl?

Is 5’1 short for an 18 year old girl? Although there are definitely some girls who are smaller than 5’1, it’s still a short height for an 18 year old female and, statistically, would put you in roughly the 20th percentile.

Is 5’2 short for an 18 year old girl and guy?

Is 5’2 short for an 18 year old girl and guy? While 5 feet 2 inches is a relatively normal height for an 18 year old girl—only a couple of inches smaller than average—it’s very short for a man of the same age.

Is 5’3 short for an 18 year old?

Is 5’3 short for an 18 year old? For an eighteen year old female, a petite height of 5’3 is perfectly normal and is, in many cases, to be expected.

On the contrary, for an eighteen year old male, a height of 5’3 is undeniably short. Indeed, based on the data that we examined, such a height would put you below the 5th percentile, meaning that over 95% of adult males would be taller than you.

Is 5’4 short for an 18 year old?

Is 5’4 short for an 18 year old? No, for an 18 year old female, a height of 5’4 is not short because it is, in fact, the average height for an 18 year old girl.

But for a male of the same age? Yes, 5’4 is certainly on the short side because it’s a full 5 inches shorter than average for an 18 year old boy.

Is 5’5 short for an 18 year old?

Is 5’5 short for an 18 year old? For an eighteen year old girl, 5’5 is a perfectly normal height, if slightly above average.

And while there are plenty of men out there who are 5’5 or thereabouts, such a height is, statistically, quite a bit shorter than usual for an eighteen year old male.

Is 5’6 short for an 18 year old?

Is 5’6 short for an 18 year old? Although not extremely tall, a height of 5’6 is definitely not short, either. Specifically, a stature of 5’6 is 2 inches taller than usual for an 18 year old girl and 3 inches smaller than usual for an 18 year old boy.

Is 5’7 short for an 18 year old?

Is 5’7 short for an 18 year old? No, 5’7 is what you might call a neutral height; it’s taller than average for an 18-year-old female but not weirdly tall. Similarly, it’s smaller than average for an 18-year-old male, but not by much.

Is 5’8 short for an 18 year old?

Is 5’8 short for an 18 year old? No, definitely not; 5’8 is a relatively normal height for an 18 year old boy and quite a bit taller than average for a girl of the same age.

Is 5’9 tall for an 18 year old?

Is 5’9 tall for an 18 year old? A height of 5’9 is the average height for an 18 year old male. So while it’s not a particularly tall height for an eighteen year old boy, it’s also far from being short.

However, for an eighteen year old female, 5’9 is pretty tall, especially considering that it’s 5 inches above the average measurement.

Is 5’10 tall for an 18 year old?

Is 5’10 tall for an 18 year old? Yes, based on the research, 5’10 is an inch taller than usual for an American 18-year old male.

Obviously, this means that 5’10 is very tall for an 18 year old girl indeed. At this height, you’d be towering above 95% or more of your female peers.

Is 5’11 tall for an 18 year old?

Is 5’11 tall for an 18 year old? Yes, although it’s not a gigantic height, 5’11 is still on the tall side—on the tall side of normal, you could say—for an 18 year old boy.

Indeed, based on the US data that we examined, a height of 5’11 would mean that you’re taller than around 85% of boys your age.

Is 6ft tall for an 18 year old?

Is 6ft tall for an 18 year old? Yes, 6ft is tall for any man, and that most definitely includes an 18 year old male. This is obviously even more the case for subsequent heights like 6’1,6’2, and 6’3.

In conclusion: How tall is the average 18 year old?

A female getting measured to see if she has an average height for an 18 year old girl

So, how tall is the average 18 year old in the US? To recap, based on available data, the average height for an 18 year old female is 5 feet 4 inches, while the average height for an 18 year old male is around 5 feet 9 inches.

So, at the age of eighteen, there’s roughly a 5-inch height difference between males and females—a difference which maintains itself into the 20s and beyond.

References

Reinken, L., & van Oost, G. (1992). Longitudinale Körperentwicklung gesunder Kinder von 0 bis 18 Jahren. Körperlänge/-höhe, Körpergewicht und Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit [Longitudinal physical development of healthy children 0 to 18 years of age. Body length/height, body weight and growth velocity]. Klinische Padiatrie, 204(3), 129–133. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-1025337
Olfert, M. D., Barr, M. L., Charlier, C. M., Famodu, O. A., Zhou, W., Mathews, A. E., Byrd-Bredbenner, C., & Colby, S. E. (2018). Self-Reported vs. Measured Height, Weight, and BMI in Young Adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(10), 2216. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102216