Height Percentile Calculator
HealthSee how your height compares to the general adult population by sex. Get an instant height percentile rank using global adult height reference averages.
Height Percentile
70.3
z-score
0.53
Reference Average Height
171
What is a Height Percentile?
The Height Percentile Calculator shows how a given height compares to the general adult population by sex, using global average height reference data. Enter your height and sex, and the calculator returns a percentile rank showing what portion of the reference population you're taller than.
This pairs with the Weight Percentile Calculator for a fuller picture of how body measurements compare to population averages, and with the BMI Calculator for a combined height-and-weight health metric.
How to use this Height Percentile calculator
- Select your sex โ Male or Female.
- Enter your height in centimetres.
- Read the Height Percentile result instantly.
- Check the Reference Average Height shown to see the baseline used for comparison.
- Try different height values to see how the percentile shifts across the range.
Formula & Methodology
The calculator uses a global adult average height reference by sex: z-score = (Height โ Reference average) รท Reference standard deviation Percentile = ฮฆ(z-score) ร 100, where ฮฆ is the cumulative standard normal distribution. Worked example โ a woman who is 168 cm tall: Reference average (women) = 159 cm, SD = 7.0 cm z-score = (168 โ 159) รท 7.0 = 1.29 Percentile โ ฮฆ(1.29) ร 100 = 90th percentile This means a height of 168 cm is taller than approximately 90% of the reference adult female population.
Frequently Asked Questions
Height percentile shows what percentage of the population of the same sex is shorter than a given height. A percentile of 70 means the height is taller than roughly 70% of that reference population.
The calculator compares the entered height to a global adult average height reference for the selected sex, computes a z-score based on the reference standard deviation, and converts that z-score into a percentile using the normal distribution.
This calculator uses approximate global adult averages of 171 cm for men and 159 cm for women; actual national averages vary meaningfully by country, so results here are a general global reference rather than a country-specific comparison.
Average height differs across populations due to a combination of genetics, nutrition, healthcare access, and other socioeconomic factors that vary by region and have shifted over generations.
No โ a height that ranks in the 80th percentile against a global reference might rank quite differently against a specific national population, since some countries have taller or shorter average heights than the global figure used here.
A z-score shows how many standard deviations a height is from the reference average; a z-score of 0 means exactly average, while +1 or -1 means one standard deviation above or below average respectively.
Height is strongly influenced by genetics โ often estimated to account for the majority of height variation between individuals โ though nutrition and overall health during childhood growth years also play a meaningful role.
No โ this calculator uses adult population reference data; for children and teens, height should be compared against age- and sex-specific pediatric growth charts instead, since a child's expected height changes constantly with age.
This calculator ranks height against the adult population, while the [Weight Percentile Calculator](/weight-percentile-calculator/) does the same comparison for body weight โ both use the same normal distribution approach with different reference data.
This calculator currently uses a single global reference average by sex rather than country-specific data, so results should be treated as a general worldwide comparison rather than a precise national ranking.
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