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Feet to Meters Converter — Convert Feet to meters

Convert feet to meters with the exact factor, a common-values table, and the formula shown.

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Reviewed by CalcBold Editorial · Sources: NIST Weights & Measures + NIST SP 811 + BIPM SI Brochure (9th ed., 2019)Last verified Methodology

Feet to Meters Converter

Enter a value in feet to convert to meters.

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Feet to Meters — the Quick Answer

One foot equals exactly 0.3048 meters. That is not an approximation — it is the legal definition of the foot, fixed in 1959 by international agreement and never changed since. To convert any length in feet to meters, multiply by 0.3048. To reverse (meters to feet), divide by 0.3048 or multiply by 3.28084.

For rough mental math, 1 ft ≈ 0.305 mis fine: a 6 ft person is about 1.83 m, and a 100 ft building is about 30.5 m. But because 0.3048 is already a short exact number, there is little reason to round — multiplying by 0.3048 on any phone calculator gives the exact answer in two keystrokes.

When the input is in feet-and-inches rather than decimal feet, convert everything to decimal feet first: divide the inches by 12 and add to the whole feet. For example, 5 ft 9 in = 5 + 9/12 = 5.75 ft; then 5.75 × 0.3048 = 1.7526 m. Alternatively, convert total inches to meters directly: total inches × 0.0254.

The Feet-to-Meters Formula

Feet → Meters

meters = feet × 0.3048
feet-and-inches variant: meters = (feet + inches ÷ 12) × 0.3048

The factor 0.3048 is exact by definition — no rounding, no approximation. It was set by the international yard-and-pound agreement of 1959 (1 yard = 0.9144 m; 1 foot = 0.9144 ÷ 3 = 0.3048 m). For a 6 ft doorway: 6 × 0.3048 = 1.8288 m exactly.

Source:NIST SP 811 — Guide for the Use of the International System of Units· National Institute of Standards and Technology

The elegance of this factor is that it is a terminating decimal: 0.3048. Contrast with, say, miles to kilometers (1.609344, also exact but longer), or inches to centimeters (2.54, the cleanest of the bunch). The foot’s clean metric value emerged because the 1959 agreement chose 0.9144 m for the yard — an easily divisible number — making the foot and inch also tidy multiples of metric units.

Common Feet-to-Meter Values

The table covers the ranges most commonly needed: everyday heights (1–7 ft), residential ceilings and rooms (8–10 ft), and longer structural spans. The feet-and-inches column helps when the input comes from a tape measure or a “5′10″”-style height.

Exact factor 0.3048 m/ft

Common feet to meters conversions

Common feet to meters conversions
ScenarioFeetMetersFeet & Inches context
1 ft0.305 m1 ft 0 in — a standard ruler
5 ft1.524 m5 ft 0 in — shorter adult height
5 ft 6 in (5.5 ft)1.676 mcommon female height in US
6 ftRecommended1.829 m6 ft 0 in — target male height
6 ft 6 in (6.5 ft)1.981 mtall athlete range
7 ft2.134 m7 ft 0 in — NBA “seven-footer”
8 ft2.438 mstandard US ceiling height
9 ft2.743 mupgraded residential ceiling
10 ft3.048 mcommercial space minimum ceiling
50 ft15.240 mfour-story building approx.
100 ft30.480 mten-story building approx.

For a value not in the table: multiply feet by 0.3048. For feet-and-inches: add inches ÷ 12 to the feet first, then multiply by 0.3048. Example: 5 ft 4 in = 5.333 ft × 0.3048 = 1.626 m.

Worked Examples

Example 1

Convert 6 ft 2 in to meters

Height
6 ft 2 in
Factor
0.3048 m/ft

  1. Convert inches fraction to decimal feet.

    2 ÷ 12 = 0.1667 ft

  2. Add to whole feet.

    6 + 0.1667 = 6.1667 ft

  3. Multiply by the exact factor.

    6.1667 × 0.3048 = 1.8796 m

  4. Round to four significant figures.

    ≈ 1.880 m

6 ft 2 in = 1.880 m.

The shortcut: total inches × 0.0254. 6 ft 2 in = 74 in; 74 × 0.0254 = 1.8796 m. Same answer, fewer steps.

Example 2

Convert a 9 ft ceiling to meters for a blueprint

Ceiling height
9 ft
Factor
0.3048 m/ft

  1. Multiply feet by the exact factor.

    9 × 0.3048 = 2.7432 m

  2. For a blueprint, four decimal places are standard.

    2.7432 m (exact)

9 ft = 2.7432 m exactly.

Because 0.3048 is exact, 9 × 0.3048 is also exact: 2.7432 m with no rounding error. This matters when multiple ceiling heights are summed in a multi-story structure.

How to Use This Converter

  1. Enter the length in feet (decimal or a whole number) in the field above.
  2. If your measurement is in feet and inches, enter feet in the first field and inches in the second; the converter handles the decimal conversion automatically.
  3. The result appears in meters, using the exact 0.3048 factor, rounded to four decimal places.
  4. For the opposite direction, use the meters-to-feet converter.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to convert inches first.Entering 5.9 instead of 5.75 for 5 ft 9 in (treating the “9” as tenths of a foot) gives 1.798 m instead of 1.753 m — a 4.5 cm error. Always convert inches to a fraction of a foot (divide by 12) before multiplying.
  • Using 0.305 instead of 0.3048.The rounded factor introduces 0.026% error — just over a quarter of a millimeter per foot, but ≈ 26 mm per 100 ft. For structural or geospatial work, always use the full 0.3048.
  • Mixing up the US survey foot.If you are converting historical US geodetic data predating 2023, coordinates may use the survey foot (0.3048006… m). The difference is only 0.6 mm per 100 m, but it can shift GPS control points by meters across a large survey. Modern data uses the international foot.
  • Confusing feet with yards. A yard is 3 feet, so 1 yd = 0.9144 m while 1 ft = 0.3048 m. American football yardage and fabric sold by the yard should be multiplied by 0.9144, not 0.3048.

