5'4" in cm: 162.56 Centimeters (Formula and Chart)

5 feet 4 inches equals 162.56 centimeters, or 1.6256 meters. Most people round it to 163 cm. The math is short: 5 feet is 60 inches, add 4 inches to get 64 inches, then multiply by 2.54. If you typed something like 5.4 or 5/4 instead, those are different measurements with different answers, and we sort them out below.

TL;DR

• 5'4" = 64 inches = 162.56 cm = 1.6256 m (about 163 cm when rounded).
• Formula: (feet × 12 + inches) × 2.54 = centimeters.
• 5'4" is not 5.4 feet. 5.4 feet is 164.592 cm, and 5.4 inches is only 13.716 cm.
• 5/4 inches is 1.25 inches, which is 3.175 cm.
• For 5'4" and a half, the answer is 163.83 cm.

Table of Contents

• The answer: 5'4" in centimeters
• How to convert feet and inches to centimeters
• Reading the notation: 5'4", 5 4, 5'4 5 and "five-four"
• 5'4", 5.4 feet, 5.4 inches and 5/4 inches are four different numbers
• Feet and inches to cm chart (5'0" to 6'0")
• Going the other way: centimeters to feet and inches
• How 5'4" compares with average US height
• Measuring your height accurately before you convert
• Inches versus centimeters: the short version
• Our perspective on unit conversions
• Convert any height or length with our unit converter
• Common mistakes to avoid
• FAQ
• Sources

The answer: 5'4" in centimeters

The figure is 162.56 cm. A CK-12 worked answer gives the same steps: 12 inches per foot makes 5 feet equal to 60 inches, the extra 4 inches brings the total to 64 inches, and 64 inches is 162.56 cm.

Here is the same result in the formats people usually need:

Which version should you use? For a medical form, a passport application abroad or an online profile, whole centimeters (163 cm) is normal. If you are doing further math, keep 162.56 until the last step so rounding does not creep in.

How to convert feet and inches to centimeters

The method works for any height written as feet and inches. It has three steps.

1. Turn the feet into inches. Multiply the feet by 12. For 5 feet: 5 × 12 = 60 inches.
2. Add the leftover inches. 60 + 4 = 64 inches.
3. Multiply by 2.54. 64 × 2.54 = 162.56 cm.

As one formula: cm = (feet × 12 + inches) × 2.54.

There is a shortcut if you prefer to work in feet. One foot is exactly 30.48 cm, so 5 feet is 152.4 cm. Four inches is 4 × 2.54 = 10.16 cm. Add them: 152.4 + 10.16 = 162.56 cm. Same answer, two routes, which is a good way to check your work.

Why 2.54 is exact, not an estimate

The factor is not a rounded number. The US yard and pound were redefined on 1 July 1959 to match international standards, and the US Metric Association's account of that change notes that many organizations had already treated the inch as exactly 25.4 mm before it became official in the United States. Since 25.4 mm is 2.54 cm, every inch-to-centimeter conversion you do with 2.54 is exact. The foot follows: 12 inches times 2.54 is 30.48 cm.

That is why a few sites that show "approximately 160 centimeters" for 5'4" are simply rounding too hard. The exact figure is 162.56 cm, a difference of 2.56 cm, which is more than an inch.

Reading the notation: 5'4", 5 4, 5'4 5 and "five-four"

People type this height in many ways, and each one has a clear meaning once you know the symbols.

• 5'4" means 5 feet 4 inches. The single mark (an apostrophe, standing in for the prime symbol) is feet, and the double mark (a straight double quote) is inches. Wikipedia's article on the prime symbol explains that the apostrophe and double quote are everyday keyboard substitutes for the true prime and double prime.
• 5'4 with no closing mark means the same thing: feet first, then inches.
• 5 4 with a space, or 5-4, is read the same way in a height context. Feet value first, then inches. The same pattern appears on labels written as 7′-6″ or 7′ 6″, as CodeSignal's lesson on reading lengths points out.
• 5 feet 4 or 5 foot 4 is the spoken form. Americans often just say "five-four" or "five foot four." The formal version is "five feet, four inches," according to Boston English Academy's height guide.

If you searched in another language, the same height reads "5 pieds 4 pouces" in French. In every language the answer is the same: 162.56 cm.

What "5'4 5" probably means

This one is ambiguous, and there are two sensible readings.

