Calcylator
Feet to Centimetres

Feet to centimetres:
multiply by 30.48

Convert feet to centimetres for heights, ceilings and furniture, with a chart, feet-and-inches examples and the mistakes to avoid.

Calcylator Editorial Team

Updated · 5 min read

How many centimetres are in a foot?

One foot is exactly 30.48 centimetres. The figure is exact because the international inch has been defined as 25.4 mm since 1959, and a foot is 12 inches: 12 × 2.54 cm = 30.48 cm.

In everyday talk people round it to 30 cm, which is why a 30 cm ruler is often sold as a 'one foot' ruler. For heights, furniture and building work that small gap matters, so use 30.48 when accuracy counts.

The feet to cm formula

Feet to centimetres =cm = feet × 30.48
cm:
length in centimetres
feet:
length in feet
30.48:
centimetres in one foot (exact)
To go the other way, divide: feet = cm ÷ 30.48.

  • Height

    5 ft 9 in

  • Feet part

    5 × 30.48 = 152.4 cm

  • Inches part

    9 × 2.54 = 22.86 cm

Height in cm

175.26 cm

Heights are usually given in feet and inches, so convert each part and add them.

  1. Convert the whole feet: multiply by 30.48.
  2. Convert any leftover inches: multiply by 2.54.
  3. Add the two results together.

Chart: feet to centimetres

Feet to centimetres
Feet (ft)Centimetres (cm)
130.48
260.96
5152.4
10304.8
25762
501,524
1003,048
2507,620
50015,240
1,00030,480

Divide a centimetre figure by 100 to read it in metres: 304.8 cm is 3.048 m, so a 10 ft wall is just over three metres long.

Real uses: heights, ceilings and furniture

Visa forms, passports and online shops often ask for height in centimetres while people in the US and UK know their height in feet and inches. A person who is 6 ft 2 in is 6 × 30.48 + 2 × 2.54 = 187.96 cm tall.

Going back, 180 cm is 180 ÷ 30.48 = 5.9055 feet, which is 5 feet and about 10.9 inches. Room sizes work the same way: a standard 8 ft ceiling is 243.84 cm, so a wardrobe quoted as 240 cm will just fit.

More examples: rooms and furniture in cm

Feet are common in room measurements, while shops that sell furniture online list centimetres. A 12 ft room wall is 12 × 30.48 = 365.76 cm, and a 2.5 ft shelf is 76.2 cm. A door frame 3 ft wide is exactly 91.44 cm.

For a height given in feet and inches, such as 10 ft 5 in on a ceiling, convert the 10 feet to 304.8 cm and the 5 inches to 12.7 cm, which makes 317.5 cm. In the other direction, a 900 cm length is 900 ÷ 30.48 = 29.53 ft. Round the final answer, not the pieces.

If you need a reliable reference object, a standard sheet of A4 paper is 29.7 cm long, which is just under one foot at 30.48 cm. Laying a sheet end to end along a table edge is a quick way to test that a converted length looks right.

Common mistakes when converting feet to cm

  • Writing 5 ft 9 in as 5.9 feet. Nine inches is 0.75 of a foot, so the decimal form is 5.75 ft.
  • Using 30 instead of 30.48. On 10 feet it makes a 4.8 cm difference.
  • Forgetting the inches and converting only the feet part of a height.
  • Dividing instead of multiplying. A centimetre is the smaller unit, so the cm figure must be bigger.

Common questions

How many cm is 1 foot?

One foot is exactly 30.48 centimetres. The value follows from the exact definition of the inch as 25.4 mm, since a foot is 12 inches. So 2 feet is 60.96 cm and 10 feet is 304.8 cm.

How do I convert feet to cm?

Multiply the feet by 30.48. For example, 5.5 feet × 30.48 = 167.64 cm. If you also have inches, multiply them by 2.54 and add the result to the figure for the whole feet.

How many cm is 5 feet 9 inches?

A height of 5 feet 9 inches is 175.26 cm. Five feet is 152.4 cm and nine inches is 22.86 cm, and the two add up to 175.26 cm. Round to 175 cm if a form wants whole centimetres.

How do I convert cm to feet?

Divide the centimetres by 30.48. For example, 180 cm ÷ 30.48 = 5.9055 feet. To get feet and inches, keep the 5 whole feet and multiply the leftover 0.9055 by 12, which gives about 10.9 inches.

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