Average hair length in your town?

[teal]

Every so often I come across comments in threads about how someone noticed a stranger having waist length hair and how that length is unusually long. I find this surprising because here in Vancouver there are lots of people with longer hair. I'd say there are a lot of women, especially younger women, who have waist length hair. I also see many women with hair to their bottoms. Men having long hair is less common but certainly not out of the ordinary, especially for first-nations men.

So, what is the average hair length where you live? What length would you consider to be unusually long?

[Suze2012]

Here in the UK where I live I would say touching shoulder to shoulder blade is about average.
I have the third longest hair at my work and I'm at BSL when it's dry and curly. I would say there's about 80 or 100 women in my workplace.

Have to admit that someone whose hair I have always admired the past few years since I've known her..great condition and lovely cut..I found out very recently that she has a chin length bob and wears clip in hair extensions. She told me and pulled one out.
It's harder to tell these days.

[PinkyCat]

Upstate NY has lengths all over the place - mainly by age group it seems.

Younger women (20's) average about BSL hair - and it gets shorter from there. Not too many women in their mid-thirties (my age) with long hair here.

[millyaulait]

Real hair: Shoulder to APL, a small amount of BSL. I do think that Shoulder/APL is becoming more trendy over long hair now though, at least for women over 25.

Extensions: BSL to waist. Very obvious & just terrible looking, but mostly in teens. The real hair is usually above APL.

Unusually long would be waist without extensions in this area. Anything longer would be very, very rare to see.

[battles]

Mid-neck to APL. Occasionally I'll see BSL, and mid-back to waist is even more rare.

[Anje]

Well, the guys do tend to shorten the average a bit.... ;)

We're pretty variable around here, really. Yes, there's a lot of short or shoulder-length hair. Students commonly have hair to BSL or waist. But you're pretty likely to see at least one head of loose tailbone-length hair when you go to the grocery store -- you'd have to be classic or beyond to have unusual hair.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Here it would be BSL and shorter - mostly shorter.

[jacqueline101]

Short about pixie.

[chen bao jun]

