Convert Feet to Meters
Convert feet to meters for room sizes, real-estate listings, hiking elevation gain or filling in a metric form with imperial source data.
1 ft = 0.3048 m
One foot equals exactly 0.3048 metres. To convert feet to metres, multiply by 0.3048 — so 6 ft = 1.83 m and 100 ft = 30.48 m. This is a definitional figure rather than a measured one: the 1959 international yard and pound agreement fixed the yard at 0.9144 m, making the foot exactly a third of that. A workable mental shortcut is to divide by three and subtract about ten percent: 30 ft gives 10 minus 1, or roughly 9.1 m against the true 9.14. Ceiling heights are the common domestic case — an 8 ft ceiling is 2.44 m and a 9 ft one is 2.74 m. Note that feet and inches must be combined before converting: 5 ft 10 in is 70 in, which is 1.778 m, and converting the two parts separately then adding is where errors creep in.
Quick reference: feet to meters
| Feet | Meters |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.305 m |
| 3 | 0.914 m (1 yard) |
| 5 | 1.524 m |
| 5.75 | 1.753 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| 6 | 1.829 m |
| 10 | 3.048 m |
| 50 | 15.24 m |
| 100 | 30.48 m |
| 35000 | 10,668 m |
How do you convert feet to meters?
Formula: metres = feet × 0.3048 • A person 6 feet tall → 6 × 0.3048 = 1.8288 m, usually written as 1.83 m. • A 35,000 ft cruising altitude → 35,000 × 0.3048 = 10,668 m, which is why flight levels are often quoted as roughly 10.7 km. • A 100 ft cable run → 100 × 0.3048 = 30.48 m, so a 30 m reel is just short and a 35 m reel is the safe purchase.
When and why people use feet to meters
Travel documentation is a frequent driver. Visa forms, medical records and sports registrations in metric countries ask for height in centimetres, while people who grew up with imperial know their height only in feet and inches. Converting requires handling both parts: multiply the feet by 0.3048, then add the inches multiplied by 0.0254. Ordering materials is the second case. Cable, rope, timber, ducting and fencing are sold by the foot in North America and by the metre almost everywhere else, so a project specified in one system and sourced in the other needs conversion before quantities are ordered — and rounding up matters more than precision, since running short is worse than a small surplus. Diving and altitude sports are a third. Dive tables and depth gauges may be calibrated in either system, and confusing a 30 m limit with a 30 ft one is a serious safety error rather than a rounding inconvenience.
Common mistakes to watch for when converting feet to meters
The commonest mistake is converting a feet-and-inches height by treating the inches as a decimal of feet. Someone 5 feet 9 inches is not 5.9 feet — they are 5.75 feet, or 1.7526 m. The inches must be divided by 12 first, or converted separately at 0.0254 m each. A second trap is the 0.3 shortcut, which is 1.6% low and will underestimate a 35,000 ft altitude by over 500 m. A third is mixing the international foot with the US survey foot in geospatial work, where the two-parts-per-million difference becomes metres over the span of a state coordinate system. Finally, materials sold 'by the metre' are often cut to whole metres, so a 30.48 m requirement means buying 31 m.
How to estimate feet to meters in your head
Divide by 10 and multiply by 3. For 100 ft: 100 ÷ 10 = 10, times 3 = 30 m, against a true 30.48. That is 1.6% low and takes a second. An alternative for heights is to take a third and then subtract about 9%. For 6 ft: a third is 2, minus 0.18 gives 1.82 m against a true 1.83. The anchors worth carrying are 3 ft ≈ 0.9 m, 10 ft ≈ 3 m, 100 ft ≈ 30 m and 3,300 ft ≈ 1 km. The last one is useful for altitude: 33,000 ft of cruising altitude is almost exactly 10 km. For anything structural or safety-related, drop the shortcuts and use 0.3048 exactly — a 1.6% error on a 200 m building is more than 3 m.
Feet to Meters FAQ
How many metres is a foot?
- Exactly 0.3048 m, fixed by definition in the 1959 international yard and pound agreement.
How do I convert 5 feet 9 inches?
- Convert to decimal feet first: 9 ÷ 12 = 0.75, so 5.75 ft. Then 5.75 × 0.3048 = 1.7526 m. Treating it as 5.9 ft is wrong.
Is 0.3 close enough?
- It is 1.6% low. On a 35,000 ft altitude that is an error of more than 500 m, so use the full factor for anything that matters.
How tall is 6 feet in centimetres?
- 182.88 cm, normally written as 183 cm.
How many metres in 100 feet of cable?
- 30.48 m. A 30 m reel falls just short, so order 35 m.
What is the difference between the international and survey foot?
- Two parts per million. Negligible on a building, significant across a state plane coordinate system. The survey foot was deprecated at the end of 2022.
How deep is a 30 ft dive in metres?
- 9.14 m. Confusing a 30 ft limit with a 30 m limit is a serious safety error, not a rounding issue.
Is any of this sent to a server?
- No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser.
Last updated:
Sources: 1959 international yard and pound agreement; NIST Special Publication 811; NIST notice deprecating the US survey foot, effective 31 December 2022.