A typical adult tiger is about as long as a small car and as heavy as 2–3 grown humans put together.

Average tiger size

  • Adult males are usually about 2.7–3.1 m (9–10 ft) from nose to tail tip.
  • Adult females are smaller, around 2.4–2.7 m (8–9 ft) long.
  • At the shoulder, tigers stand roughly 80–100 cm (about 3 ft) tall.

Weight of a tiger

  • Male tigers commonly weigh around 180–260 kg (400–575 lb), with some large northern tigers reaching over 300 kg (660 lb).
  • Females are lighter, often in the 100–180 kg (220–400 lb) range.

Biggest and smallest subspecies

  • Siberian (Amur) tigers are among the biggest, with large males reaching 300 kg and close to 3 m in body length.
  • Sumatran tigers are smaller, with males closer to 100–120 kg and about 2.4 m long.

Quick size comparison

  • A big male tiger can be longer than a king-size bed and heavier than a full-size grand piano.
  • Even a small female tiger is much larger than the biggest domestic cat and heavier than most adult humans.

TL;DR: When people ask “how big is a tiger,” the short answer is: around 3 m long, 3 ft tall at the shoulder, and 180–260 kg on average, with some giants going well beyond that.