Guide · 2026-10-24

How high should you mount your TV?

A simple way to find the right TV height for a living room, a bedroom or over a fireplace, and how to test it before anyone drills.

The most common mistake with a mounted TV isn't a crooked screen. It's a screen hung too high. You'll be looking at it for years, so the height is worth five minutes of thought.

Start from your eyes

For a TV you watch sitting down, aim for the middle of the screen to land near your eye level when you're sitting, or a little below it. For most couches that puts the center of the screen roughly 40 to 45 inches off the floor. Bigger screens push the bottom edge lower, but the center stays about the same.

If the TV sits above a media console, leave enough room for a soundbar between the console and the bottom of the screen, typically 3 to 6 inches.

Bedrooms

In bed you're reclined and looking slightly up, so a bedroom TV can go higher than a living room one. A tilting mount angled down a few degrees makes a higher TV comfortable to watch.

Over a fireplace

The mantel decides how low the TV can go, so it nearly always ends up higher than ideal. Two things help:

• A tilting mount angles the screen down toward the couch.
• Sitting further back helps. The further away you sit, the less a high screen strains your neck.

If the wall above the fireplace gets hot with a fire going, that's a reason to choose another wall. There's more in the fireplace guide.

Test it with painter's tape

Before drilling, mark the TV's outline on the wall with painter's tape at the size of your screen. Sit where you normally watch and look at it for a minute. Lower it if you're tipping your head back. On every job I mark the spot first and you sign off on it before I drill.

Price my install Call (737) 204-8712

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