How Far Is the High School 3-Point Line?
The NFHS high school 3-point line is 19 feet 9 inches from the basket center. See exactly how it is measured and how it compares.
For a U.S. high school game played under NFHS rules, the 3-point line is 19 feet 9 inches from the center of the basket. The rule measures that radius from the point on the floor directly below the basket’s center to the outside edge of the painted line—not from the backboard or the front of the rim. The line itself is 2 inches wide. (NFHS Rule 1-4 text)
In other units, 19 feet 9 inches equals:
- 237 inches
- 6.0198 meters, normally rounded to 6.02 meters
What the measurement means on the court
The high school marking consists of a semicircular arc plus a straight section near each corner. NFHS specifications extend the arc with a 2-inch-wide line perpendicular to the end line; that straight section runs 63 inches from the end line’s inside edge. (NFHS Rule 1-4 text)
The reference point matters if a court is being checked or painted. Starting at the backboard gives the wrong result because the official radius begins directly below the center of the basket. Likewise, the 19-foot-9-inch measurement ends at the line’s outside edge, so treating the middle or inside edge as the endpoint shifts the layout.
For the surrounding floor measurements, see basketball half-court dimensions by level and the typical length of a high school court.
High school versus college and NBA distance
The familiar high school line should not be used to estimate a college or professional attempt:
| Level | 3-point specification | Difference from high school arc |
|---|---|---|
| NFHS high school | 19 ft 9 in | — |
| NCAA men and women | 22 ft 1¾ in at the arc | 2 ft 4¾ in farther |
| NBA | 23 ft 9 in at the arc | 4 ft farther |
The current NCAA court diagram lists a 22-foot-1¾-inch outside edge for the men’s and women’s arc and 21 feet 7⅞ inches for the straight corner marking. (NCAA 2025–26 court diagram) The NBA specifies an arc of 23 feet 9 inches from the middle of the basket, intersecting parallel lines positioned 3 feet from the sidelines. (NBA Rule No. 1)
Those differences are large enough to matter when interpreting practice results. A player shooting from a high school arc is not taking the same shot represented by NCAA or NBA 3-point statistics, even though every make counts for three points under the rules of that player’s game.
The concise answer remains: 19 feet 9 inches for the NFHS high school 3-point line, measured from the basket center to the outside edge of the line.