Average Height for Women in the US and Worldwide

The average height for women in the United States is 63.5 inches, about 5'3.5" (161 cm). That figure comes from the CDC, which measured women 20 and older between August 2021 and August 2023. Half of American women are between about 5'1.5" and 5'5.5", and anything from roughly 4'11" to 5'8" falls within the middle 90%.

Want to see exactly where your height ranks? Our height percentile calculator turns your height, age and sex into a percentile in seconds.

What is the average height of a woman in the US?

The most reliable number comes from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), where trained staff measure people with a wall-mounted stadiometer instead of asking them how tall they are. In the latest report, 3,307 women aged 20 and older were measured.

• Average (mean): 63.5 in (161.2 cm), about 5'3.5"
• Median (the middle woman): 63.5 in (161.2 cm)

Measured data matters. When people report their own height, women overstate it by about a quarter inch (0.7 cm) on average, according to a study of national survey data. Men round up even more.

Height percentiles for American women

A percentile tells you what share of women are shorter than a given height. At the 75th percentile, you're taller than 75 out of 100 women.

Women 20 and older, CDC NHANES, August 2021–August 2023.

Is 5'2" short for a woman?

Not really. 5'2" (157.5 cm) sits between the 25th and 50th percentiles, only about 1.5 inches below the median. Here's how other common heights compare:

• 4'11" (149.9 cm): around the 5th percentile, on the shorter end of normal.
• 5'0" (152.4 cm): around the 10th percentile.
• 5'2" (157.5 cm): a little below the middle.
• 5'4" (162.6 cm): just above the median.
• 5'6" (167.6 cm): between the 75th and 85th percentiles.
• 5'7" (170.2 cm): about the 90th percentile, so roughly 1 in 10 women are this tall or taller.
• 5'9" (175.3 cm): above the 95th percentile, taller than about 19 out of 20 women.

"Short" and "tall" are feelings, not medical categories. For adults, any height in the broad middle of the range is simply normal. To see two heights side by side, try our height comparison tool.

Average height for women by age

Younger women are slightly taller on average than older women:

Part of this gap is height loss with age: MedlinePlus notes people typically lose almost half an inch (about 1 cm) every 10 years after 40, and 1 to 3 inches over a lifetime, as spinal discs flatten and posture changes. The rest reflects differences in nutrition and health care between generations.

Average height in America (women and men)

The average American man 20 and older is 68.9 inches (about 5'9", 175 cm), so women are about 5.4 inches (14 cm) shorter on average. The average height for men guide has the full breakdown for men.

Average height for women by country

The best global estimates come from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), a network of health scientists that pools population studies from 200 countries. These are their estimates for 19-year-old women in 2019:

These are modeled estimates with a margin of error of a few centimeters for many countries, so small gaps between neighbors in the table aren't meaningful. The US estimate is close to the CDC's measured average for women in their 20s.

Has average height changed over time?

Yes, though the US has barely changed lately. CDC surveys show women aged 20 to 74 averaged 63.1 inches in 1960–1962 and 64.0 inches by 1999–2002. Since then the average has held roughly steady: women 20 and older measured 63.8 inches in 1999–2002 and 63.5 inches in 2021–2023.

Many other countries grew much more. NCD-RisC estimates that American women born in 1896 averaged about 158.5 cm (5'2.5") and ranked 4th tallest of 200 countries. Women born in 1996 averaged about 163.5 cm (5'4.5") but ranked 42nd. South Korean women had the biggest gain in the world over that century, about 20 cm (8 inches).

Will you be taller than average?

If you're still a teen, you may have some growing left, though most girls are close to adult height by 15. Compare yourself with the average height for an 18-year-old girl, read when girls stop growing, and get a personal estimate from our height calculator.

Bottom line: The average American woman is about 5'3.5" (161 cm). Anything from about 4'11" to 5'8" is within the middle 90% of women, and every height in that range is completely normal.

When to see a doctor

For girls, talk to a doctor if height has dropped across major lines on the growth chart, growth was less than about 2 inches (5 cm) a year during childhood, or there are no signs of puberty by about age 13. For adults, mention any noticeable loss of height to your doctor, since MedlinePlus notes that osteoporosis can cause tiny fractures in the spine that shorten you over time.

The takeaway

The average height for a woman in the US is 63.5 inches, about 5'3.5" (161 cm), and the normal range is wide. Most women fall between 5'0" and 5'7", and where you land mostly reflects genetics and childhood health, not anything you did or didn't do.