Metrication in the United States

4 days ago - U.S. customary units have been defined in terms of metric units since the 19th century, and the SI has been the "preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce" since 1975 according to United States law. However, conversion was not mandatory and many industries ...

4 days ago - The U.S. government passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, which made the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for U.S. trade and commerce". The legislation states that the federal government has a responsibility to assist industry as it voluntarily converts to the metric system, i.e., metrification.

February 4, 2025 - NIST OWM's Elizabeth Benham was recently interviewed by National Geographic and described some of the reasons behind the U.S.'s lagged adoption of the metric system, including how a voluntary approach to adoption can slow down progress. She notes that “It’s been legal to use the metric system in the United States since 1866," and that the metric system is the nation’s preferred system of measurement for trade and commerce.

June 13, 2025 - Though it was so close at hand, Jefferson, and even France until much later, decided to pass, and the U.S. adopted the British Imperial System of measurement (the one still used in the country today).

As a result of the Metre Convention, the US received a prototype metre and kilogram to be used as measurement standards. ... These metric prototypes were declared “fundamental standards of length and mass” in the Mendenhall Order. Since that date, the yard, pound, etc. have been officially defined in terms of the metric system.

August 27, 2025 - Metrication is a term describing a shift from the use of customary measurement units to the International System of Units (SI), commonly known as the metric system. Operating with only one measurement system is ideal. Historically, two major approaches have been used to implement changes: top down (mandatory) or marketplace driven (voluntary).

October 31, 2024 - The answer: the U.S. is one of the few countries globally which still uses the imperial system of measurement, where things are measured in feet, inches, pounds, ounces, etc. Most countries use the Metric system, which uses the measuring units ...

February 13, 2025 - Currently, U.S. law permits the use of either the SI (International System of Units) or the U.S. customary measurement system. Although NIST is a non-regulatory agency, the adoption of SI practices is encouraged whenever possible.

International System of Units, abbreviated SI. ... European Common Market. The conversion of ... SI. The detailed U.S. Metric Study was

October 30, 2023 - Only three countries in the world use the imperial system as their official system of measurement: the U.S., Liberia and Myanmar [source: Buchholz]. Some countries, like Canada, use the metric system as their official unit system but allow the ...

September 20, 2024 - What do Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States have in common? Proponents of the metric system claim all three nations have a shameful similarity: They use imperial measurements—feet, pounds, and miles—instead of meters, grams, and kilometers.

This is the closest the U.S. has ever come to adopting a single system of measurement. Ironically, the U.S. missed two opportunities in 1832. Americans could have adopted the metric system, which was then at an uncertain point in its history; or they could have decided to align their measurements with the British Imperial measures established by Parliament in 1824 and thus created a possible alternative to the metric system in international commerce.

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The US Metric Association (USMA), Inc., is a national non-profit organization that was founded in 1916. USMA advocates completing the US transition to the International System of Units, known by the abbreviation SI (“ess-eye”) and also called the metric system.

July 28, 2025 - Have you ever noticed that systems of measurement tends to change when you leave the United States? Weight is typically measured in kilograms instead of pounds, distance is measured in kilometers over miles, and volume is measured in liters rather than ounces. But that’s not all: we also measure temperature in degrees Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. While most of the rest of the world uses the metric system (formally known as the International System of Units, or SI), the United States uses the U.S.

August 29, 2025 - The United States continues to primarily use the United States Customary System of Measurement. This was derived from British Imperial System, though some of its units, especially for volume, differ somewhat.

The metric unit system is easy to handle because everything is a multiple or a fraction of ten. There is a base unit for each type of measurement, such as meter (abbreviation m) for length, gramm (abbreviation g or gr) for weight or liter (abbreviation l or lt) for volume.

February 14, 2025 - All our measurement units, including U.S. customary units you’re familiar with (feet, pounds, gallons, Fahrenheit, etc.), are defined in terms of the SI—and mass, length, and volume have been defined in metric units since 1893!