If I count my 'town' alone, I'd say that most women have somewhere between slightly longer than pixie and APL hair. If you are talking about white women (a majority of the women here are white American, although that is changing). Age matters in this and religion matters also. Teenagers and women up until age 25 or so overwhelmingly have hair ranging from slightly below shoulder to APL, with a few brastrap. I think they are all aiming for bra strap right now, or midback. But since this is the age where they have started 'dyeing and frying' (all the girls have at least some kind of colored streaks in their hair and at least blowdry it) not many can reach midback or longer because of the thin ends they get. They all agree that ends 'need' to be cut if they are thinned out or fairy-taling at all.
Older women are on the shorter side, they vary between chinlength and APL. Not so many brastrap. Here it depends on religion and being a SAHM/homeschool mom (basically that's the same group, there are very SAHM's who don't homeschool) and a working mom. Working moms have shorter 'professional ' hair. The SAHM/homeschool group have longer hair and fact women in their 40's and 50's in this group will wear their hair as long as bra-strap. Again, I think, they would grow longer if they could, but they really are into dying and frying by this age (a lot of grey and cover it and if you have light brown hair, you automatically bleach it blonder) and the problem with the thinning ends is multiplied because they have been abusing their hair for quite a few more years than their teenage daughters have, yet. It really is considered 'ungroomed' around here to have uneven ends.
and 99% of women always wear their hair down and out. You see teenagers with a 'messy' bun sometimes, but loose hair is what women around here do.
A lot of little girls have waist length or tailbone length hair. Long hair is admired, even on older women, it's thought of as 'feminine' which is the ideal in this part of the country. Even though working moms have somewhat shorter hair, its a convenience thing, not because they don't think they should have longer hair. As I said before, a lot of women of all ages say that they would wear their hair midback or even waist-length if they could get it to grow. But there is no way they are going to stop blowdrying and wearing it down daily and also no way most of them are to stop dying it.
Black women are a minority around here. Like most black women that I see everywhere, 99% of them wear extensions or hair weaves, especially the younger ones. the extensions will usually be armpit to bra strap length. Among the younger ones though, there is a significant minority who are first generation mixed race--about twenty, twenty-five years ago there started to be more black/white marriages in this area. Its more often white mother/black father than the reverse. If the mixed race young women inherited the more african type curls (type 4 hair), they are much more likely to wear it 'natural' than the African american girls. and to sport their curls. You don't see hair weaves much in this group. If they have hair in the type 3's, either more European curly or wavy, they do much the same as the white girls. They streak it blond, blow dry and wear it loose as long as they can manage (usually between APL and bra strap).
I don't like EVER see men with long hair around here.
There are very few Asian women, and with them it depends on how long ago they immigrated and how assimililated they are. That is, the South Asians. Older or recent immigrant Pakistani or Indian women will have tailbone, classic or longer braids. Young women will have bra-strap hair, layered and 'styled' and often streaked with lighter colors. East Asian women (Chinese, Japanese, Korean descent) pretty much never have long hair in this area. They all tend to be professionals, doctors or lawyers and all have hair shoulder length or above. With Hispanic women from the various Latin American countries, it depends on their ethnicity as well as how long they have been here. Hispanic women who are clearly of mostly native American descent, first generation or recent immigrants will tend to have extremely long hair worn in braids. I've seen classic or even knee length on this group. But once they assimilate, they cut it short, if they are younger, probably to bra strap. They also have it layered and color it in streaks. Hispanic women from the countries where they have a lot of African or partly African descent (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) wear their hair as long as possible, always blow dried or relaxed or 'doobied' as straight as possible. Latinas who are more European in their background and more 'sophisticated' (from a city like Lima or Buenos Aires as opposed to a village in Mexico or Costa Rica) have the same layered haircuts hovering somewhere between APL and BSL as the American white women and if they are professionals, its cropped to a pixie or at most shoulder length.
People would not stare at a native American Latina or a South Asian women with longer than waist-length hair but they would stare at almost anyone else who had longer hair than that. It would not be judgmental staring however. It would be admiring-- so long as it was thick to the ends and not 'scraggly'. People around here tend to think you should cut your hair as soon as the ends are not perfectly tidy, but they do think long hair is feminine and pretty and admire the girls who manage hip or tailbone. I've only seen one or two longer than that in this area. My neighbor used to have hair to her ankles. She always wore it up (for obvious reasons) but no one thought this was strange, they were always impressed and wanted to know how she managed it. She's white but she's some small part native American and I think most people (including her) thought that was why it grew so long. She only cut it because she started to have neck problems. There are some Pentecostal women with really long hair in the area, under their coifs, you never see it out, but people whisper about it admiringly --they'll tell you that so and so has hair to her knees or her feet and that it's so pretty. Then they'll say something like that they wouldn't have time to deal with that much hair but that they wish theirs grew longer than it does. the young girls who manage waist length or hip length hair without getting scraggling ends are much envied. I think some of the girls have discovered LHC recently--mothers have started to tell me that their daughter 'looks around on the internet' and has given up straightening and hair products and is wearing it up 'trying to grow it long'. I have heard this from several different mothers recently and sort of wonder what is up and if LHC is the reason why.

[Suze2012]

Admittedly I skimmed that last post but I find shorter hair more hassle to deal with so I like mine at BSL or therebaouts as it takes no effort.

I'm one of only two women I know who gets to work/leaves the house with wet hair.
I can'r say about mine ( I like it but that's just my opinion) but the other woman I know....her hair always looks great...she is a chin length dark haired curly and a Mum of two gorgeous children (with curls also). She was chin length before Mummyhood.

[jeanniet]

Here I'd say BSL to waist, and that includes older women, but my town is definitely more individualistic. Next town/city over, it's much more mainstream and I'd say probably SL. I do see longer than waist (hip more often), and usually when I see really long hair (classic+) it's on women over 40. Although once I saw a guy with dreads about to his knees--unfortunately we were driving by so I didn't get a closer look, but they were really nice dreads.

[trolleypup]

Average: Men-short, Women-shoulder-ish

Longish: Men-shoulder+, Women-BSL

Commonly very long: Men-past BSL, Women-TB

Very Long but not extraordinary: Men-near TB, Women-Classic

Past those, extraordinary and rare but still present if you are out and about enough.

[wandlimb]

The average length here is APL to BSL, and it's usually dyed and straightened to within in an inch of its life. One of my colleagues showed us a picture of her with unstraightened hair yesterday, and it looked so much better - she thinks it's awful, but it just had movement and life. I did try to persuade her it was nice, but she wasn't having it!

[EdG]

Unfortunately, the average here is short. Men's hair reaching the shirt collar would be considered "long". Women's hair at BSL would be long.