Background

Why the Foot Is Exactly 0.3048 Meters

The foot is one of humanity’s oldest standardized measures, yet its metric value was fixed only in living memory. Ancient Roman feet (pes) ran about 296 mm; medieval English feet varied by town. The Magna Carta of 1215 called for a single standard of measures throughout the kingdom, and by Tudor times the English foot had settled around 304–305 mm — close to today’s value, but not identical to it.

The metric system was ratified by France in 1799 with the meter defined as one ten-millionth of the Earth’s meridional arc from equator to pole. The two systems coexisted uneasily through the 19th century. In the United States, the Mendenhall Order of 1893 redefined all US customary units in terms of metric: the yard was set at 3600/3937 meters, making the foot 1200/3937 m ≈ 0.30480061… m. Britain kept a slightly different value. The result was two “feet” that differed by about 6 parts per million — meaningless for carpentry, but a real nuisance for engineers and surveyors comparing transatlantic data.

On 1 July 1959 the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa signed the international yard-and-pound agreement, setting the yard at exactly 0.9144 m [1]. Dividing by three gives the foot as exactly 0.3048 m — a clean terminating decimal chosen deliberately for ease of computation. The old US survey foot (0.3048006096… m) was retained only for federal land-survey work involving existing datum coordinates, and even that was finally retired by NIST and the National Geodetic Survey on 1 January 2023 [2].

Today the meter is defined via the speed of light — the distance light travels in vacuum in exactly 1/299,792,458 of a second (BIPM, 1983) [3]. The foot is 0.3048 of that distance: the most precisely defined unit of human height in history. The practical implication is that a feet-to-meters calculator has no accumulated rounding error. If you carry enough decimal places in the factor, the answer is algebraically exact.

  1. International yard and pound agreement — NIST Weights and Measures · National Institute of Standards and Technology · 1959
  2. NIST SP 811 — Guide for the Use of the International System of Units · National Institute of Standards and Technology · 2008
  3. BIPM — The International System of Units (SI), metre definition · Bureau International des Poids et Mesures · 1983

Length Conversion Terms

Quick reference

Feet, meters & length glossary

Foot (ft)

US customary and imperial unit of length, exactly 0.3048 m, divided into 12 inches. Abbreviated ft or ′.

The international foot (0.3048 m) is the standard since 1959. The now-retired US survey foot (0.3048006… m) differed by about 0.6 mm per 100 m and was used only in historic geodetic datasets.

Meter (m)

SI base unit of length; the distance light travels in vacuum in 1/299,792,458 s. 1 m = 3.28084 ft.

One meter is slightly longer than a yard and about 3 ft 3.4 in. It is the reference unit for this conversion — the foot is defined in terms of it, not the other way around.

Inch (in)

1/12 of a foot, exactly 25.4 mm. Key for converting feet-and-inches inputs to decimal feet.

To get decimal feet from a feet-and-inches measurement, divide the inches by 12 and add to the whole feet. To go directly to meters from total inches, multiply by 0.0254.

Decimal feet

Feet expressed as a single number with a decimal fraction, e.g., 5.75 ft for 5 ft 9 in.

Engineers often work in decimal feet; carpenters and everyday usage prefer feet-and-inches. The conversion: inches ÷ 12 gives the decimal fraction. 5 ft 9 in = 5 + 9/12 = 5.75 ft.

Yard (yd)

3 feet, exactly 0.9144 m. Used in American football, fabric, and some construction contexts.

The 1959 international agreement set the yard at 0.9144 m, which then defined the foot at 0.3048 m (= 0.9144 ÷ 3) and the inch at 0.0254 m (= 0.3048 ÷ 12).

International foot

The 1959 definition: exactly 0.3048 m. Distinct from the old US survey foot (0.3048006… m).

The US survey foot was retired 1 January 2023. Any conversion tool or table using 0.3048006 is outdated. Modern land-survey software has migrated to the international foot.

NIST SP 811

NIST’s authoritative guide for SI unit usage, the canonical source for US unit-conversion factors.

Published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, SP 811 lists exact conversion factors, SI prefixes, and rules for expressing uncertainty. Appendix B.8 covers length conversions.

Terminating decimal

A decimal that ends exactly without repeating, such as 0.3048. Exact conversion factors produce exact results.

Because 0.3048 is a terminating decimal, multiplying any integer number of feet by it gives a finite decimal in meters with no recurring digits — a feature that makes feet-to-meter arithmetic unusually clean.

Related Converters and Tools

For the reverse, use the meters-to-feet converter. For longer journeys and race distances, the km-to-miles converter covers running and road planning. The all-in-one unit converter handles centimeters, millimeters, yards, and miles in one place. If you are estimating room or building dimensions, the square footage calculator and concrete calculator accept both foot and meter inputs.

Frequently Asked Questions

The most common questions we get about this calculator — each answer is kept under 60 words so you can scan.

  • What is the feet to meters conversion factor?
    1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly. To convert, multiply your feet value by 0.3048.
  • What is 10 feet in meters?
    10 feet = 3.05 meters. Multiply 10 by 0.3048 to get the result.
  • How do I convert meters back to feet?
    Divide your meters value by 0.3048 (or multiply by the reciprocal). The page shows the exact reverse rate.
  • Is this conversion exact or rounded?
    The factor itself is exact by international standard; only the displayed result is rounded for readability. Internally full precision is kept.
  • Is the Feet to Meters converter free?
    Yes — free, instant, no signup. All math runs in your browser; nothing is stored.