DAILY DILEMMA: The Six-Foot, Six-Figure Reality Check

Comedian Tacarra Williams recently appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s, Club Shay Shay Podcast and got people talking after asking women searching for a six-foot, six-figure man one uncomfortable question: “Is that man checking for you?”

There is nothing wrong with having standards. You should know what you want. But once you start stacking requirements, the dating pool can shrink faster than a cheap shirt in hot water.

According to the CDC, the average American man is about 5 feet 9 inches tall. In its detailed 2015 through 2018 measurements, six feet landed around the 85th percentile. That means roughly 15 percent of adult men were six feet or taller.

The numbers also differ by race. Based on the CDC percentile chart, roughly 17 percent of non-Hispanic White men and about 16 percent of non-Hispanic Black men reached six feet. The estimate drops to around 5 percent for Hispanic men and fewer than 5 percent for non-Hispanic Asian men. Those are reasonable estimates from the CDC’s height distribution, not separately published official percentages.

Now add that six-figure requirement. The Census Bureau reported that full-time, year-round working men had median earnings of $71,090 in 2024. That means half earned less than that amount, and many earning six figures may already be married, outside your age range or simply not interested.

Tacarra’s point is not that women should settle. The jewel is to check your expectations and your own presentation. You know what you want, but are you offering what that kind of person wants?

Standards work both ways.

Check for the Daily Dilemma weekday afternoons on The Madd Hatta Show on Majic 102.1.