Well, the guys do tend to shorten the average a bit.... ;)Only in the real world. On LHC, I bet men increase the average. ;)
Ed

[torrilin]

Madison is maybe a bit confusing. It's a very long hair friendly town. But... that means that unless there's really good reason, a lot of longhairs wear their hair up. Students at the university tend to be less careful about their hair and more likely to walk around with it loose, but it's unusual to see much past hip worn loose. I don't really think it's a coincidence that a lot of posters here seem to find that long hair gets truly unmanageable worn loose somewhere in the hip to classic range, and that matches with what I see day to day.

If you're looking closely tho, you'll see some fairly impressively sized buns while out and about, and it's not tremendously rare to see braids that go past waist.

The other non-coincidence thing is it's fairly easy to find hair sticks, hair forks and a fairly wide range of other nice hair toys in stores around here...

[Amorice]

I've seen the odd teen with waist length hair, but around here, APL is usually considered 'long' and among women my age, I'd say that trendy shoulder/chin length cuts are average. Gotta get that Mom Cut early, I guess!

[Vampyria]

I'd say from APL to BSL, but shorter (shoulder or shorter) on older women. BSL to mid-back is considered really long. As for the guys, average is really short. My male cousin has APL hair which is already considered really long, while shoulder length would be long. For me, hair beyond hip would be unusually long, since you barely see anyone with that length where I live. You can see hair that long in the metal subculture, but it's even rare there.

[chen bao jun]

Admittedly I skimmed that last post but I find shorter hair more hassle to deal with so I like mine at BSL or therebaouts as it takes no effort.


It was a book--sorry!!
short version: I live in an area where they admire long hair and women would like to be at waist, even middle aged women. It's not that they don't like longer hair than waist (they admire it on the few occasions when they see it, usually on ethnic people) but its the longest they can imagine having, because they all dye and fry and color. As a result of said dying and frying, the average hair length is between apl and bsl. African American hair is in even worse condition than everyone else's around here and mostly all the African americans have obvious hair weaves or extensions. A few working women have short hair but that's quite rare and not considered to look feminine. No men here have long hair. Fairy tale ends are not admired and even though they might prefer to have longer hair, women will trim or cut their hair to keep it perfectly blunt at the ends rather than 'ragged.'

[chen bao jun]

That still wasn't short--sorry again.

[meteor]

It was a book--sorry!!
short version: I live in an area where they admire long hair and women would like to be at waist, even middle aged women. It's not that they don't like longer hair than waist (they admire it on the few occasions when they see it, usually on ethnic people) but its the longest they can imagine having, because they all dye and fry and color. As a result of said dying and frying, the average hair length is between apl and bsl. African American hair is in even worse condition than everyone else's around here and mostly all the African americans have obvious hair weaves or extensions. A few working women have short hair but that's quite rare and not considered to look feminine. No men here have long hair. Fairy tale ends are not admired and even though they might prefer to have longer hair, women will trim or cut their hair to keep it perfectly blunt at the ends rather than 'ragged.'

It's exactly the same situation where I live. Women want longer hair, but they do all the damaging things to their hair that cause their ends look bad, so they cut them off. There is an emphasis on hair styling and NOT hair care. So average length is probably about APL. I do see lots of longer-haired teenagers though.
The common understanding here is that you can wear super-long hair when you are a teenager, but it looks "unprofessional" and "hippy-ish" on working women. Because many people believe that if you have long hair, you take care of it all day long instead of working/studying, which isn't true. From my experience, the shorter the hair, the longer it takes to make it look presentable. Whereas longer hair sort of takes care of itself: only needs benign neglect, avoidance of certain damaging practices and gentleness.

[chen bao jun]

@meteor--the working women tend to have somewhat shorter hair in this area also, but still it's mostly at least shoulder or near shoulder. This is the south (not very south geographically but there's that mindset) and women want to be seen as feminine, they think short hair is not feminine.
Women in my area are very high maintenance compared with other places I have lived. They do heavy duty makeup, noticeable jewelry and the other more traditional things. when they work, they do say it is more 'convenient' to have shorter hair. I also have found this strange. I find that my hair is a whole lot of trouble to care for when it gets too short and is easier and easier as it gets longer, as well as more versatile.
Only one woman I know who has short hair has it for reasons other than 'convenience.' she says hers is so thick that it looks out of control when its long. but mine is very thick also and looks more out of control when short. Length weighs it down somewhat, but when short, it just poufs and sticks straight out to the sides if I'm not constantly fighting it.

