Feet to Meters Converter

Converting feet to meters is one of the most common length conversions, and the math behind it is refreshingly simple: multiply by 0.3048. So a 10-foot ceiling is exactly 3.048 meters, a 6-foot person is about 1.83 m, and a 100-foot lot is 30.48 m. This converter does the arithmetic for you in both directions - type feet to get meters, or meters to get feet - and shows the formula and a reference table so you can sanity-check the result. If you need other length units, the Unit Converter handles centimeters, inches, yards, miles and more in one place.

The formula and definition

The conversion rests on a single exact definition. Since 1959, the international foot has been defined as exactly 0.3048 meters, so there is no approximation in the factor itself:

To go the other way, divide by 0.3048 - which is the same as multiplying by its reciprocal:

The foot (ft) is a unit of the U.S. customary and imperial systems, while the meter (m) is the base length unit of the International System of Units (SI). One meter is a bit more than three feet, which is why a quick mental estimate for "meters to feet" is to roughly triple the number.

A worked example, step by step

Suppose you want to convert 25 feet to meters. The steps are:

1. Write down the value in feet: 25 ft.
2. Multiply by the exact factor: 25 × 0.3048.
3. Read the result: 7.62 meters.

Because 0.3048 is exact, 25 ft is precisely 7.62 m with nothing lost to rounding. Most everyday conversions land on tidy numbers like this; only the meters-to-feet direction produces long decimals, which is why we round those for display.

How to use this converter

The tool is bidirectional and updates as you type:

1. Pick a direction: to convert feet to meters, type into the Feet box; to convert meters to feet, type into the Meters box.
2. Enter your number: whole numbers and decimals both work (for example 12 or 12.5).
3. Read the big result: the highlighted figure is your converted value, with a rounded version next to it for quick use.
4. Check the formula line: it shows the exact multiplication used, so you can verify the math.
5. Scan the reference table: common values (1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100) are pre-computed in both directions.

Whichever box you edited last becomes the source of truth, so there is never any ambiguity about which way the conversion is running. Clearing a box simply clears the result.

Who this converter is for

Feet-to-meters conversions come up far more often than people expect. This tool is handy for:

• Travelers reading signs and maps abroad, where heights and distances are in meters.
• DIYers and builders translating a tape-measure reading in feet into metric plans or materials.
• Students doing physics or geometry homework that mixes imperial and metric units.
• Athletes and coaches comparing a 40-yard dash or a 100-foot field to metric track distances.
• Anyone shopping internationally for furniture, electronics or sports gear listed in meters.

A second example: meters to feet

Now go the other way. You read that a building is 50 meters tall and want that in feet. Multiply 50 by 3.2808399 to get about 164.04 feet. If you need feet and inches, take the whole number (164 ft) and multiply the leftover 0.04 ft by 12 to get roughly half an inch, so 50 m is about 164 ft 0.5 in. Mentally, tripling 50 gives a quick estimate of ~150 ft, which confirms the precise answer is in the right ballpark.

A third example: human height

Heights are the most-searched feet-to-meters conversion. A person who is 5 feet 10 inches first converts the inches: 10 in ÷ 12 = 0.8333 ft, so the height is 5.8333 ft. Multiplying by 0.3048 gives about 1.78 m. Likewise, 6 ft is 1.8288 m (≈ 1.83 m) and 5 ft 6 in is 1.6764 m (≈ 1.68 m). When you convert feet-and-inches heights, always fold the inches into the feet first, then multiply once.

Common conversion values

Here are frequently needed feet-to-meters results, rounded to a practical precision:

Tips for accurate conversions

• Use the full factor for precision. 0.3048 is exact, but 3.28 (instead of 3.2808399) introduces small errors over long distances - use the longer value for engineering work.
• Estimate by tripling. Meters × 3 gets you close to feet; feet ÷ 3 gets you close to meters. Handy for quick sanity checks.
• Handle feet and inches first. Convert inches to a fraction of a foot (inches ÷ 12) before multiplying by 0.3048.
• Round at the end. Do the math with full precision and round only the final answer to the decimals you actually need.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Confusing the direction. Multiplying meters by 0.3048 (instead of 3.2808399) gives a number that is way too small. Always match the factor to the direction.
• Mixing up feet and yards. A yard is 3 feet, so 1 yd = 0.9144 m. If your source value is in yards, convert to feet first or use a yards converter.
• Forgetting the inches. "5 feet 10" is not 5.10 ft - it is 5.8333 ft. Treat inches as twelfths of a foot, not decimal places.
• Using the survey foot. The old U.S. survey foot is slightly different and was retired for most uses at the end of 2022. Everyday conversions should use the international foot (0.3048 m).

