What Is the Average Male Height?
Medically reviewed by Jonathan B. Jassey, DO
The average height for men varies across the world. The average male is about 5 feet 9 inches tall in the United States. Factors like genetics, nutrition, and health conditions can affect where you stand on the growth charts.
A healthcare provider will monitor your height starting in early childhood to ensure you're growing at a healthy rate and compile data for national growth charts. These charts track your growth against national averages, which can indicate nutrient deficiencies or underlying health conditions.
Knowing your height as an adult can help you size your clothes or furniture. You may also use your height to track changes in your health as you get older.
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Related: When Do Penises Start and Stop Growing?
Average Male Height in the U.S.
The average height of men in the United States who are 20 years or older is 5 feet 9 inches. This average is based on 2015–2016 data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This number is not an indication of how tall a male should be. It's just a way to gauge the overall height of a population.
Average Height for Men Around the World
Male heights vary quite a bit across the globe. Socioeconomic factors, like access to quality foods and genetics both play a major role in the height differences. American males' 5-foot-9 average is somewhat in the middle of global height averages.
The tallest average male height is found in the Netherlands, with an average of 72.4 inches, or slightly over 6 feet tall. Southeast Asian countries and Guatemala are among the shortest, averaging about 5 feet 4 inches or slightly shorter.
The NCD Risk Factor Collaboration published an analysis of 1,472 population-based studies from 200 countries in 2016 to estimate how much male height varies worldwide. These studies included more than 18.6 million men born between 1896–1996.
Here's how male height compares in different countries:
Netherlands: 6 feet
Germany: 5 feet 11 inches
Bermuda: 5 feet 10 inches
Greece: 5 feet 10 inches
Puerto Rico: 5 feet 10 inches
Australia: 5 feet 10 inches
Canada: 5 feet 10 inches
United Kingdom: 5 feet 10 inches
Brazil: 5 ft 9 inches
South Korea: 5 ft 9 inches
Iran: 5 ft 9 inches
China: 5 ft 9 inches
Mexico: 5 feet 7 inches
Kenya: 5 feet 7 inches
India: 5 feet 5 inches
Philippines: 5 feet 4 inches
These measurements are estimates based on the data available. Since there were no standard instructions for measuring or reporting height across countries, there could be slight differences in measurements between countries.
How the Average Height Has Changed Over Time
Men, and humans in general, are taller than their ancestors. Ten thousand-year-old male skeletons from Europe measured 5 feet 6 inches, which is about a 3-inch difference from today's U.S. average.
The average male was an inch shorter in the 1960s than measurements from the 2010s. The U.S. National Health Survey statistics from 1960–1962 reported men were about 5 feet 8 inches tall.
Other countries have seen similar or even more drastic trends. A study published in 2016 found that men in Iran had grown about 6.7 inches in the previous 100 years. The researchers noted that this is the largest height gain in the world.
One theory as to why male height has increased is that our lifestyles and technologies have led to better nutrition. Access to substantial nutrients throughout life improves your chances of reaching your full height potential. Nutrient deficiencies can stunt growth.
This doesn't mean humans will keep getting taller. Researchers indicate that better nutrition itself isn't necessarily adding height. Access to nutrition gives people the ability to reach their full potential and pass on any tall genes.
Factors That Determine Height
A person's genetics and environment play a major role in development. Your genetics will predetermine what your height could be. Other influences, like nutrition, can either help you reach your height potential or hinder your growth.
Genetics
Height is a hereditary trait influenced by multiple gene variants. Research has identified more than 700 common gene variants that affect height. You are likely to have a shorter height, for example, if your parents are short and you don't have an underlying health condition affecting your growth. This genetic situation is called familial short stature.
Healthcare providers can calculate your genetic height potential (your estimated adult height) by finding the mid-parental height. Your mid-parental height is an average height between your two parents and is essentially an educated guess. So many different genes and environmental factors affect height, so it's not easy to predict height based on genetics alone.
