Altitude Converter — Feet to Meters, Elevation ft to m

Altitude and elevation describe height above a reference — usually mean sea level. Aviation briefings, hiking apps, GIS layers, and geography textbooks mix meters and feet by region. This converter switches between m, ft, km, and mi for vertical distance from one input.

US and UK aviation often quote feet MSL; many countries and scientific datasets use meters. When a chart lists runway elevation 1,234 ft and your GPS shows meters, or Everest is 8,849 m and you think in feet, a single conversion avoids arithmetic errors.

Conversions use meters as the SI base. Factors are exact by international definition:

1 ft = 0.3048 m  ·  1 m = 3.28084 ft  ·  1 mi = 1,609.344 m  ·  1 km = 1,000 m

Multiply feet by 0.3048 for meters; multiply meters by 3.28084 for feet. For large spans: 1 km = 3,280.84 ft of elevation (same length units, applied vertically).

• Sea level — 0 m · 0 ft
• Denver (city) — ~1,609 m · ~5,280 ft
• Mount Fuji summit — 3,776 m · 12,389 ft
• Kilimanjaro summit — 5,895 m · 19,341 ft
• Mount Everest summit — 8,849 m · 29,032 ft
• 10,000 ft — 3,048 m · common GA cruise / oxygen reference
• FL350 — 35,000 ft · ~10,668 m · jet cruise (pressurized)

Flight level is altitude in hundreds of feet on a standard pressure setting — FL350 means about 35,000 ft geometrically in ISA conditions. This tool does not apply local QNH or temperature corrections for true pressure altitude.

In everyday language, altitude often means height above sea level (especially in aviation), while elevation describes terrain on maps. For unit conversion, both are lengths — the same ft ↔ m formulas apply.

This page converts geometric height units only. It does not compute pressure altitude from barometers, density altitude, or AGL (above ground level) unless you already know terrain elevation to subtract. Horizontal distance uses the Length & Distance Converter. Barometric pressure units are on the Pressure Converter.

US FAA charts and ATC often use feet; many ICAO states use meters for altitudes and transition levels. European peak lists use meters; US fourteeners often use feet. A 4,000 m summit is about 13,123 ft.

DEM tiles may store elevations in meters while client specs demand feet. Drone limits (e.g. 400 ft AGL in many jurisdictions) convert to about 122 m — enter 400 ft → m for quick compliance checks against metric rule text.

10,000 ft → m: 10,000 × 0.3048 = 3,048 m

5,000 m → ft: 5,000 × 3.28084 = 16,404 ft

8,849 m (Everest) → ft: 8,849 × 3.28084 = 29,032 ft

2 mi elevation → m: 2 × 1,609.344 = 3,219 m

Conversions use the international foot (0.3048 m exactly) and the statute mile (1,609.344 m). If two databases disagree on a summit height by a meter, that is a survey definition difference, not a unit error. This tool expresses the same altitude in m, ft, km, or mi — privately in your browser.