Is 5’8 Tall for a Girl or Not?

Is 5’8 tall for a woman? That’s the main topic of today’s article.

As you might know, a height of 5’8 is 4 inches above the average female height. But what does this mean for you as a woman? Our height analysis and comparison will let you know!

See How Your Height Compares:

Table of Contents show

Is 5’8 tall for a girl?

A woman getting measured with a stadiometer

Is 5’8 tall for a girl or not? Yes, a height of 5’8 is definitely tall for a girl because 5 feet 8 inches is 4 inches taller than average for a woman living in the US.

Now, does this mean that 5’8″ is too tall for a girl? Definitely not. Research shows that many tall women are very satisfied with their height, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a 5’8″ woman. ^[1]

Of course, some women might not like the idea of only being a couple of inches shorter than the average guy, but still, 5’8″ definitely isn’t really tall for a woman.

Now, statistically, a height of 5ft 8in would almost put you in the 95th percentile meaning that, based on this data, at least, you’d be taller than 95% of other women that you encounter.

Although this height measurement data is excellent in that it measured over 5,000 women, the percentiles that we used are for all women over 20.

Given that older women are significantly shorter than the younger generation, a young woman who’s 5’8″ is unlikely to be taller than 95% of other girls her age.

How tall is 5’8.5 for a woman?

A woman being measured with a stadiometer

A height of 5’8.5 is certainly very tall for a woman. Indeed, such a height is 4 and a half inches taller than usual for an adult woman, which is a significant height difference.

Again, this doesn’t mean that a woman who’s 5’8 ½ is too tall.

To be specific, I’d say that while 5 feet 8 and a half inches is definitely tall for a female, it’s not quite in the really tall category.

After all, can you be considered really tall as a woman if you’re still shorter than the average man? I don’t think so.

Is it good to be a 5’8 female?

So, is 5’8 a good height for a woman? As someone who’s an inch shorter than 5’8, I’d say that 5’8 is a very good height for a woman because you’re still shorter than most guys, and you probably won’t have much trouble buying clothes, at least not based on your height.

I can’t imagine that many people would say that 5’8 is too tall for a woman (except maybe a man who’s significantly shorter than 5’8). So in this sense, 5 feet 8 inches is a great height for a girl because you’re neither too tall nor too short.

Now, some taller women do have height-related body image issues. ^[2] However, these problems are more common among younger women who are taller than 5ft 8in.

Still, if you personally feel that your 5’8 frame is too tall, you can always deemphasize your height by wearing looser clothing and/or flatter shoes.

5’8 woman height comparison

A tall and short woman stood next to each other

If you’re a 5’8 woman, these mini height comparisons will help you to work out how you compare in terms of stature to people who are taller than you.

5’8 vs 5’9

Since the difference between 5’8 and 5’9 is only one inch, there’s not really much to say about these two heights when taken together other than that the height difference won’t be very noticeable.

Indeed, with such a small height difference, it would be possible for the 5’8 person to look taller if they had really good posture and/or wore shoes with a more generous heel.

5’8 vs 5’10

5’8 next to 5’10 doesn’t look small because there’s only a 2 inch height difference.

While 2 inches is still a decent chunk of height, there won’t be a massive height gap with a 5’8 and 5’10 couple unless the taller person is wearing much bulkier shoes than the 5’8 person.

Both 5’8 and 5’10 are actually above-average heights for women and men (5’8 by 4 inches and 5’10 by an inch).

5’8 vs 5’11

5’8 next to 5’11 doesn’t exactly look small, but the height difference is definitely noticeable. A 5’8 girl next to a 5’11 guy may look “about right” because there’s a decent height difference between the couple but not an absolutely massive height gap.

Both 5’8 and 5’11 are above-average heights without being too tall and, for this reason, are greatly desired by a lot of people.

5’8 vs 6’0

5’8 compared to 6’0 is like a tall girl standing next to a tall guy. In this scenario, neither person is strangely tall, but they’re both comfortably taller than usual.

A 4 inch height difference is noticeable to pretty much anyone, but it’s not so big that it would cause someone to stare, far from it.

5’8 vs 6’2

The 5’8 and 6’2 height difference in inches is 6 inches, which is slightly above average.

A 6 inch height difference sure sounds like a lot, but it’s fairly typical for many couples these days.

Of course, from a man’s perspective, hanging out with someone who’s 6’2 could make you look pretty short. See our article (is 5’8 short for a guy?) for more info on this.

The verdict: How tall is 5 feet 8 inches for a woman?

A height of 5 feet 8 inches, or 172.72 cm, is noticeably tall for a woman. However, 5’8 is not tall to the point where you would attract unwanted attention for your height.

Many people feel self-conscious about their height these days. But I can tell you that there are many women out there who would really love to be 5’8, which is why I emphasized the point that being a 5’8 girl is not just ok; it’s a great height!

References

Lever, J., Frederick, D. A., Laird, K., & Sadeghi-Azar, L. (2007). Tall women’s satisfaction with their height: general population data challenge assumptions behind medical interventions to stunt girls’ growth. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 40(2), 192–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.09.004