[mariakatija]

Average at my campus/town is APL/BSL for women of all ages. It is not uncommon to see Hip/BCL. I don't think I have ever seen Classic here but I once saw a woman with Knee length.

[MINAKO]

Here it's between shoulder and BSL, with very few exeptions where one would see a long braid on a middle eastern girl. Absolutely no long haired men at all.

[divinedobbie]

OP - :waving: I'm an ex-Vancouverite! I live up north in BC now.

Students tend to have BSL hair, a few around waist, and I think I've seen one pixie. Most women above 30 have SL or shorter, there are some hitting APL.

Men are usually short-haired but I've seen a few with really long hair (longer than even the women) because we have a high Native population.

[eva888]

Where I live every single teenage girl in town has BSL to WL hair. I love it. Older women have shorter hair though. I think that maybe once people start coloring their hair to cover the gray then they cut it shorter. I don't know but I plan on keeping mine long!

[Symphony]

Just looking at my facebook page, I saw overwhelmingly pixies and shoulder-length, a couple of armpit lengths, and maybe 3 BSL. I remember maybe a year ago when I wore my hair in a ponytail, and someone was exclaiming over and over how LONG it was getting... Like REALLY long. I was at Brastrap length then.

[Larki]

Most girls are between BSL and waist.

[Johannah]

BSL, for sure! If you have longer hair than waist, people are shocked, lol.

[ErinLeigh]

In my town and friend group? No one longer than APL usually. Some BSL. It could be different but I dont get out much. Lots of extensions in some area.
Strangely though in my department at work every one is waist or waist plus and none of them wear their hair up. It's free flow hair zone :)

[happy-brit]

I would say in the UK shoulder blade/bra strap length. Although I agree about the extensions, so hard to tell if the hair is real. I personally really don't get hair extensions. As eager and impatient as I am to grow to grow my currently clavicle length hair down I would never resort to extensions. From what I have seen they can really damage your hair and it's growth.

[happy-brit]

Although that is mostly for my age group of late teens/early 20s (I am 20 myself). I find it gets shorted fast as age increases. Rarely see someone 40+ with hair past shoulder in my experience.

[SunnyIC]

In my town most younger women (teen-late twenties) have bra strap length or almost waist, but a lot more of them are cutting their hair shorter. And the other women (thirties and over) usually have armpit length or collar bone, some even shorter. The man regardless of age have really really short (scalp or shaved) and a rare few (like my brother) have shoulder length. Sadly there are very few people with longer hair than that here :(, oh well.

[Skade]

I would say that average around here is APL - BSL. But waist is quite common among young women too.

[xsampa]

The average length in my town seems to be SL-ish for women. There aren't any long-haired men in my town. Could someone please explain why SL-ish seems to be the societally acceptable length for women in Western countries?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

The average length in my town seems to be SL-ish for women. There aren't any long-haired men in my town. Could someone please explain why SL-ish seems to be the societally acceptable length for women in Western countries?

I guess we would all like to know the answer to that one....

[ladonna]

Long hair is very common where I live. I live on a culdesac and 3 of the 5 women have long hair, most of the little girls do to. I only see long haired women, the men are usually shaved with a full beard.

[wool]

Where i am if your high school/ college age its waist length and even longer for older women that have children or are professionals its more like shoulder and shorter

[Éowyn_GreyEyes]

Alberta, Canada...
School age to college age girls/young ladies is usually Shoulder to BSL. You see the odd WL to TB in high school and those ladies are more often than not Philippino, Indian, Hispanic, Asian or First Nations. Working age women is usually APL and shorter, again with the exceptions of all those ethnicities.

Most men have short cuts. Long on a guy is usually considered shoulder. I have only met or seen an average of four/five a year any longer than APL.

Moving to BC might be a change, but maybe not :P

[Éowyn_GreyEyes]

The average length in my town seems to be SL-ish for women. There aren't any long-haired men in my town. Could someone please explain why SL-ish seems to be the societally acceptable length for women in Western countries?

Ps. If someone can answer this question they would be a genius...

[Natalina]

I thought the same thing as the OP when I first joined LHC. Although I don't live anywhere near Vancouver, over here where I live having long is not considered all-that distinctive, and even if it did (to certain people) it's often perceived as something positive rather than negative.

Most people I see here have hair ranging from APL to Hip. That's why I don't think anything above "Hip" is considered "Long". Although lately I've been seeing quite a few girls/women with TBL to Classic hair, it's not every day but I do see them, and when I do, it makes me smile inside. :)

As expected though, most men here have short hair.

