How many feet are in a mile?

5,280 feet, which is 1,760 yards or 63,360 inches. The word mile comes from the Latin mille passus, a thousand double paces of a Roman legion.

Is a US foot the same as a British foot?

Yes, since 1959 both are exactly 0.3048 m. Measurements recorded before that year may use the slightly shorter imperial foot, which adds up to roughly 3.4 mm per mile.

Which countries still use feet and inches?

The United States uses them for nearly everything, Liberia and Myanmar largely as well, and the United Kingdom keeps miles on road signs plus feet and inches for height. Screen sizes, pipe diameters and aviation altitudes are given in inches and feet worldwide.

Yard / Feet / Inch / Mile Converter

Convert between miles, yards, feet and inches, and see the metric equivalent instantly.

Mile (mi) Yard (yd) Feet (ft) Inch (in)

What are yards, feet, inches and miles?

The US customary system of length is built on the inch: 12 inches make a foot, 3 feet make a yard and 1,760 yards make a mile. Almost everywhere else measures in metres, so in practice you convert a US figure into metric - which is what this tool does, in both directions and as you type.

Conversion Reference

1 mile = 1,760 yards = 5,280 feet = 63,360 inches

1 yard = 3 feet = 36 inches = 0.9144 m

1 foot = 12 inches = 30.48 cm

1 inch = 2.54 cm (exact since the 1959 agreement); 1 mile = 1.609344 km

Every conversion runs through inches, the smallest unit in everyday use: miles x 63,360, yards x 36, feet x 12. The metric side follows from the exact definition 1 inch = 2.54 cm, fixed by the international yard and pound agreement of 1959.

Worked Example

A 5 ft 10 in height is 70 inches, and 70 x 2.54 = 177.8 cm, or 1.778 m.

A marathon of 26.2 miles is 26.2 x 63,360 = 1,660,032 inches, about 42.195 km.

Limits of This Conversion

Results are rounded to six decimals. This page covers international feet only - the older US survey foot (1200/3937 m) is used solely for legacy land records and differs by about 0.6 mm per mile. Nautical miles (1,852 m) and the UK imperial variants are separate units, so use a nautical mile converter for marine or aviation distances.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many feet are in a mile?: 5,280 feet, which is 1,760 yards or 63,360 inches. The word mile comes from the Latin mille passus, a thousand double paces of a Roman legion.
Is a US foot the same as a British foot?: Yes, since 1959 both are exactly 0.3048 m. Measurements recorded before that year may use the slightly shorter imperial foot, which adds up to roughly 3.4 mm per mile.
Which countries still use feet and inches?: The United States uses them for nearly everything, Liberia and Myanmar largely as well, and the United Kingdom keeps miles on road signs plus feet and inches for height. Screen sizes, pipe diameters and aviation altitudes are given in inches and feet worldwide.