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Your height sets the seat height and seat depth you need. Short people need a low, shallow seat; tall people need a high, deep one.
Buying guide
With your feet flat and thighs level, measure the floor to the back of your knee and add an inch for shoes. The chair’s seat height range must include that number. Many chairs bottom out at 17–18″, which is too high for a lot of people under about 5′5″.
Sit all the way back: you should fit two to four fingers between the seat edge and the back of your knee. Too deep and it presses on your legs; too shallow and your thighs aren’t supported. A seat slider fixes both.
Every chair has a rated capacity, usually 250–300 lb, and up to 400–500 lb for big and tall models. A common rule of thumb is about 25% headroom over your weight.
Adjustable lumbar support, armrests that move up, down and in, and a recline you can lock all matter more the longer you sit.
Guides
Database
Check two numbers. The seat height range should include the height of the back of your knee from the floor, plus about an inch for shoes. The seat depth should leave a 2–4 inch gap behind your knees. Our desk height calculator works out both from your height, using US body-measurement data.
About your thigh length (back of the hips to the back of the knee) minus two inches. That works out to roughly 16″ at 5′2″, 18.5″ at 5′10″ and 19.5″ or more from 6′2″. Chairs with a seat slider cover a wider range of people.
Only to check the chair’s rated weight capacity (we look for about 25% headroom, a common rule of thumb) and whether the seat is wide enough. You can skip the question.
Prices on Amazon change several times a day. Rather than show a number that may be out of date, we link you straight to the live price.