[chen bao jun]

Dropped my son off to college today--state school in the middle Atlantic. Amused myself while he and hubby unpacked by mentally measuring people's hair. The girl students mostly between APL and BSL. There were a couple past BSL, including one waistlength but they all had truly fried looking ends. The black girl students, mostly straightened APL, very thin and stretched looking. I saw a couple of naturals with buns or afro puffs. The black attendants, extensions to the waist. A couple of the students had braided extensions also, but it was not common in the group I saw pass by for about 1/2 hour. the moms, shoulder length was the longest. they mostly had bobs. I saw one pixie and one boycut afro on a mom.there was one young man with lovely wavy shoulder length hair and I saw two young women with 3a or 3b natural curls, have no idea what length they were, looked a little longer than shoulder, but could be much longer.
There was one young woman who might have had healthy long hair, she was a natural red head with a very thick braid that reached brastrap, I don't know how that would be loose. She looked as if she had wavy hair.
Oh--and the attendant who took the fee from us for room and board was a young black woman who had straightened hair that wow! looked healthy and thick and well cared for and was below her bra strap. Very nicely styled, she didn't have that "I'm stretching this to show every last 1/4 inch I have to the point that its thin with ragged ends that the other women with straightened black hair had.
I didn't really see any hair other than hers and the redheads which impressed me, spoiled by LHC as I am. the thing that struck me was, yes, I think the girls past bra strap could all have used haircuts, not for fairy tales ends or thin ends or anything but because the last 6 or 7 inches of their hair looked so unattractively worn out and fried. I think probably the young women were cutting off their hair at bra strap not because they don't like longer but because the flatironing, etc that they are doing kills their hair past that length and they would rather be shorter and look a bit healthier (knowing nothing about long hair care).

[DreamSheep]

I find Oxford is a city of extremes, and although perhaps the average might be APL to WL, there are loads of pixies and short cuts, but I have also seen quite frequently glorious, glorious long hair. :)

That said, I think I finally claim longest hair out of people closest to me (there was a girl in my college with beautiful classic length hair, but I think she's cut it just slightly shorter than my current length, probably on her way to grow it out again). :)

[LadyCelestina]

Where I live the common lengths are anything until about bcl or tbl.It's mostly high school girls though.Of course waist or something is already considered long.
The MOST common lengths are above BSL.

[Ingrid]

Where I live probably the average is somewhere between bob and BSL. The longer hair tends to be on middle- and highschool girls.

[battles]

Anywhere from shoulder to tailbone, really. Waist to tailbone is slightly more rare, but usually younger girls.

[peachyleshy]

Here in my area I see everything from pixies to waist length. The longer hair usually belonging to teenagers and younger women. Longer than waist is more uncommon.

[MJ1972]

The average length in my town seems to be SL-ish for women .... Could someone please explain why SL-ish seems to be the societally acceptable length for women in Western countries?

I don't think it has anything to do with it being societally acceptable. I suspect many women simply can't get beyond shoulder length. I know I couldn't, for many years. I know quite a few women with shoulder-length hair who'd love to have bra-strap-length hair, but they get a haircut every single time it gets beyond their shoulders because of split ends and all that. I think that's true for many women, especially once they hit their thirties and forties.

Where I live, many teenage girls have bra-strap length hair, but most mature women have shoulder-length hair. The older they get, the shorter the hair, generally.

[blace]

I see the whole spectrum as a hairstylist. Where I live (Dallas, TX, US area) it depends on age group as far as women are concerned.
As far as the younger women/teens (13-30), they are somewhere between SL and Waist. Older women feel that it's an obligation to have SL or shorter hair. Because it's apparently easier in the high summer temperatures.

Hair extensions are common.

[YvetteVarie]

Here, most women's hair ranges from shaved to SL. SL is actually what people call long, and anything beyond APL is considered extremely long. Most of the SL+ lengths I see are very unhealthy thanks to chemical damage (relaxers), over manipulation and wearing hair down all the time. The few people I see with healthy SL+ hair have dreadlocks. Most women wear weaves and wigs that are long (I saw a WL weave once). Men are normally shaved, and the few with long hair keep it in an afro or dreadlocks.

[Felix_D]

I live in a big North American city.

