CM to Inches Converter

Convert centimeters to inches instantly, with a reference table for the sizes you look up most.

Centimeters

Inches

1 cm = 0.3937 in

Multiply centimeters by 0.39370079 to get inches.

The link carries the values you entered, so whoever opens it sees the same result. Nothing is stored on our side — the numbers travel in the link itself.

Centimeters to inches reference table

The conversions people look up most often, rounded to 4 decimal places.

Common centimeters to inches conversions
Centimeter (cm)	Inch (in)
1 cm	0.3937 in
2 cm	0.7874 in
5 cm	1.9685 in
10 cm	3.937 in
15 cm	5.9055 in
20 cm	7.874 in
25 cm	9.8425 in
30 cm	11.811 in
50 cm	19.685 in
100 cm	39.3701 in
150 cm	59.0551 in
180 cm	70.8661 in
200 cm	78.7402 in

The centimeters people look up most

15 cm = 5.9055 in: Roughly the long edge of a large phone, and the width most people can span with a hand.
30 cm = 11.811 in: A school ruler, designed to replace the 12-inch one it is very slightly shorter than.
100 cm = 39.3701 in: A metre. Useful as an anchor: whatever you are measuring, a metre is about 39 and a half inches.
170 cm = 66.9291 in: Close to the average adult male height across much of Europe and Asia.
180 cm = 70.8661 in: The most-converted height on the internet, and the point at which people start describing themselves as six foot. It is 5 ft 10.9 in, so it is not.

How the cm to inches calculation works

One inch is defined as exactly 2.54 centimeters, so converting between the two is a single division:

inches = centimeters ÷ 2.54

That definition is not an approximation. Since the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, the inch has been legally defined in metric terms, which is why every cm-to-inch conversion you will ever do resolves to the same exact factor.

For a worked example, take a 30 cm ruler. Divide 30 by 2.54 and you get 11.811 inches — just under the 12-inch foot ruler it is designed to replace. A 180 cm person is 180 ÷ 2.54 = 70.87 inches, or 5 feet 10.9 inches once you divide by 12 and convert the remainder.

Two shortcuts worth knowing:

For rough mental math, divide by 2.5. A centimeter is a bit under four tenths of an inch, so halving and halving again gets you within about 2%. 100 cm ÷ 2.5 = 40, against a true answer of 39.37.
Watch the rounding on small values. At 1-2 cm the difference between 0.39 and 0.394 inches matters for machining or fabric, so use the full four decimal places the converter shows rather than the rounded table figure.

Going the other way is just as simple — multiply inches by 2.54 to get centimeters. The converter above switches direction with one tap.

Frequently asked questions

Can I convert a European shoe size to inches?

Not usefully, because an EU shoe size is not a length in centimetres. It counts Paris points, each two thirds of a centimetre, and it describes the last the shoe was built on rather than the foot inside it. UK and US sizes count barleycorns of a third of an inch from their own starting points. Measure your foot in centimetres and use the maker’s own chart.

Why does a 91 cm chest come out as 35.8 inches when the label says 36?

Because size charts are rounded separately in each market rather than converted from one another. The same body measurement is rounded to a whole inch for a US label and to a whole or even centimetre for a European one, so the two rows of a chart drift apart by up to half an inch. That gap is labelling convention, not an error, and it says nothing about fit.

Do bike frame sizes in centimetres and inches describe the same thing?

No. Road frames are sized in centimetres along the seat tube and mountain bike frames in inches, and both figures are nominal - manufacturers measure to different points, so a 56 cm frame from one brand is not the 22 in frame of another. Converting the number is easy and tells you very little. Compare the stack and reach figures on the geometry chart instead.

CM to Inches Converter