Desk Height Calculator: What Height Should Your Desk Be?
Quick Answer: What height should my desk be?
Set your desk to your elbow height. Sit or stand up straight, let your arms hang, and bend your elbows to 90°. The desk surface should meet the underside of your forearms. As a rule of thumb, a seated desk ≈ your height × 0.41 and a standing desk ≈ your height × 0.62.
For someone 5'10" (178 cm), that's about a 28.5" (72 cm) sitting desk and a 43.5" (110 cm) standing desk. Use the calculator below for your exact numbers, or skip to the reference table.
Your Personalized Desk Height
Heights are measured from the floor. Treat them as a starting point and fine-tune by feel — comfort beats the tape measure.
Gear That Hits These Numbers
The heights above only work if your equipment adjusts to them. Three things do the heavy lifting:
- An electric height-adjustable desk — the only clean way to hit both your sitting and standing numbers with one button.
- An adjustable ergonomic chair — so you can set your seat height and keep your feet flat and elbows level.
- A monitor arm — lifts the top of your screen to eye level, which most monitor stands can't reach.
Desk Height Reference Table (5'0" – 6'6")
No JavaScript, or just want the quick version? These are the recommended heights by stature, measured from the floor. Values are rounded to the nearest half-inch.
| Your height | Sitting desk | Standing desk | Chair seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5'0" (152 cm) | 24.5" / 62 cm | 37" / 94 cm | 15" / 38 cm |
| 5'2" (157 cm) | 25" / 64 cm | 38.5" / 98 cm | 15.5" / 39 cm |
| 5'4" (163 cm) | 26" / 66 cm | 39.5" / 101 cm | 16" / 41 cm |
| 5'6" (168 cm) | 27" / 68 cm | 41" / 104 cm | 16.5" / 42 cm |
| 5'8" (173 cm) | 27.5" / 70 cm | 42" / 107 cm | 17" / 43 cm |
| 5'10" (178 cm) | 28.5" / 72 cm | 43.5" / 110 cm | 17.5" / 44 cm |
| 6'0" (183 cm) | 29" / 74 cm | 44.5" / 113 cm | 18" / 46 cm |
| 6'2" (188 cm) | 30" / 76 cm | 46" / 117 cm | 18.5" / 47 cm |
| 6'4" (193 cm) | 31" / 78 cm | 47" / 120 cm | 19" / 48 cm |
| 6'6" (198 cm) | 31.5" / 80 cm | 48.5" / 123 cm | 19.5" / 50 cm |
These figures assume standard office shoes and a neutral, upright posture. If you wear thick-soled shoes or work barefoot, adjust up or down accordingly.
Why Elbow Angle Is the Whole Game
Every desk-height formula is really just a proxy for one thing: getting your elbows to roughly 90°. When your desk sits at elbow height, your forearms rest parallel to the floor, your shoulders stay down instead of shrugging up toward your ears, and your wrists stay straight instead of bending back over the edge of the desk. That neutral position is what keeps your forearms and shoulders from aching by 3pm. A desk that's even an inch or two too high forces a low-grade shoulder shrug you won't consciously notice until the tension shows up as a headache.
Most standard desks are built at about 29 inches — a height that was set decades ago for an average-ish male and quietly ignores everyone else. If you're 5'4", a 29" desk is genuinely too tall for you, which is why so many people unconsciously perch on the edge of their chair or hike the seat up until their feet dangle. The fix isn't to tough it out; it's to either lower the surface, raise your chair and add a footrest, or get a desk that actually adjusts.
Getting Your Monitor Height Right
Desk height solves your arms; monitor height solves your neck. The top of your screen should land at or just slightly below eye level, so your eyes drop a few degrees to read the center of the display — that's the angle your neck naturally wants. Here's the catch most people miss: once you've set your desk to elbow height, your monitor almost always ends up too low, because a monitor sitting on its factory stand puts the center of the screen around where the top should be. That's the single most common home-office mistake — a laptop or monitor sitting flat on the desk, pulling your chin down all day.
You fix it by raising the screen, not by raising the whole desk (which would wreck your elbow angle). A monitor arm or a simple riser lifts the panel those extra few inches independently. Laptop users have it worst here — the screen and keyboard are fused together, so whatever's good for your hands is terrible for your neck. The standard answer is a laptop stand plus an external keyboard and mouse, which lets you set screen height and desk height separately, exactly the way this calculator treats them.
One last thing worth saying plainly: the best posture is your next one. These numbers give you a well-aligned home base, but no single height is meant to be held for eight straight hours. Dial in your sitting height, dial in your standing height, and then actually switch between them — and get up to move every half hour or so. The measurements matter, but movement matters more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What height should my desk be?
Set it to your elbow height. Sit or stand up straight, let your arms hang, and bend your elbows to 90° — the desk should meet the underside of your forearms. As a shortcut, a seated desk is roughly your height × 0.41 and a standing desk is roughly your height × 0.62. For a 5'10" (178 cm) person that's about 28.5" (72 cm) sitting and 43.5" (110 cm) standing.
How do I calculate my standing desk height?
Stand up straight in your normal shoes, let your arms hang, and bend your elbows to 90°. Measure from the floor to the underside of your elbow — that's your ideal standing desk height. As a quick estimate, multiply your height by about 0.62. Set the desk so your forearms are level with the surface and your wrists stay neutral.
How high should my monitor be?
The top of the screen should sit at or just below eye level when you look straight ahead, so your gaze drops slightly to the center. For most seated people that's around eye height — roughly your height × 0.70 above the floor. If your monitor stand won't reach that high, a monitor arm or riser will, and it prevents the neck strain that comes from looking down.
Should my elbows be at 90 degrees at my desk?
Yes — aim for 90° to 100° whether you sit or stand. Upper arms hang relaxed at your sides, forearms roughly parallel to the floor, wrists straight. If your shoulders creep up toward your ears the desk is too high; if you slouch or reach down it's too low. A slightly open 100° angle is often more comfortable than a rigid 90°.