The short answer
The average high jump for a 13-year-old is about 4 feet 5 inches (1.35 m) for boys and 4 feet 1 inch (1.24 m) for girls, among kids who compete. A good height at 13 is over 4 feet 8 inches for boys and 4 feet 4 inches for girls. The USATF 13-14 standard is 4 feet 11.5 inches and 4 feet 7 inches; national class is near 5 feet 10 inches and 5 feet 3 inches.
Key takeaways
- Typical competing 13-year-olds: 4 feet 2 inches to 4 feet 8 inches for boys, 3 feet 10 inches to 4 feet 4 inches for girls
- The USATF 13-14 performance standard (4'11.5" boys, 4'7" girls) is the first published benchmark most jumpers meet
- Over 5 feet 2 inches for a boy or 4 feet 8 inches for a girl is a JO regional-level height
- Thirteen is the year most jumpers switch to the flop, so one-season gains of six inches are common
- Boys start pulling away from girls this year as the strength gains arrive
What is the average high jump for a 13-year-old?
At 13 the high jump gets its first real benchmark. A 13-year-old competes in the USATF 13-14 division, which publishes a performance standard for the event, and most middle schools run a championship meet with an entry height. Among 13-year-olds who compete, the typical boy clears about 4 feet 5 inches (1.35 m) and the typical girl about 4 feet 1 inch (1.24 m).
This is also the year the flop takes over. A 13-year-old who learned it last spring often adds six inches in one season, which is more than the year-to-year growth in the chart. So the tiers below are wide, and a jumper moving from the scissors to the flop can skip a row.
High jump benchmarks at age 13, feet and meters
| Tier at age 13 | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| First meet, learning the flop | 3'8" - 4'2" (1.12 - 1.27 m) | 3'4" - 3'10" (1.02 - 1.17 m) |
| Typical (school or club team) | 4'2" - 4'8" (1.27 - 1.42 m) | 3'10" - 4'4" (1.17 - 1.32 m) |
| Good (top quarter of the age) | 4'8" - 5'2" (1.42 - 1.57 m) | 4'4" - 4'8" (1.32 - 1.42 m) |
| USATF 13-14 performance standard | 4'11.5" (1.51 m) | 4'7" (1.40 m) |
| Strong (JO regional level) | 5'2" - 5'6" (1.57 - 1.68 m) | 4'8" - 5'0" (1.42 - 1.52 m) |
| National class for the age | 5'8" - 6'0" (1.73 - 1.83 m) | 5'2" - 5'5" (1.57 - 1.65 m) |
Ages 12, 13 and 14 side by side
The boys' bar rises about four inches a year at the typical level and much faster at the top, where the 14-year-olds are freshmen with a high school coach. The girls' bar rises about two inches a year, and the girls' national class is already close to what it will be at 16.
The high jump at 12, 13 and 14
| Level | Age 12 (B / G) | Age 13 (B / G) | Age 14 (B / G) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical | 4'1" / 3'11" | 4'5" / 4'1" | 4'9" / 4'3" |
| Good for the age | 4'6" / 4'4" | 4'11" / 4'6" | 5'5" / 4'10" |
| National class | 5'2" / 5'0" | 5'10" / 5'3" | 6'2" / 5'5" |
The ceiling of the division
The USATF Junior Olympic 13-14 meet records are 6 feet 4.25 inches (1.94 m) for boys and 5 feet 7.25 inches (1.71 m) for girls. Those are 14-year-olds at the end of the division. A 13-year-old who clears 5 feet 8 inches or 5 feet 2 inches is already in the national conversation.
Source: USATF National Junior Olympic Championships meet records
What is a good high jump for a 13-year-old boy?
Over 4 feet 8 inches is good. Clearing the USATF 13-14 standard of 4 feet 11.5 inches is the first published mark worth chasing, and over 5 feet 2 inches is strong enough to place at a JO regional. The national class is 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet, which at 13 means a tall boy with a year of the flop behind him. A boy in the typical 4 feet 2 inches to 4 feet 8 inches band who is still on the scissors has six inches waiting for him.
What is a good high jump for a 13-year-old girl?
Over 4 feet 4 inches is good for a 13-year-old girl, the USATF standard of 4 feet 7 inches is the first benchmark, and over 4 feet 8 inches is strong. The national class is 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 5 inches. Girls' heights at 13 respond to the curve and the takeoff more than to strength; a girl who learns to run a real J-approach usually gains three or four inches without getting any stronger.
How these numbers were built
- Population. Athletes with a cleared height at a school, club or USATF meet, from Athletic.net, MileSplit and USATF Junior Olympic results.
- Typical band. The middle 50 percent of that population for the age, rounded to two inches.
- Good, strong, national class. Roughly the top 25 percent, top 5 percent and top 0.5 percent of the age. USATF youth performance standards are quoted where the age falls inside a division that publishes one.
- Heights are cleared bars, not attempts. A jumper who has cleared 5'0" once at practice and 4'8" in a meet is a 4'8" jumper for this chart.
- Feet and meters. Both are given; bars in the US are set in feet and inches at school meets and in metric everywhere else.
What separates 4 feet 5 inches from 5 feet at 13
- The flop, learned properly. With a real mat and a coach. Nothing else comes close.
- The curve. Five curved steps that lean the body away from the bar. Jumpers who run straight at the bar have to jump higher than the bar to clear it.
- The plant. Takeoff foot about an arm's length from the standard, pointing along the bar. Planting too close is the most common fault at 13.
- Film from the takeoff side. The curve, the plant and the lean are all in one clip. A 13-year-old who sees a foul plant once rarely repeats it.