Related length concepts

Feet and meters are just two points on a larger ladder of length units. A few useful relationships:

• 1 foot = 12 inches, and 1 inch = 2.54 cm exactly, so 1 ft = 30.48 cm.
• 1 yard = 3 feet = 0.9144 m, which is why a yard and a meter are often loosely treated as similar.
• 1 mile = 5,280 feet = 1,609.344 m, or about 1.609 kilometers.
• 1 kilometer = 1,000 m ≈ 3,280.84 feet ≈ 0.621 miles.

If you regularly move between systems, it helps to memorize a couple of anchor points - 1 ft = 0.3048 m and 1 m ≈ 3.28 ft - and derive the rest from there. For height conversions specifically, the cm to Feet Converter goes straight from centimeters to feet and inches, and for road distances the Miles to km Converter handles the longer end of the ladder.

Why the conversion is exact

Unlike many unit conversions that rely on measured constants, feet to meters is built on a definition. In 1959 an international agreement fixed the yard at exactly 0.9144 meters; dividing by 3 makes the foot exactly 0.3048 m. That is why this converter can claim its feet-to-meters results are exact, while meters-to-feet figures - which require the non-terminating reciprocal 3.2808399... - are necessarily rounded.

Where feet-to-meters conversions actually come up

It is easy to assume this conversion only matters to engineers, but it shows up in everyday situations far more often than most people realize. A few of the most common contexts:

• Real estate and floor plans. U.S. listings quote square feet and ceiling heights in feet, while much of the world - and many architects - work in meters. An 8-foot ceiling is 2.44 m, a 9-foot ceiling is 2.74 m, and a 1,500 sq ft home is about 139.4 m² (note that area uses 0.3048² = 0.092903 as the factor, not 0.3048).
• Construction and DIY. Lumber, drywall and fixtures are often sold by metric dimensions outside the U.S. Converting a tape-measure reading in feet to meters keeps a shopping list consistent with the product labels.
• Travel and signage. Road clearance signs, trail markers and building heights abroad are posted in meters. Knowing that a 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) doorway is "about two meters" helps you read them at a glance.
• Sports. Swimming pools, track-and-field events and soccer pitches are measured in meters, while American football and many U.S. fields use yards and feet. A 100-foot stretch is just over 30 m, and a 40-yard dash is about 36.6 m.
• Aviation and diving. Pilots read altitude in feet almost everywhere, but charts and dive tables in metric countries use meters - a 35,000-foot cruising altitude is roughly 10,668 m, and a 100-foot dive is about 30.5 m.

A short history of the foot and the meter

The two units come from very different traditions. The foot descends from body-based measures used across the ancient and medieval world; for centuries its exact length varied from town to town, which made trade and surveying maddeningly inconsistent. The meter, by contrast, was a deliberate invention of the French Revolution in the 1790s, originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole and later tied to a physical platinum bar, then to the wavelength of light, and today to the speed of light in a vacuum.

For most of the twentieth century, English-speaking countries each defined the foot slightly differently relative to the meter. That ended in 1959, when the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa signed the International Yard and Pound Agreement, fixing one international yard at exactly 0.9144 m - and therefore one foot at exactly 0.3048 m. The U.S. kept a slightly different "survey foot" for legacy land-surveying work, but even that was officially retired at the end of 2022, leaving a single, exact foot for virtually every purpose.

Feet to meters vs. other length conversions

The 0.3048 factor is specific to feet and meters. If your starting value is in a different unit, you need a different factor - mixing them up is the most common source of conversion errors:

• Inches to meters: multiply inches by 0.0254 (since 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly). A 30-inch desk is 0.762 m.
• Yards to meters: multiply yards by 0.9144. A 50-yard line is 45.72 m.
• Miles to meters: multiply miles by 1,609.344. A 3-mile run is 4,828 m, or about 4.83 km - the Miles to km Converter does this directly.
• Centimeters to feet: divide centimeters by 30.48. A 180 cm person is about 5.91 ft, or 5 ft 11 in - the cm to Feet Converter returns the feet-and-inches form for you.

When in doubt about which factor applies, the all-in-one Unit Converter lets you pick both the source and target units explicitly, which removes any guesswork about direction or factor.

Precision: how many decimals should you keep?

Because the feet-to-meters factor is exact, the only precision question is how many decimals make sense for your task. For casual use, two decimals (centimeter level) are plenty: 6 ft → 1.83 m. For construction, three or four decimals capture millimeters: 6 ft → 1.8288 m. For engineering and surveying, carry the full value through the calculation and round only at the very end. The reverse direction needs more care - the reciprocal 3.2808399 is itself rounded, so for high-precision meters-to-feet work, divide by the exact 0.3048 rather than multiplying by a truncated reciprocal. This converter divides by 0.3048 internally and rounds only the displayed figure, so the number you see is as accurate as the inputs you provide.

Sources

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Unit conversion and the international foot (1 ft = 0.3048 m).
• Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) - The SI base unit of length, the meter.
• NIST - Deprecation of the U.S. survey foot (effective end of 2022).
• International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959 (international yard fixed at exactly 0.9144 m).