Height percentile calculator
A height percentile shows how a height compares with others of the same age and sex: the 60th percentile means taller than about 60 in 100 peers. This calculator places any height on the CDC growth chart for ages 2 to 20 and gives the exact percentile and Z-score. Anything from the 3rd to the 97th percentile is generally considered within the normal range. Educational only, not medical advice.
Enter age and height
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Height-for-age percentile
Enter age, sex and height and press Show percentile.
How this growth chart calculator works
It uses the official CDC 2000 growth chart data for ages 2 to 20. For each age and sex the CDC publishes three numbers, L, M and S, that describe the spread of heights. The percentile comes from a Z-score:
Z = ((height / M)^L − 1) / (L × S)
M is the median height for that age and sex. The Z-score is converted to a percentile with the normal distribution. This is the same calculation behind the printed CDC growth charts.
Reading the percentile lines
CDC growth charts draw curves at the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th and 97th percentiles. A very high or very low percentile is not automatically a problem, but it is worth raising with a doctor, especially if it is a big change from earlier measurements.
The trend matters more than one number
One percentile is a snapshot. Doctors watch whether a child keeps following the same curve over months and years. Steady tracking, even at the 10th or 90th percentile, is usually reassuring; a jump or drop across several lines is the signal to look into.
From percentile to adult height
Staying on the same percentile to age 20 gives a rough adult-height figure, and the Am I done growing? tool does exactly that. For a prediction that also uses the parents’ heights, use the height predictor.
Common questions
- Does this use CDC or WHO data?
- CDC 2000 stature-for-age, ages 2 to 20. It does not cover children under 2, for whom doctors in the US generally use the WHO charts.
- What is a Z-score?
- How many standard deviations a measurement is from the median. Z = 0 is the 50th percentile, +1.0 is about the 84th and −1.0 is about the 16th.
- Does it work for adults?
- The CDC reference stops at 20. For adults, entering age 20 gives a comparison with the young-adult end of the chart.
Data source: Kuczmarski RJ, et al. “2000 CDC Growth Charts for the United States: methods and development.” Vital and Health Statistics 11(246), 2002; stature-for-age LMS data file from cdc.gov/growthcharts.