1. 5 feet 4.5 inches. This is the most likely meaning when someone is describing height to the half inch. Convert it as 5 × 12 + 4.5 = 64.5 inches, and 64.5 × 2.54 = 163.83 cm. In speech, that is "five-four and a half."
2. A typo or a range. If a person meant "5'4" to 5'5"", the range is 162.56 cm to 165.1 cm.

When you see a half inch after a height, treat it as 0.5 inch, not as 0.5 foot. Half a foot would be 6 inches, which turns 5'4.5" into something else entirely.

5'4", 5.4 feet, 5.4 inches and 5/4 inches are four different numbers

This is where most wrong answers come from. A decimal point and a slash change what the digits mean, so here is each one side by side.

Why 5'4" is not 5.4 feet

Inches go up in groups of 12, not 10. So 4 inches is a third of a foot (0.333 ft), not four tenths. That makes 5'4" equal to 5.333 feet. Calling it 5.4 feet overstates the height by 0.8 inch, or about 2 cm. The difference is also spelled out: 5.4 feet comes to 64.8 inches, or 164.592 cm.

To turn feet and inches into decimal feet, divide the inches by 12 and add: 4 ÷ 12 = 0.3333, so 5'4" is 5.3333 ft. Multiply that by 30.48 and you land back on 162.56 cm.

5.4 inches in cm

If you really have 5.4 inches (no feet), multiply 5.4 × 2.54 = 13.716 cm. That is the size of a small phone screen, not a person's height. People who search "5.4 in cm" often meant a height, so check which one you need before you copy a number.

5/4 inches to centimeters

A slash means a fraction. Five fourths is 1 1/4, or 1.25 inches. Multiply: 1.25 × 2.54 = 3.175 cm. If you work with fractions of an inch regularly (tools, fasteners, lumber), our Fraction Calculator turns them into decimals so you can convert with the same 2.54 factor.

Feet and inches to cm chart (5'0" to 6'0")

Here are the neighbors of 5'4", all calculated with the formula above.

Every step of one inch adds 2.54 cm. That is a quick mental check: if your answer for 5'5" is not 2.54 cm bigger than 5'4", something went wrong.

Going the other way: centimeters to feet and inches

Suppose a form lists your height as 163 cm and you want feet and inches.

1. Divide by 2.54: 163 ÷ 2.54 = 64.17 inches.
2. Divide by 12 to get feet: 64.17 ÷ 12 = 5.35, so the whole number of feet is 5.
3. Multiply the feet back out: 5 × 12 = 60. The remainder is 64.17 − 60 = 4.17 inches.

So 163 cm is about 5'4.2". A few nearby values, rounded to the nearest tenth of an inch:

• 160 cm is 63.0 inches, or 5'3".
• 162 cm is 63.8 inches, or 5'3.8".
• 165 cm is 65.0 inches, or 5'5".
• 168 cm is 66.1 inches, or 5'6.1".

This is why 162 cm, 163 cm and 5'4" all get used loosely to describe the same person. Whole-centimeter heights do not line up perfectly with whole inches, so a one-inch difference in a height shifts the centimeter number by 2.54.

How 5'4" compares with average US height

For context, a Medical News Today article on measuring height reports that in 2017 the average US adult over 20 stood about 5 ft 9 in (175.26 cm) for biological males and 5 ft 4 in (162.56 cm) for biological females. So 5'4" sits right at the reported average for adult women in the United States. Averages shift with age group and survey year, so treat that as a snapshot rather than a target.

If you are looking at height alongside weight, our Ideal Weight Calculator takes height in feet and inches or centimeters, and shows the formula it uses. For a broader view, browse our health calculators.

Measuring your height accurately before you convert

A conversion is only as good as the number you start with. If you are about to enter a height on a medical, sports or travel form, a few habits help:

• Stand barefoot on a hard, flat floor, not carpet.
• Keep heels, back and head against a wall, with your eyes level and chin parallel to the floor.
• Have someone lay a flat, hard object (a book or ruler) on top of your head, level against the wall, and mark where it meets the wall.
• Measure from the floor to the mark with a tape measure that shows both inches and centimeters.
• Measure in the morning if you can. Most people are slightly taller after sleep than at the end of the day.

If the tape shows 5'4" and a hair, record it as 5'4" and note the fraction rather than rounding up. Converting 64.25 inches gives 163.195 cm, which is a more honest number than 163 cm if precision matters.

