How do you measure your penis correctly?
To measure your penis correctly, measure when fully erect: press a ruler against the pubic bone at the base and measure along the top to the tip for length, and wrap a flexible tape around the thickest part for girth. The clinician-measured average is 13.12 cm (5.16 in) erect length and 11.66 cm (4.59 in) girth.
Measure erect, or your number means nothing. Every benchmark worth comparing to was taken hard, so that’s where you start. Three steps:
- Length: jam a rigid ruler into the pubic bone at the base, crush the fat pad flat, and read along the top of the shaft to the tip. That fat-pad press is the difference between an honest number and a fantasy.
- Girth: wrap a flexible tape around the thickest part of the shaft. No tape? Mark a strip of paper, then lay it flat against the ruler.
- Conditions: fully rigid before you start, standing up, every time. Repeatable beats flattering.
Now the scoreboard. Veale et al. 2015 (BJU International, n=15,521) puts the clinician-measured averages at 13.12 cm (5.16 in) erect length and 11.66 cm (4.59 in) erect girth, with flaccid at 9.16 cm (3.6 in) and stretched at 13.24 cm (5.21 in). About 90% of men land between 10.4 and 15.9 cm (4.1–6.2 in) erect. Five inches sits near the 40th percentile, 5.5 around the 70th, 6 around the 90th. Girth climbs even faster: 5 inches (12.7 cm) around already clears the 83rd percentile.
Two things to ignore. The self-reported “national averages” floating around online run fat with ego, so never measure yourself against those. And if a stretched or erect reading comes in under about 9.3 cm (3.7 in), that’s the clinical micropenis threshold, which covers roughly 0.6% of men.
While you’re at it, your number also dictates the right condom fit, and most men guess wrong. See exactly where you land in penis size statistics, or get the full walkthrough in how to measure.
Try the size percentile calculator →