Length Converter
Convert between millimeters, meters, feet, miles, and more.
Quick reference
- 1 meter ≈ 3.28 feet
- 1 kilometer ≈ 0.62 miles
- 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
- 1 foot = 30.48 centimeters
- 1 yard = 0.9144 meters
- 1 mile ≈ 1.61 kilometers
About this converter
Length is probably the unit category people convert most without even registering it as a conversion, like glancing at a recipe or a furniture listing and just needing to know how many feet a meter and a half actually is. This tool covers the metric side (millimeters up through kilometers) and the imperial/US side (inches up through miles), and updates the second you type.
A fun bit of trivia if you're into that sort of thing: the meter wasn't always defined the tidy way it is now. It started in 1791 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator, got redefined a few more times over the next two centuries, and has been pinned to the speed of light since 1983. The foot and inch, meanwhile, are still descended from old English body-part measurements nobody fully standardized until the 20th century.
Frequently asked questions
- How precise are the conversions?
- They use the exact international definitions (1 inch is defined as exactly 0.0254 meters, not a rounded approximation), so you're only limited by ordinary floating-point math, which for everyday numbers is not a limitation you'll notice.
- Which is bigger, a mile or a kilometer?
- A mile. It's about 1.6 times longer, which is the whole reason a 10K run and a 10-mile run feel so different.
- Why does the US still use feet and miles?
- Mostly inertia. The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 made metric the "preferred" system for trade but never required it, and by then roads, tools, and building codes were already built around imperial units. Switching everything over would cost a lot for not much benefit, so it just never happened.
- Is a nautical mile the same as a regular mile?
- No, a nautical mile (1,852 meters) is longer than a statute mile (1,609.344 meters). It's defined by the size of the Earth, not by old English units, which is why ships and planes use it. If you need that conversion, the speed converter handles knots.