Inches versus centimeters: the short version

The inch belongs to the US customary system, while the centimeter belongs to the metric (SI) system, as the CK-12 explanation puts it. The link between them is fixed: 1 inch is exactly 2.54 cm, and 1 foot is exactly 30.48 cm.

The centimeter is one hundredth of a meter, so 100 cm make 1 meter, and 162.56 cm is 1.6256 m. The metric system is decimal, which makes scaling easy: move the decimal point. The customary system is built on 12 inches to a foot, which makes quick mental math harder. That mismatch is exactly why the "5.4 versus 5'4"" mix-up is so common.

A few other everyday benchmarks help build a feel for the sizes:

• 1 inch is 2.54 cm.
• 6 inches is 15.24 cm.
• 1 foot is 30.48 cm.
• 1 yard (3 feet) is 91.44 cm.
• 1 meter is about 39.37 inches, or 3 feet 3.37 inches.

Our perspective on unit conversions

At Countora, we see the same stumbling block over and over: people do not get the wrong answer because the math is hard, they get it because the notation is ambiguous. A single apostrophe, a decimal point or a slash turns 5'4" into 5.4 feet or 5/4 inches, and each one gives a different centimeter result.

That is why every calculator we publish shows the formula, a worked example and the sources behind its data. You should be able to see how a number was reached, not just receive it. For conversions, we show both the exact result and a rounded one, so you can pick the right level of precision for a form, a purchase or a homework problem.

Our health and finance pages follow the same rule: assumptions are tied to official publications. Our methodology page explains how we build and check each tool, so you can verify the method yourself.

BABATOUNDE

Convert any height or length with our unit converter

If you have more than one measurement to convert, a calculator saves you from redoing the arithmetic each time. Our Unit Converter handles metric and US units, shows the formula, and gives you both an exact and a rounded result, so you can check your work against the steps in this article.

It also pairs with our other everyday tools. If you are measuring a room in feet and inches for a project, the Flooring Calculator works in square feet and gives the number of boxes to buy. Find the rest under everyday calculators, or start from the Countora homepage.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating the apostrophe as a decimal point. 5'4" is not 5.4. Convert the feet and inches separately, or use the full formula.
• Multiplying only the feet. 5 × 30.48 gives 152.4 cm, which leaves out the 4 inches. Add 10.16 cm for them.
• Using 2.5 or 2.6 as a shortcut. With 2.5, you get 160 cm for 5'4", which is 2.56 cm too low. Use 2.54.
• Rounding before you finish. Keep the full decimals until the last step.
• Mixing up 12 and 10. Inches in a foot is 12. Dividing by 10 produces the 5.4 error again.
• Forgetting the unit. 162.56 is only meaningful with cm after it. The same digits in inches would be a very different length.

FAQ

Is 162.56 cm the same as 5'4"?

Yes. 5 feet 4 inches is 64 inches, and 64 × 2.54 equals exactly 162.56 cm. Because the inch is defined as exactly 2.54 cm, the result is exact, not an approximation. Rounded, it is 163 cm.

How tall is 5'4" in meters?

5'4" is 1.6256 meters, usually written as 1.63 m. Divide the centimeter figure by 100 to get meters. Rounding to 1.63 m is fine for forms and profiles.

What is 5.4 inches in cm?

5.4 inches is 13.716 cm, found by multiplying 5.4 by 2.54. It is not the same as 5 feet 4 inches. A height of 5'4" is 64 inches, which is 162.56 cm.

How many centimeters is 5/4 inches?

Five fourths of an inch is 1.25 inches, which is 3.175 cm. Divide 5 by 4 first, then multiply by 2.54. Our Fraction Calculator can do the decimal step if you work with other fractions.

How do I write 5'4 and a half in centimeters?

Five feet four and a half inches is 64.5 inches, which is 163.83 cm. Multiply the feet by 12, add 4.5, then multiply the total by 2.54.

Sources

• CK-12 Flexi: Convert 5 feet and 4 inches to centimeters
• US Metric Association: Refinement of Values for the Yard and the Pound
• Medical News Today: How to accurately measure height
• Wikipedia: Prime (symbol)
• CodeSignal Learn: Reading and Converting Lengths
• Boston English Academy: How to Express Height in English
• The Size Nest: How Many Inches Is 5'4"?

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• BMI Calculator – Body Mass Index for Adults
• Ideal Weight Calculator – Healthy Weight

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