173 cm in feet and inches

How we worked it out

173 ÷ 2.54 = 68.1102 inches. Dividing by 12 gives 5 feet with 8.1 inches left over. Rounded to the nearest inch, 173 cm is about 5 ft 8 in.

173 cm to feet and inches at a glance

• Feet and inches: 5 ft 8.1 in (written 5'8.1")
• Nearest whole inch: 5 ft 8 in (5'8")
• Feet only (decimal): 5.676 ft
• Inches only: 68.11 in
• Metres: 1.73 m

How to convert 173 cm to feet

There are 30.48 centimetres in one foot, so divide the height in centimetres by 30.48: 173 ÷ 30.48 = 5.676 feet. To get feet and inches instead, take the whole number of feet (5) and multiply the leftover 0.676 of a foot by 12, which gives 8.1 inches.

Quick mental method: divide by 30 for a rough answer (173 ÷ 30 ≈ 5.8 ft), or work in inches by dividing by 2.5 (173 ÷ 2.5 ≈ 69 in). The exact figure uses 2.54 cm per inch.

How to write 173 cm in feet and inches

Heights are normally written as 5'8" or "5 ft 8 in" and read as "5 foot 8" or "5 feet 8 inches". Going back the other way, 5 ft 8 in is 172.72 cm, so the rounded height differs from 173 cm by 0.28 cm.

Height conversion chart

Is 173 cm tall or short?

That depends on age, sex and which group you compare with, so there is no single answer. Below, 173 cm is placed against two official US reference sources: the CDC growth charts for children and teenagers, and the national health survey (NHANES) for adults. A percentile is a ranking against a reference group, not a verdict on health: the 50th percentile means half the reference group are shorter.

Children and teenagers: 173 cm on the CDC growth charts

The CDC median (50th percentile) height for girls at age 20 is 163.3 cm, so 173 cm is above the median for girls at every age up to 20. The CDC median (50th percentile) height for boys reaches 173 cm at about age 15.8.

Where 173 cm falls at each age (percentile of the CDC stature-for-age chart, calculated with the LMS values CDC publishes):

Ages are birthdays (the CDC table row for the start of that year). The CDC charts describe US children. The NHS and UK health professionals use the UK-WHO growth charts from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which can give slightly different results. If you are worried about a child’s growth, ask a GP or health visitor.

Adults: 173 cm in the NHANES 2015–2018 data

Among US women aged 20 and over, 173 cm is above the 95th percentile (172.5 cm). Among US men aged 20 and over, 173 cm is between the 25th percentile (170.1 cm) and the 50th percentile (175.4 cm).

Heights in centimetres, percentiles of the 5th to 95th. Sources: Fryar CD, Carroll MD, Gu Q, Afful J, Ogden CL. Anthropometric reference data for children and adults: United States, 2015–2018. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 3(46). 2021 (Tables 9 and 11); CDC growth charts: stature-for-age data files (National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

For the full set of reference heights by age, see average height by age for girls and boys.

173 cm in other units

• Millimetres: 1730 mm
• Metres: 1.73 m
• Yards: 1.892 yd
• Decimal feet: 5.676 ft
• Total inches: 68.11 in

Nearest whole-inch heights to 173 cm

Heights are usually quoted in whole inches. The whole-inch heights either side of 173 cm are 5'8" (172.72 cm) and 5'9" (175.26 cm). 173 cm is 0.28 cm above the first and 2.26 cm below the second, so it is closer to 5'8".

Other heights

Also see the printable height conversion chart (PDF) and the feet to cm chart.

Frequently asked questions