The average height for an adult male in the United States is 68.9 inches, or just under 5 feet 9 inches. That figure comes from the CDC’s most recent national survey data, based on measured heights of men aged 20 and older. Globally, the picture varies quite a bit, with averages ranging from around 5 feet 3 inches in parts of South Asia to over 6 feet in the Netherlands.
U.S. Average: 5 Feet 9 Inches
The CDC collects height data through a program called NHANES, where trained staff physically measure participants rather than relying on self-reported numbers (people tend to round up). The most recent cycle, covering August 2021 through August 2023, puts the average American man at 68.9 inches tall. That translates to about 175 centimeters, or roughly 5 feet 8.9 inches.
If you’re within an inch or two of that number in either direction, you’re squarely in the middle of the pack. Being 5’7″ or 5’11” would still place you well within the normal range for a U.S. adult male.
How the U.S. Compares Globally
The global average for men born in 1996 is 171 centimeters, or about 5 feet 7.5 inches. That puts the typical American man a couple of inches above the world average, though not near the top of the chart. The Netherlands holds the title for the tallest population in the world, with Dutch men averaging around 6 feet. Men in Europe and Central Asia tend to be the tallest overall, while men in South Asia tend to be the shortest.
The gap between the tallest and shortest regions has actually been growing. A century ago, the difference between the tallest and shortest regions was about 8 centimeters. Today that gap has widened to 12 centimeters, largely because wealthier nations saw bigger height gains over the 20th century as nutrition and healthcare improved unevenly across the globe.
Why People Are Taller Than They Used to Be
From the 1870s to the 1970s, the average height of European men increased by about 11 centimeters, a pace of roughly 1 centimeter per decade. That rate varied from country to country, ranging between 0.8 and 1.4 centimeters per decade, but the overall trend was remarkably consistent across the continent. Similar gains occurred in the U.S. and other developed nations during the same period.
This wasn’t evolution at work. Genetic changes happen far too slowly to explain a shift that dramatic over just a few generations. Instead, the increase reflects improvements in childhood nutrition, reduced rates of infectious disease, better sanitation, and overall higher standards of living. Children who are well-fed and healthy during their growth years reach more of their genetic height potential. In countries where these conditions improved earliest, height gains leveled off sooner. In much of the developed world, average heights have largely plateaued since the 1980s.
Genetics vs. Environment
About 80 percent of the variation in height between individuals is genetic. That means if your parents are tall, you’re very likely to be tall too, and vice versa. But that 80 percent figure applies within a population where most people have access to adequate nutrition and healthcare. In settings where malnutrition or chronic illness is common, the environmental share becomes much larger.
The genetic component isn’t controlled by one or two genes. Height is influenced by a combination of many genetic variants, each contributing a small amount. This is why height doesn’t follow simple inheritance patterns the way something like eye color can. Two average-height parents can have a child who ends up noticeably taller or shorter, depending on which combination of variants they pass along. Environmental factors like nutrition during childhood and adolescence, sleep quality, and overall health fill in the remaining 20 percent or so of the equation.
What Affects Your Measured Height
You’re tallest first thing in the morning. Over the course of the day, gravity compresses the fluid-filled discs between your vertebrae, and most people lose about half an inch to three-quarters of an inch by evening. If you’ve ever measured yourself at home and gotten a different number at a doctor’s office, time of day is the most common explanation.
In clinical settings, height is measured with a stadiometer, a wall-mounted ruler with a sliding headpiece. You stand with your back against the wall, heels together, and look straight ahead. Measurements are taken to the nearest eighth of an inch. If you want to compare yourself to the national average accurately, measuring in the morning with your shoes off and your posture straight will give you the most consistent result.
Height also decreases with age. Starting around age 40, most men gradually lose height due to changes in posture, bone density, and the compression of spinal discs. By age 70, losing an inch or more from your peak adult height is typical.