Nutrition
Children and adolescents need nutrients from food to grow and reach their height potential. Children who experience malnutrition (a lack of nutrients) may have stunted growth. This means their height is short for their age. Stunted growth in childhood might affect your height in adulthood.
Research has found that specific nutrients, like protein, are linked to taller men. A study published in 2016 of men from 105 countries found that those who ate more high-quality animal protein were taller.
The researchers noted that men in northern and central Europe, which have the highest average male heights, ate the most animal proteins, including dairy. Men in East Asia, which has the shortest average male height, ate more foods that were not as protein-rich, like rice.
Medical Conditions
Having certain chronic disorders, especially as a child, may affect your growth. Conditions that make it hard to absorb nutrients from your food can stunt your growth as a child. Other conditions may affect your joints or bone structure, which can impact growth.
Some conditions often associated with decreased nutrient absorption and shorter heights include:
Anemia: Causes low levels of red blood cells
Chronic renal insufficiency: Can result in lower nutrient levels and loss of appetite
Cystic fibrosis: May impact digestion
Inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD): Includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which cause inflammation in the digestive tract and can impact digestion
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis: Causes inflamed joints that may cause slow, fast, or uneven bone growth
Other conditions can directly affect how you grow as a child and adolescent, resulting in extreme tall or short heights. Gigantism, or extremely tall height, can be caused by a few different conditions that cause the body to create too much growth hormone.
These conditions include:
Carney complex: Characterized by tumor formation and pigmented areas of the skin
McCune-Albright syndrome: Affects the bones, skin, and hormone-producing tissues
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 or type 4: Causes abnormal cell growth
Neurofibromatosis: Involves the development of tumors that affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerves
Pituitary tumors: Causes abnormal growths in the pituitary gland, which is located in the brain
Extremely short height is considered dwarfism, which can affect height in two ways: proportionate short stature (PSS) and disproportionate short stature (DSS). PSS means the arms, legs, and trunk are proportionately small. DSS means the limbs or trunk is significantly smaller and disproportionate to the body.
An underlying genetic condition usually causes dwarfism, including:
Bone diseases (e.g., achondroplasia)
Endocrine disorders
Growth hormone deficiencies
Why Do Men Get Shorter With Age?
Many people start to lose height as they get older. On average, older men lose about 0.08 to 0.10% of their height, or about two to four centimeters, per year. You can start getting shorter after age 40, but height loss typically becomes more rapid after age 70. Aging typically leads to declines in muscle mass and bone density. These changes can cause you to become shorter over time.
Following practices to promote healthy aging can help you maintain your height for longer. Try eating a nutrient-rich diet and getting exercise. Regularly seeing a healthcare provider can also help monitor your bone health to prevent and treat bone loss.
How To Measure Your Height
Find a flat wall with a mirror directly across from it. You could also place a standing mirror in front of your wall.
Follow these steps to accurately measure your height:
Stand tall against the wall, with the back of your heels touching the wall and your shoulders flat against the surface. Your head should not touch the wall.
Place a stiff, flat object, such as a hardcover book, piece of cardboard, or cutting board, on top of your head and slide it back until it touches the wall and the top of your head.
Look into a mirror to ensure the object is parallel to the floor and your posture isn’t slumped or leaning.
Mark a short horizontal line where your flat object hits the wall and touches your head. This will be the bottom side of your object.
Put the object down, grab a tape measure, and measure from the floor to the mark to record your height.
Your height may not fall on an exact measurement. You can measure your height to the nearest one-eighth inch.
Related: How Often Should You Weigh Yourself, If at All?
A Quick Review
The average male height varies depending on location, genetics, health conditions, and nutrition. The average male height is 5 foot 9 inches in the United States. Men in the Netherlands have an average height of about 6 feet. Southeast Asian countries and Guatemala have a shorter average height of 5 feet 4 inches.
Your genetics will initially determine how tall you'll be. Access to nutrient-dense foods and the presence of chronic conditions can also impact your height potential.
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