The short answer
The average high jump for a 16-year-old is about 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) for boys and 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m) for girls, among athletes who compete. A good junior-year height is over 5 feet 10 inches for boys and 5 feet for girls. Strong 16-year-olds clear 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 7 inches; the national class is near 6 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 10 inches.
Key takeaways
- Typical competing 16-year-olds: 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 8 inches for boys, 4 feet 6 inches to 5 feet for girls
- Junior year is when college jumps coaches start reading cleared heights off Athletic.net
- Over 6 feet 4 inches for a boy or 5 feet 6 inches for a girl is a state-medal height in most states
- The girls' typical bar has flattened; the boys' is still rising two to three inches a year
- A 16-year-old new to the event still starts at 4 feet 4 inches to 4 feet 10 inches
What is the average high jump for a 16-year-old?
At 16 a cleared height becomes a recruiting number. Junior-year marks go on profiles, college jumps coaches sort Athletic.net by grade, and a state qualifying height is a bar with a date on it. Among 16-year-olds who compete, the typical boy clears about 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) and the typical girl about 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m).
The field is widest here. A junior who has jumped the flop for four seasons and a junior who was moved to the pit because the team needed a body are both 16, and they are two feet apart. The tiers put each of them in a row that means something.
High jump benchmarks at age 16, feet and meters
| Tier at age 16 | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| New to the event, learning the flop | 4'4" - 4'10" (1.32 - 1.47 m) | 4'0" - 4'6" (1.22 - 1.37 m) |
| Typical (JV or developmental varsity) | 5'2" - 5'8" (1.57 - 1.73 m) | 4'6" - 5'0" (1.37 - 1.52 m) |
| Good (junior scoring at varsity meets) | 5'10" - 6'2" (1.78 - 1.88 m) | 5'0" - 5'4" (1.52 - 1.63 m) |
| Strong (state qualifier range) | 6'2" - 6'6" (1.88 - 1.98 m) | 5'3" - 5'7" (1.60 - 1.70 m) |
| National class for the age | 6'8" - 6'11" (2.03 - 2.11 m) | 5'9" - 6'0" (1.75 - 1.83 m) |
Ages 15, 16 and 17 side by side
The typical boy adds two to three inches a year now and the typical girl an inch or two. The top end is where the movement is: the national-class juniors are within two or three inches of the best high school seniors, and the difference from here is approach speed and strength.
The high jump at 15, 16 and 17
| Level | Age 15 (B / G) | Age 16 (B / G) | Age 17 (B / G) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical | 5'3" / 4'7" | 5'5" / 4'9" | 5'7" / 4'10" |
| Good for the age | 5'10" / 5'2" | 6'0" / 5'2" | 6'1" / 5'3" |
| National class | 6'6" / 5'8" | 6'9" / 5'10" | 6'11" / 5'11" |
How far is 16 from the record?
The national high school records are 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m) by Andra Manson in 2002 and 6 feet 4.25 inches (1.94 m) by Vashti Cunningham in 2015. The national class for a 16-year-old sits eight to ten inches below the boys' record and four to six inches below the girls'.
Source: List of United States high school national records in track and field
What is a good high jump for a 16-year-old boy?
Over 5 feet 10 inches is good and scores at varsity meets. Over 6 feet 2 inches is strong and, in most states, is a qualifying height or within an inch of one. The national class is 6 feet 8 inches to 6 feet 11 inches, and Division I jumps programs start paying attention around 6 feet 8 inches by the end of junior year. A junior in the typical 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 8 inches band who runs a sub-12 100m is leaving four inches on the apron.
What is a good high jump for a 16-year-old girl?
Over 5 feet is good for a 16-year-old girl and over 5 feet 3 inches is strong; in most states that is a state-qualifying height. The national class is 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet, and Division I programs generally look for 5 feet 7 inches or better by the end of junior year. Because the girls' typical bar has flattened, a junior at 4 feet 8 inches who wants 5 feet 2 inches is looking at approach speed, the penultimate step and a year of strength work.
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.
The junior-year jump
- Approach speed. Juniors who improved their sprint over the winter usually add two inches without touching technique.
- Consistency of the plant. The strong-tier juniors plant within a few inches of the same spot on every jump; the typical junior wanders a foot.
- Strength. A year of squats and plyometrics moves the bar at 16 more than it did at 14.
- Film from the takeoff side. The curve, the plant and the arm drive are visible in one clip, and that clip is usually the difference between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet.