Jon Leech wrote:
Andrew Gray wrote:
Heh. On a slightly more serious note, "95th percentile" gets kicked
around quite a bit here. Does anyone have numbers on what a 95th
percentile adult male is currently considered to be? The numbers I found
last time I looked seemed quite low (6'2"!), and on examination looked
like they dated back to the early sixties...

Anecdotally - I'm 6'3" and spend a lot of time at social dances, where
everyone is standing up so it's easy to compare. When looking around a room
with several hundred couples on the floor, I typically see 1-2 people my
height or above. So 95th %ile sounds about right.

ISTR that the average height in the US has actually been decreasing a
bit recently, perhaps due to immigration and overall aging of the
population.

US population charts:
http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-w.htm (white men, over age range)
http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-b.htm (black men, over age range)
http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-h.htm (hispanic men, over age range)
http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-o.htm (other men, over age range)

I don't personally care so much about 95th percentile;
every vehicle I design has to fit me, and I'm 6'4.5",
and probably should fit my brother, who's 6'5" and 300 lb
of muchly muscle.

And most of them have to fit my wife, who's 4'11".


-george william herbert