What is Measured in Feet?

Quick answer: Feet are used to measure human height, room and building dimensions, land and fences, furniture, vehicles and boats, and many sports distances. In short, feet are the everyday unit for things that are roughly person-sized or room-sized and larger, where inches would be too small and miles would be far too large.

Human height

Height is the most familiar use of feet. In many countries, a person’s height is given in feet and inches, such as 5 feet 8 inches or 6 feet 1 inch. This works well because inches give the fine detail alongside feet. Children’s heights are tracked the same way, and athletes’ heights are also listed in feet and inches.

Rooms, houses and buildings

Room sizes are almost always given in feet: a bedroom might be 10 feet by 12 feet, a living room 15 feet by 18 feet, and a ceiling 8 feet or 9 feet high. Builders and home buyers use feet because they describe a space you can walk through. Plot sizes and fence runs are also given in feet, and building heights are often counted at roughly 10 feet per storey.

Furniture and household objects

Furniture is measured in feet when it is large, and in inches when it is small, with both units used together. A sofa might be 6 feet long, a dining table 8 feet long, and a bookshelf 6 feet high. Rugs are sold in feet, such as an 8-foot by 10-foot rug, and beds are about 6 feet 3 inches long.

Land, fences and outdoor spaces

Garden and plot dimensions, such as a garden 30 feet wide and 50 feet long.
Fence heights and runs, for example a 6-foot fence along a 40-foot boundary.
Driveways, where two cars parked in a row need about 30 feet of length.
Swimming pools, where a small pool might be 20 feet long and a larger one 40 feet long.
Trees, whose height is often given in feet, such as a 30-foot oak or a 50-foot pine.

Vehicles, boats and transport

Vehicle lengths are given in feet when they matter for parking, garages and roads. A car is often 14 to 16 feet long, a motorhome 22 to 35 feet, and a school bus about 35 feet. Boats are described by length in feet: a dinghy might be 10 feet, a family boat 20 feet, and a yacht 40 feet or more.

Sports and recreation

Sports use feet for heights and field sizes: a basketball hoop is 10 feet high, a football goal is 8 feet high and 24 feet wide, a bowling lane is 60 feet long, and a tennis net is 3 feet high at the centre.

What is not usually measured in feet?

Very small things are measured in inches or millimetres, not feet, and very long distances in miles or kilometres. Feet sit in the middle, which is why they suit people, rooms, gardens and vehicles. Check any size with the feet to inches converter or the feet to meters converter.

Common mistakes

Using feet for very small objects, which gives awkward decimals such as 0.25 feet instead of 3 inches.
Forgetting the inches part, so a 5-foot-6-inch person is wrongly described as just 5 feet tall.
Confusing feet with yards, so a 9-foot room is wrongly called 9 yards, which is actually 27 feet.
Measuring a diagonal instead of a straight length or width, which overstates a room or a vehicle.

Frequently asked questions

What is most commonly measured in feet?

Human height, room sizes, ceiling heights, furniture, gardens, fences and vehicle lengths.

Are room sizes given in feet or metres?

Both, depending on the country. Feet are still very common for rooms in the United States and the United Kingdom, while many other countries use metres.

Why are boats measured in feet?

Because boat lengths range from a few feet to over a hundred feet, feet give a clear size that is easy to compare for mooring and storage.

How tall is a normal ceiling in feet?

Often 8 feet in older homes and 9 or 10 feet in newer ones, measured from floor to ceiling.

Can I measure a room in feet with a metric tape?

Yes. Divide centimetres by 30.48 to get feet. A 3.66-metre room is 12 feet long.