There are two main types of closets found in the home: reach-in closets and walk-in closets. A reach-in closet takes up less floor space, so these are common in children’s bedrooms and guest bedrooms or in any room where there is not an excess of square footage. Walk-in closets are usually reserved for the master bedroom in most homes.
Whichever type of closet you have, you’ll need to set the closet rod to a suitable height for storing your clothing. Here, we look at the standard closet rod height for adult and children’s closets and the height variations you can choose for hanging different types of items.
The height of your closet rod is going to depend on a number of factors. First of all, what types of items do you intend to hang on your closet rail? If you’ll be hanging dresses or long coats, you’ll want a full-length hanging rail to accommodate these items.
If you are hanging t-shirts or shorts, you can fit two hanging rods in your closet to make the most of your space.
Closet Rod Height for Single Pole
The average height of a closet is 8 feet, and the average height of a single pole closet rod is 5 feet. You’ll want to use a single pole if you’re going to be hanging long items of clothing such as dresses or trousers from the waist. This will allow them to hang freely without being pushed to the side by other items, causing them to crease.
You might also opt for a single pole in your closet if you are hanging shorter items such as shirts, but you want to stack shoe boxes at the bottom of your closet or have space for some low shelves. The standard height of a single pole closet rod is 5 feet. This measurement is taken from floor level up in a straight vertical line.
A closet rod height of 5 feet will also give you a few feet of space at the top of the closet for shelving where you can store lesser-used items. The closet rod height of 5 feet is the recommended minimum.
If you set the height any lower than this, you may find that long dresses pool at the base of your closet. You can set the height of the single rod to be taller than 5 feet, but just be sure to check that you can comfortably access these hangers without overextending yourself.
Closet Rod Height for Double Pole
A closet with a double pole is a great idea if you need to maximize your storage and take advantage of every bit of available space. A double pole closet will have one closet rod at around waist height and one at around head height. This allows you to store double the amount of clothing as a single pole closet.
The drawback, though, is that you can only hang shorter items, such as t-shirts or shorts, in a double-pole closet. You won’t be able to hang dresses in this closet as there won’t be enough room lengthways to fit them in. If your closet is the standard height of 8 feet, then the lowest closet rod should be installed at a height of 3 feet and 6 inches from floor level.
The top closet rod should be installed a further 3 feet and 6 inches from the lower rod, putting it at a height of 7 feet from floor level. Closet rods set at these heights will allow 3 feet of length space for clothing to hang, which should be enough room for the average person to hang shirts, jumpers, and blouses. Since the top rail will be installed at 7 feet tall, this allows an additional foot of storage space at the top of the closet for a shelf.
Children’s Closet Rod Height
When children are too young to dress themselves, having the closet rod at adult height makes the most practical sense, as adults will be dressing the child. Keeping the closet rod at standard adult height will mean the parent of the child can easily see which clothes are available and access them with ease.
However, as the child gets older, it can be helpful to encourage independence by allowing the child to get their own clothing out of their closet. To avoid items being pulled and hangers being snapped, the closet rod height should be set at a level that children can safely reach by themselves.
For younger children, the recommended closet rod height is between 36 and 40 inches from floor level. This should allow enough hanging space even for longer items such as dresses or dungarees since children’s clothing is typically quite small. As children get older and taller, the closet rod height can be moved up accordingly.
Closet Rod Depth
The distance that a hanging rail is installed from the back of the closet is just as important as the closet rod height measurement. If the rod is installed too close to the back wall, your hangers won’t fit. If it’s too far from the back wall, there will be wasted space behind your clothing.
The standard space required for hangers is 1 foot 9 inches, therefore the closet rod should be installed halfway from the front of the closet to the back, at a distance of around 10.5 inches from the back wall.
Closet Rod Height Planning
Knowing the items you want to hang in your closet can be very useful in helping you determine the ideal closet rod height.
Standard rod height or average closet rod height won’t work well for everyone, so you can instead customize your closet rod height according to your own items. The average length required for different clothing items is listed below to help with planning the height of your closet rod.
Average Clothing Length, including Hanger
Women’s
- Dress: 68 inches
- Robe: 52 inches
- Jacket: 36 inches
- Blouse: 34 inches
- Skirt: 36 inches
Men’s
- Suit Jackets: 38 inches
- Shirts: 38 inches
- Pants, hanging from the waist: 44 inches
- Pants, folded on the hanger: 27 inches
