Scale Explorer

Animals

How tall is an average adult?

Human · Average adult (measured US averages, age 20 and over) · Homo sapiens

Height
1.61–1.75 m 5 ft 4 in – 5 ft 9 in range
Body mass
77.9–90.3 kg 171.8–199 lb range
Show
A4 sheet of paper, House cat, Human drawn to the same scaleA4 sheet of paper: height (long side) 297 mm. House cat: length (average adult) ≈ 76.2 cm. Human: height 1.61–1.75 m.A4 sheet of paper: 297 mmHouse cat: ≈ 76.2 cmHuman: 1.61–1.75 mHuman1.61–1.75 mHouse cat≈ 76.2 cmA4 sheet of paper297 mm
Everything is drawn to the same scale, standing on the same ground line. Silhouettes are simplified outlines scaled to the measured dimension. A faded outline shows the top of a size range.

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Dimensions

MeasurementMetricImperialNotesSource
Height 1.61–1.75 m 5 ft 4 in – 5 ft 9 in Measured mean standing height, U.S. adults aged 20+: women 63.5 in, men 68.9 in (NHANES, Aug 2021 to Aug 2023). Range: varies [1]
Body mass 77.9–90.3 kg 171.8–199 lb Measured mean body weight, U.S. adults aged 20+: women 171.8 lb, men 199.0 lb (NHANES, Aug 2021 to Aug 2023). Range: varies [1]

About the average adult

These are measured averages for U.S. adults aged 20 and older from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. The average woman is about 5 ft 3.5 in tall and the average man about 5 ft 9 in. Average body mass runs from about 172 lb for women to about 199 lb for men. Individuals vary widely around these means.

  • The CDC figures are measured values, not self-reported, taken from the report Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults: United States, August 2021 to August 2023. [1]
  • Average waist circumference of U.S. adults aged 20 and older is 40.6 in for men and 38.5 in for women. [1]

How many fit?

  • ≈ 2.2 × House cat · length (average adult) lined up end to end match the Human · height
  • ≈ 14–22 × House cat · adult mass on the scales weigh as much as Human · body mass

Counts divide one sourced figure by another. "End to end" uses each object's main measurement; weight and volume rows appear only when both figures are sourced.

How it compares

  • 2.2× An average adult is about 2.2 times as tall as a house cat is long. See side by side
  • 2.6–3.2× An average adult is about 2.6–3.2 times as tall as a Labrador Retriever is tall at the shoulder. See side by side
  • 1/1.1 An average adult is about as tall as a gorilla. See side by side
  • 1/1.2–1.7 An ostrich is about 1.2–1.7 times as tall as an average adult. See side by side
  • 1× An average adult is about as tall as a horse is tall at the shoulder. See side by side

Factors compare the height of an average adult with each object’s own main measurement (height for a human). Where a size varies, the factor is given as a range.

Notes on these figures

  • The figures are U.S. national averages. They are not global averages, and average height and weight differ considerably between countries.
  • The range runs from the female mean to the male mean. It is not the full range of adult sizes.

Sources

  1. CDC National Center for Health Statistics, FastStats: Body Measurements. Accessed 24 September 2026.

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