Article — Meters to Feet Converter
Meters to feet conversion: exact factor and quick math
One meter equals exactly 3.28084 feet, and one foot equals exactly 0.3048 meters. The relation was fixed at those values by the 1959 International Yard and Pound Agreement, signed by the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Everything else — height conversions, aviation altitudes, blueprints — flows from this one definition.
The calculator at the top of this page converts both directions instantly, with quick picks for common heights (1.5 m, 1.8 m, 2 m), architectural distances (5 m, 10 m), and standard sport distances (100 m, 1000 m). This article covers the math, the history, and the four most common errors people make when they convert meters to feet by hand.
Meters to feet: the exact factor
Since 1959, 1 foot is defined as exactly 0.3048 meters. That makes the reverse factor exactly 1 / 0.3048 = 3.280839895... feet per meter. Rounded to five decimal places: 3.28084 ft/m. The five-decimal factor introduces an error of about 0.00001%, smaller than any mechanical measurement.
The 1959 agreement replaced a slightly different US definition (the "US survey foot") in which 1 foot = 1200/3937 meters ≈ 0.3048006 m. The two values differ by about 6 parts per million, enough to matter in long-distance land surveys. NIST and NOAA officially retired the US survey foot on December 31, 2022; the international foot is now the only legal foot in the United States.
The meter itself was redefined in 1983 in terms of the speed of light: 1 meter is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The redefinition makes the meter the most precisely defined unit in the SI system. Every foot in the world traces back to it through the 0.3048 m exact relation.
How to convert meters to feet by hand
To convert meters to feet, multiply by 3.28084. To convert feet to meters, multiply by 0.3048. Either direction works exactly because the two factors are reciprocals.
m → ft m × 3.28084ft → m ft × 0.3048m → in m × 39.3701cm → ft cm / 30.48For a worked example, take 1.75 m: 1.75 × 3.28084 = 5.7415 ft. To convert that into feet and inches, separate the whole-foot part (5) from the remainder (0.7415), then multiply the remainder by 12: 0.7415 × 12 = 8.9 inches. The full conversion is 5 feet 8.9 inches, often rounded to 5'9".
Meters to feet and inches (height)
Height conversions are the most common use of the meters-to-feet calculator. Most of the world uses centimeters or meters for height; the US, UK, and many former Commonwealth countries use feet and inches. Converting between the two requires the extra inches step.
The most-searched height conversions are 1.65 m (5'5", global average female), 1.70 m (5'7"), 1.75 m (5'9"), 1.80 m (5'11"), and 1.85 m (6'1"). The conversion table in the reference section above lists all of these. A common mental shortcut for tall heights: 6'0" is essentially 1.83 m, 6'3" is essentially 1.91 m.
The notation "5'10"" means 5 feet AND 10 inches, not 5.10 feet. Decimal feet (5.10 ft) translates to 5 feet plus 0.10 × 12 = 1.2 inches, which is 5'1.2", not 5'10". Always interpret height with the apostrophe / quote marks as feet-plus-inches, not as a decimal.
Meters to feet mental math
For everyday meters-to-feet conversion without a calculator, multiply by 3 and add 10% of the original. The error is under 1%, fine for any non-engineering use.
- 1 m — 3 × 1 + 0.1 = 3.1 ft (exact 3.28 ft)
- 5 m — 5 × 3 + 0.5 = 15.5 ft (exact 16.40 ft, error 5.5%)
- 10 m — 30 + 1 = 31 ft (exact 32.81 ft, error 5.5%)
- Better: x × 3 + (x × 0.28) ≈ x × 3.28 — same idea, more accurate
- Best mental approximation: multiply by 3.28 directly; error 0.026%
For meters-to-feet on round-number meters, the precise quick reference is: 1 m = 3.28 ft, 2 m = 6.56 ft, 3 m = 9.84 ft, 5 m = 16.40 ft, 10 m = 32.81 ft. Memorising these covers most everyday conversions.
Meters vs. feet in aviation
Aviation altitude is reported in feet almost everywhere. The exceptions are Russia, China, Mongolia, North Korea, and Tajikistan, which use meters per ICAO Annex 5 country exceptions. Flight level 350 (FL350) means 35,000 feet (10,668 m); FL400 means 40,000 feet (12,192 m).
When a pilot crosses an airspace boundary between feet and meters jurisdictions, the flight management system (FMS) handles the conversion automatically. Air traffic controllers in Russia announce altitudes in meters; pilots flying through Russian airspace acknowledge in meters and convert mentally to confirm with their feet-based instruments. The dual-unit handover is the source of occasional confusion but no documented accidents traceable to unit error in cruise.
Vertical separation in cruise is 1,000 feet (305 m) above FL410 and 2,000 feet (610 m) below. A 5% conversion error at FL350 puts an aircraft 1,750 feet off altitude — well outside the 1,000-foot RVSM separation window. Always use the exact 0.3048 factor for aviation calculations.
Meters vs. feet in construction
US construction runs almost entirely in feet and inches. UK construction has nominally been metric since 1965 but still uses feet for ceiling heights, room sizes, and lumber lengths in retail and trade. Most of continental Europe uses meters throughout.
For international project coordination, the conversion happens on the plans. Architects working with US clients render plans in feet-and-inches; structural engineers in metric countries often re-render in meters for the calculations and convert dimensions back at the final fabrication step. The conversion is exact, but rounding choices at each step can introduce small (sub-millimeter) accumulation errors that matter in precision millwork and steel fabrication.
Meters vs. feet: common mistakes
Reading 5'10" as 5.10 feet. The apostrophe-quote notation is feet-plus-inches, not decimal feet. 5'10" = 5 feet + 10 inches = 70 inches = 5.833 feet = 1.778 m.
Using 3.28 in engineering calculations. The factor 3.28 introduces 0.026% error. For room layouts and lumber cuts, that is invisible. For long-distance surveys, RF antenna alignment, or aerospace tolerances, use 3.28084 or compute via 1/0.3048 directly.
Mixing US survey foot with international foot. The two differed by 6 ppm before the US survey foot was retired in 2022. Old survey records may still use it; recent records and all federal mapping use the international foot. For modern work, ignore the survey foot.
Treating cubic conversions as linear. 1 m = 3.28084 ft, so 1 m³ = 3.28084³ ft³ = 35.31 ft³, not 3.28 ft³. Area and volume conversions need the factor raised to the appropriate power.