UnitSnapLength converter
Length measures the distance between two points. The SI base unit is the meter, defined since 1983 as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. Metric multiples and fractions such as the kilometer, centimeter, and millimeter are formed with decimal prefixes, so moving between them only shifts the decimal point.
Convert between 11 length units. Pick any two units below; results update as you type.
Popular length conversions
- Feet and Inches to cm
- cm to Feet and Inches
- Inches to Centimeters
- Centimeters to Inches
- Inches to Millimeters
- Millimeters to Inches
- Feet to Meters
- Meters to Feet
- Feet to Centimeters
- Centimeters to Feet
- Feet to Inches
- Inches to Feet
- Yards to Meters
- Meters to Yards
- Yards to Feet
- Feet to Yards
- Miles to Kilometers
- Kilometers to Miles
- Miles to Meters
- Meters to Miles
- Kilometers to Meters
- Meters to Kilometers
- Meters to Centimeters
- Centimeters to Meters
- Centimeters to Millimeters
- Millimeters to Centimeters
About length units
Most of the world uses metric lengths for everyday and technical work. The United States still relies on inches, feet, yards, and miles for construction, road signs, and consumer products, and the United Kingdom keeps miles on roads and feet and inches for personal height. Science, medicine, and international trade almost always use meters.
The 1959 international yard and pound agreement fixed the yard at exactly 0.9144 m, which makes 1 inch exactly 2.54 cm, 1 foot exactly 0.3048 m, and 1 mile exactly 1,609.344 m. The slightly different US survey foot was officially retired at the end of 2022.
Tips
- For a quick mental estimate, a meter is a little longer than a yard (about 1.09 yd), and a kilometer is roughly 0.62 miles.
- When converting feet-and-inches heights, convert the whole value to inches first (12 in per foot), then multiply by 2.54 to get centimeters.
- Hectometers and decameters are valid metric units but are rarely used outside of specific fields; check that a value is not actually in meters or kilometers.
All length units
| Unit | Symbol | Value in meters |
|---|---|---|
| Inches | in | 1 in = 0.0254 m |
| Feet | ft | 1 ft = 0.3048 m |
| Yards | yd | 1 yd = 0.9144 m |
| Miles | mi | 1 mi = 1,609.344 m |
| Kilometers | km | 1 km = 1,000 m |
| Hectometers | hm | 1 hm = 100 m |
| Decameters | dam | 1 dam = 10 m |
| Meters | m | 1 m = 1 m |
| Decimeters | dm | 1 dm = 0.1 m |
| Centimeters | cm | 1 cm = 0.01 m |
| Millimeters | mm | 1 mm = 0.001 m |
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Factors: NIST SP 811 · SI Brochure · NIST Handbook 44 — Updated