Vertical jump calculator
Your vertical jump is your highest touch minus your standing reach. Enter both and the calculator gives your vertical and its percentile: a 90 in reach and a 112 in touch is a 22 in vertical, the 68th percentile among men aged 18-29.
Calculate your vertical jump
Enter both in inches: 7 ft 6 in is 90 in, 8 ft is 96 in.
Enter your standing reach and the highest point you touched, best of three jumps.
This is the same jump-and-reach measurement the full athleticism calculator scores, so the vertical and the percentiles here match it exactly. Derived — converted from real data on a closely related measure. Nationally representative Canadian force-plate jump data (CHMS, n=5,188), shifted a few centimetres to match the jump-and-reach method.
How to measure your vertical jump
- Standing reach. Stand side-on to a wall, feet flat, and reach straight up with the arm nearest the wall. Mark the highest point your fingertips touch.
- Jump and touch. From the same spot, dip and jump off both feet with an arm swing, no step or run-up, and touch as high as you can. Chalk on the fingertips or a vane tester makes the mark easy to read.
- Best of three. Rest a minute between jumps and keep the highest touch.
- Subtract. Highest touch minus standing reach is your vertical. Measure both in the same units.
Standing reach is the number people most often get wrong: reaching on tiptoe or with a shoulder hitched up makes your reach higher and your vertical lower, and a lazy reach does the opposite.
Vertical jump percentile chart
Where each vertical ranks among all men and women aged 18-29, and among NCAA Division I athletes. For other ages, enter yours in the calculator or see the average vertical jump by age tables.
| Vertical | Men 18-29 | Women 18-29 | D1 men | D1 women |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 in (25 cm) | <1 | 7th | <1 | <1 |
| 12 in (30 cm) | 2nd | 28th | <1 | 3rd |
| 14 in (36 cm) | 5th | 62nd | <1 | 10th |
| 16 in (41 cm) | 13th | 88th | <1 | 26th |
| 18 in (46 cm) | 27th | 98th | 2nd | 48th |
| 20 in (51 cm) | 46th | 99+ | 6th | 72nd |
| 22 in (56 cm) | 68th | 99+ | 13th | 89th |
| 24 in (61 cm) | 85th | 99+ | 25th | 97th |
| 26 in (66 cm) | 95th | 99+ | 41st | 99th |
| 28 in (71 cm) | 99th | 99+ | 60th | 99+ |
| 30 in (76 cm) | 99+ | 99+ | 77th | 99+ |
| 32 in (81 cm) | 99+ | 99+ | 89th | 99+ |
| 34 in (86 cm) | 99+ | 99+ | 96th | 99+ |
How high do you need to jump to touch the rim?
A regulation rim is 10 feet (120 in) high, so the jump-and-reach vertical needed to touch it is 120 in minus your standing reach. The table shows that vertical for common reaches and where it ranks among adults aged 18-29. The calculator above shows how far your own touch is from the rim.
| Standing reach | Vertical to touch rim | Men 18-29 | Women 18-29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 8 in (80 in) | 40 in | 99+ | 99+ |
| 7 ft 0 in (84 in) | 36 in | 99+ | 99+ |
| 7 ft 4 in (88 in) | 32 in | 99+ | 99+ |
| 7 ft 8 in (92 in) | 28 in | 99th | 99+ |
| 8 ft 0 in (96 in) | 24 in | 85th | 99+ |
| 8 ft 4 in (100 in) | 20 in | 46th | 99+ |
Why your vertical differs between methods
Jump-and-reach, jump mats, phone apps and force plates do not give the same number for the same jump. Jump-and-reach includes the height you gain by extending onto your toes and reaching at the top, while a force plate or a flight-time app measures how far your centre of mass rose. In Petushek and colleagues (2010), 21 recreationally active adults reached to a Vertec while standing on a force platform, and the Vertec read 27% higher on the same jumps. Jumping without an arm swing lowers the number further. Compare your vertical only with numbers measured the same way.
How this is calculated
The calculator subtracts reach from touch and reads the result exactly as the main calculator reads a vertical jump entry. Percentiles come from the site's vertical jump reference data: the nationally representative Canadian Health Measures Survey (cycle 5, 5,188 people) for all adults, shifted to the jump-and-reach method, and pooled NCAA Division I team testing for athletes. Jump height is not adjusted for height or bodyweight, because the evidence shows it barely depends on body size. The methodology has the full derivation, and automated tests check that this page and the main calculator give the same vertical and the same percentiles.
To raise your number, the guide on how to increase vertical jump covers the training and the gains studies have found. For one benchmark in detail, see whether a 30-inch vertical jump is good.
Vertical jump questions
How do you calculate your vertical jump?
Subtract your standing reach from the highest point you touch at the top of a jump. Stand flat-footed beside a wall and reach up with one arm to mark your standing reach, then jump from both feet with an arm swing and no step, touch as high as you can, and keep the best of three. A 90 in reach and a 112 in touch is a 22 in vertical.
What is a good vertical jump?
For a man aged 18-29, 22.8 in is the 75th percentile and 24.8 in the 90th. For a woman the same marks are 14.8 in and 16.2 in. The median NCAA Division I man jumps 27.0 in and the median D1 woman 18.1 in.
What is the average vertical jump?
The median man aged 18-29 jumps about 20.4 in and the median woman about 13.3 in, measured jump-and-reach. Both fall with age: about 16.9 in for men and 12.0 in for women in their 40s.
How high do you need to jump to touch the rim?
A regulation rim is 10 feet (120 in) high, so the vertical you need is 120 in minus your standing reach. With a 7 ft 4 in reach (88 in) that is 32 in; with an 8 ft reach (96 in) it is 24 in. Dunking takes more than a touch, because your hand and the ball have to clear the rim.
Why do vertical jump apps and jump mats give different numbers?
They measure different things. Jump-and-reach counts the extra height you get from reaching up off your toes; a force plate or a flight-time app measures how far your body rose. In a study of 21 adults who reached to a Vertec while standing on a force platform, the Vertec read 27% higher on the same jumps. This calculator and the percentiles use jump-and-reach.
Your vertical is one test. Get your overall athleticism rank across strength, power, agility and endurance.
Related
- Vertical jump percentile calculator
- Average vertical jump by age
- Is a 30-inch vertical jump good?
- How to increase vertical jump
- Broad jump percentile calculator
- One rep max calculator
- All standards, averages and calculators
Sources
- Hoffmann MD, Colley RC, Doyon CY, et al. Normative-referenced percentile values for physical fitness among Canadians. Health Reports. 2019;30(10):14-22. Canadian Health Measures Survey cycle 5, 2016-2017, n=5,188.
- Petushek E, VanderZanden T, Wurm B, Ebben W. Comparison of jump height values derived from a force platform and Vertec. ISBS Conference Proceedings. 2010;28:572-575.