Eye Spacing and Interpupillary Distance: What Is Ideal?

Eye spacing describes how far apart your eyes sit compared to the rest of your face. The most common rule says the gap between the inner corners of your eyes should be about one eye width — the "rule of fifths". Measured between the pupils, the average adult interpupillary distance (IPD) is around 63 mm, with most adults between about 50 and 75 mm. In attractiveness research, faces looked best when the distance between the pupils was about 46% of the face's width.

Below: what each measurement means, how close-set and wide-set eyes are defined, how to measure your own spacing and what you can — and can't — change about how it looks.

Interpupillary distance vs eye spacing

These terms are often mixed up, but they measure different things:

Measurement	What it measures	Used for
Interpupillary distance (IPD or PD)	Center of one pupil to the center of the other	Glasses, VR headsets, face proportion ratios
Intercanthal distance	Inner corner of one eye to the inner corner of the other	Judging close-set vs wide-set eyes
Eye width	Inner corner to outer corner of one eye	The rule of fifths

Your IPD is mostly an absolute number in millimeters. How close-set or wide-set your eyes look, though, depends on the ratio between these measurements and your face width.

What is the average interpupillary distance?

A large review of anthropometric data found that adult IPD averages about 63 mm, with most adults falling between about 50 and 75 mm. Men average a couple of millimeters more than women, largely because their faces tend to be wider. Children's IPD is smaller and grows with the face.

A higher or lower IPD on its own says little about appearance — a 66 mm IPD can look perfectly balanced on a wide face and wide-set on a narrow one.

The ideal eye spacing: what research says

Two simple guides come up again and again:

• Rule of fifths: divide the width of the face into five equal parts. Ideally each eye fills one fifth, and the gap between the inner corners fills another. In other words, the space between your eyes is about one eye width.
• The 46% ratio: in a 2010 study by Pallett, Link and Lee, people rated the same face as most attractive when the distance between the pupils was about 46% of the face's width. The same study found that a vertical eye-to-mouth distance of about 36% of face length looked best.

Both are averages, not targets. Plenty of faces that people find very attractive sit outside them, and small differences of a few percent are hard to notice.

Close-set, average and wide-set eyes

Type	How it looks	Quick test
Close-set	The gap between the inner corners is noticeably less than one eye width	An imagined third eye wouldn't fit between your eyes
Average	The gap is about one eye width	A third eye would just fit
Wide-set	The gap is noticeably more than one eye width	There's room to spare for a third eye

Close-set eyes can make a face look more intense and focused; wide-set eyes often read as open and youthful. Neither is a flaw. Eye spacing also interacts with your eye shape and your canthal tilt — the angle of the eyes — which together shape how the eye area looks.

Very wide spacing that is present from birth (hypertelorism) can be linked to some medical conditions, but that's diagnosed by a doctor, not from a selfie. If you have no other symptoms, your eye spacing is simply part of your face.

How to measure your own interpupillary distance

You need a mirror and a millimeter ruler:

1. Stand about 20 cm (8 in) from a mirror and hold the ruler flat against your brow line.
2. Close your right eye and line up the zero mark with the center of your left pupil.
3. Close your left eye, open your right eye and read the millimeter mark at the center of your right pupil. That's your IPD.
4. Repeat three times and take the average.

For glasses, an optician's measurement is more accurate than a mirror, and they also measure each eye separately when needed.

How to check your eye spacing ratio

Take a straight-on photo with a neutral expression, with your face filling the frame. Measure:

• the gap between your inner eye corners and one eye's width — for the rule of fifths;
• the distance between your pupils and the width of your face at its widest point — for the 46% ratio.

The free AI face analysis maps facial landmarks in your browser and shows your proportions without any manual measuring.

Can you change how far apart your eyes look?

Bone structure sets your actual eye spacing — exercises, mewing or skincare won't move it. What you can change is how the spacing reads:

For close-set eyes:

• Put lighter, brighter eyeshadow on the inner corners and darker shades on the outer third.
• Extend eyeliner slightly past the outer corner and keep it thin near the inner corner.
• Keep a little more space between your brows; don't fill in the inner brow heavily.

For wide-set eyes:

• Add a little darker shadow or liner toward the inner corners.
• Start your brows slightly closer to the nose — our eyebrow shapes guide shows how to map them.
• Glasses with a darker or thicker bridge pull the eyes visually closer together; see glasses for your face shape.

Eye spacing and attractiveness

Eye spacing is one part of a larger picture. Faces tend to look balanced when the eyes fit the width of the face, the facial thirds are even and the features work together — what's called facial harmony. A slightly close-set or wide-set face with good harmony usually looks better than "perfect" spacing in an unbalanced face.

If you want to see how your eye spacing fits your other proportions, try the free AI face rating — and for the full breakdown of ratios, symmetry and features, the Aesthetica app goes further.

FAQ

What is the ideal distance between the eyes?

The common guide is that the gap between the inner corners of the eyes should be about one eye width. In one study, faces looked most attractive when the distance between the pupils was about 46% of the face's width.

What is the average interpupillary distance?

About 63 mm for adults, with most people between about 50 and 75 mm. Men average slightly more than women.

How do I know if my eyes are close-set or wide-set?

Compare the gap between your inner eye corners with the width of one eye. Noticeably less than one eye width means close-set; noticeably more means wide-set.

Are wide-set eyes attractive?

Often, yes. Slightly wide-set eyes tend to look open and youthful, and many people considered attractive have them. Very wide or very close spacing is just one factor among many.

Can you change your eye spacing?

Not without surgery — bone structure sets it. Makeup, brow shaping and glasses can change how close or far apart your eyes look.