How many inches are in a foot?
There are exactly 12 inches in a foot. So to go from inches to feet, divide by 12 (30 in ÷ 12 = 2.5 ft = 2 ft 6 in); to go the other way, multiply feet by 12 (3 ft × 12 = 36 in). A yard is 3 feet, or 36 inches.
Source: Definition (1 foot = 12 inches) · Verify against your AHJ and the adopted code edition.
A foot is defined as 12 inches, so:
inches = feet × 12 (and feet = inches ÷ 12)
Handy reference points:
| Feet | Inches |
|---|---|
| 1 ft | 12 in |
| 1½ ft | 18 in |
| 2 ft 6 in | 30 in |
| 3 ft (1 yard) | 36 in |
The part that trips people up isn’t the 12 — it’s the remainder. Dividing inches by 12 gives feet as a decimal (30 ÷ 12 = 2.5 ft); the “.5” is half a foot, which is 6 inches, so 30 in = 2 ft 6 in. Decimal feet and feet-and-inches are not the same notation.
Work it out: the feet-inch-fraction converter turns a raw measurement into feet-and-inches, decimal feet, and metric at once — so you don’t have to juggle the remainder yourself.