The average height for men in the United States is 5 feet 9 inches (69 inches, or about 175 centimeters). This figure comes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which measures thousands of Americans in person each year using standardized equipment rather than relying on self-reported numbers.
How the Average Is Measured
The CDC collects height data through a program called NHANES, where participants visit mobile exam centers and are measured by trained staff using a wall-mounted stadiometer. Heights are recorded to the nearest 0.1 centimeter. This matters because self-reported height tends to be inflated by about an inch on average, which is why survey-based numbers from other countries can be misleading. The U.S. figure of 5’9″ reflects actual measured height from a nationally representative sample.
How American Men Compare Globally
American men are taller than the global average but no longer among the tallest in the world. That distinction now belongs to countries in Northern Europe. Men in the Netherlands average about 6 feet (72.4 inches), and German men average just under 5’11”. Men in the UK, Canada, and Australia all come in around 5’10” to 5’10.5″, putting them roughly an inch taller than the American average.
On the other end of the spectrum, average male heights in countries like the Philippines, India, and Peru fall between 5’5″ and 5’6″. Here’s how U.S. men stack up against a sample of countries, based on data compiled by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration:
- Netherlands: 72.4 inches (6’0.4″)
- Germany: 71.0 inches (5’11”)
- Australia: 70.4 inches (5’10.4″)
- Canada: 70.4 inches (5’10.4″)
- United Kingdom: 70.2 inches (5’10.2″)
- United States: 69.0 inches (5’9″)
- Japan: 69.8 inches (5’9.8″)
- Brazil: 69.2 inches (5’9.2″)
- Mexico: 67.0 inches (5’7″)
- India: 65.6 inches (5’5.6″)
This is a notable shift from the 19th century, when North Americans were the tallest population in the world. Over the course of the 20th century, several European countries overtook the U.S., a trend researchers have linked to differences in nutrition, healthcare access, social safety nets, and economic inequality.
Why Americans Stopped Getting Taller
For most of the 1800s and early 1900s, each generation of American men was noticeably taller than the one before. Better food, cleaner water, fewer childhood diseases, and improved living standards all contributed to steady gains. But that upward trend has largely flattened out over the past few decades. American men today are only marginally taller than men measured in the 1960s and 1970s.
Meanwhile, countries like the Netherlands, South Korea, and several Scandinavian nations continued gaining height well into the late 20th century. Researchers studying this gap have pointed to the fact that the U.S. has higher rates of childhood poverty, less universal access to healthcare, and greater nutritional inequality than many peer nations. Height is ultimately a marker of how well a population’s children are nourished and cared for during their growing years, so these disparities show up in the averages.
What Determines Your Individual Height
About 80 percent of your adult height is determined by genetics. Scientists have identified thousands of DNA variations that each nudge height up or down by small amounts, and the combined effect of all of them largely explains why tall parents tend to have tall children. The remaining 20 percent comes from environmental factors, primarily nutrition during childhood and adolescence, but also things like illness, stress, and sleep quality during key growth periods.
This means the average height of a population reflects both its genetic makeup and how well its children are fed and cared for. Within the U.S., height varies across racial and ethnic groups, age brackets, and socioeconomic backgrounds, partly for genetic reasons and partly because access to good nutrition and healthcare isn’t evenly distributed.
Height Changes With Age
If you’re over 40, you may already be slightly shorter than your peak height. Most people begin losing a small amount of height in their 30s or 40s as the discs between vertebrae compress and posture shifts. The loss is gradual, typically around half an inch per decade after age 40, though it accelerates later in life. This is why the national average for men aged 60 and over is lower than for men in their 20s. The 5’9″ figure represents a weighted average across all adult men aged 20 and older, so younger men tend to fall slightly above it and older men slightly below.