is 5'5" tall for a woman?
it depends on your age and where you grew up. here's the actual percentile.
62th percentile
a 5'5" woman in the us is taller than about 62% of women in their early twenties, so above average. the typical american woman that age is 5'4" (163 cm). whether 5'5" is tall depends a lot on where you are:
| country | 5'5" is | typical woman, 21–24 |
|---|---|---|
| Philippines | taller than 96% | 5'1" (155 cm) |
| India | taller than 93% | 5'1" (156 cm) |
| Nigeria | taller than 86% | 5'2" (158 cm) |
| Mexico | taller than 85% | 5'2" (158 cm) |
| Japan | taller than 85% | 5'2" (159 cm) |
| Spain | taller than 69% | 5'4" (162 cm) |
| Italy | taller than 69% | 5'4" (162 cm) |
| Brazil | taller than 63% | 5'4" (163 cm) |
| United States | taller than 62% | 5'4" (163 cm) |
| South Korea | taller than 58% | 5'5" (164 cm) |
| United Kingdom | taller than 56% | 5'5" (164 cm) |
| France | taller than 53% | 5'5" (165 cm) |
| China | taller than 53% | 5'5" (165 cm) |
| Australia | taller than 52% | 5'5" (165 cm) |
| Canada | taller than 51% | 5'5" (165 cm) |
| Germany | taller than 44% | 5'5" (166 cm) |
| Netherlands | taller than 22% | 5'7" (170 cm) |
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how this is worked out
us: United States, ages 21-24: normal, mean 162.9 cm, sd 7.0, chosen to match the published centre and spread in the sources; breakpoints are the world curve's own (every wheel edge). other countries: national means from ncd-risc with the who's spread. people overstate their height by 1–3 cm on average.
- Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults: United States, 2015–2018 · CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NHSR 160), 2021
- Height and BMI trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents, 1985-2019, 200 countries (NCD-RisC), Lancet 396:1511-1524 · NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, 2020
- WHO growth reference 5-19 years: height-for-age · World Health Organization, 2007
that's one number. behind scores eight.
money, looks, height, popularity, screen time and more, each ranked against everyone born your year in the country you grew up in. one card, about two minutes.
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