Teenage girls wear their hair down to their waist/butt. New moms cut their hair to a bob/long bob. Ladies in their 40s+ wear it in very short, extremely unflattering styles.

[LadyCelestina]

I don't think it has anything to do with it being societally acceptable. I suspect many women simply can't get beyond shoulder length. I know I couldn't, for many years. I know quite a few women with shoulder-length hair who'd love to have bra-strap-length hair, but they get a haircut every single time it gets beyond their shoulders because of split ends and all that. I think that's true for many women, especially once they hit their thirties and forties.

Where I live, many teenage girls have bra-strap length hair, but most mature women have shoulder-length hair. The older they get, the shorter the hair, generally.

imo,it's the same as with APL or BSL - long,but not overly long.It varies from place to place but most report 'long but not too long' lengths to be the most common.

[BroomHilda]

Lately I see lots of girls with very long and healthy hair, solid waist or longer. Young girls mostly, under 20 or 18. Is it like a new trend or smthin?

[emilia1992]

In London there's such a mixture (as would be expected). The girl sitting opposite me now has an almost-shoulder-length bob which is candyfloss pink! But on average I'd say women in their teens to mid twenties have round about APL, and those in suits (the 'city girls') have hair slightly shorter than this. Men usually have short hair, in a vast array of styles.

[FallingDarkness]

Here in Portland, OR at my particular school (which is unfortunately where I spend most of my time. Ew. High school sucks) I think that the average length is in-between APL to BSL. Anything past BSL is rare, and although there are some shorter cuts they are much less common.

[brickworld13]

Here in Portland, OR at my particular school (which is unfortunately where I spend most of my time. Ew. High school sucks) I think that the average length is in-between APL to BSL. Anything past BSL is rare, and although there are some shorter cuts they are much less common.

When I was in high school, some time ago, there were only two girls with hair past waist. Myself and a friend of mine. I cut mine to shoulder because of damage and never really heard any rude things about it either way. My friend on the other hand was the target of some very cruel bullying over her hair.

I work in an office of 45 people, but with only 6 women. Engineering is a very male dominated field. One of the ladies has platinum blonde straight hair that goes to about BSL. The others kept it short and fried with flat ironing and blow driers.

[fiðrildi]

Average length, APL. A lot of teens and young women seem to have waist-tailbone hair (extensions or not), but it's very rare to see classic, and extremely rare longer than that (never saw anyone having hair longer than classic). A lot of young people have very short hair, and 99% of people from 60 years and up wear their hair shorter than SL.

The vast majority of the women have dyed or chemically damaged manes. Most of the women dye their hair blonde at one point or another. It's not common to see long-haired men, but it's not rare, and often their manes are much, much healthier than those of women's.
Long hair is considered BSL-WL, very long WL-HL, and extremely long TBL and beyond. Shoulder length is considered long for men, but most of the long-haired men here have between APL and BSL hair.

[Savvyhorsez]

Most people in my small town have neck length to shoulder length hair, there are a couple of ladies in town that their hair is down to their hips, I am the only one that I know of that has much longer length of hair.

[Jennwith4]

I see a lot of waist - hip length. A few slightly longer.

[erizabesu]

On campus, many girls have hair in the APL to BSl range. I've seen a handful in the waist to hip range and maybe one or two at about tailbone. I've only seen one girl longer than classic, my friend who has thigh length hair.
Sadly, most of the long hair here tends to be dyed, fried, or otherwise damaged...

[ashke50]

In London there's such a mixture (as would be expected). The girl sitting opposite me now has an almost-shoulder-length bob which is candyfloss pink! But on average I'd say women in their teens to mid twenties have round about APL, and those in suits (the 'city girls') have hair slightly shorter than this. Men usually have short hair, in a vast array of styles.
There is indeed a mixture in London! Round where I work in central London it's mostly around BSL for women, or pixie/bob for older women. Usually loose, occasional bun with claw clips or similar, and some plaits in summer. Almost never see any LHC type hair toys. It's not too unusual to see really long hair though, and it doesn't get much attention - although not much does from Londoners. Round where I live there are a lot of Indian women who tend to have long (and thick!) hair, often worn in one plait down their back. Women of all ages have long hair, although I see more of the older women with hip+
When I lived in Camden I saw very long hair a lot, and it was usually loose and dyed fantastic colours!

Men usually have short back and sides type hair, but you do get the odd shoulder length or ponytail. Extremely unusual to see seriously long hair on guys, except in Camden.

[chen bao jun]

This is very very similar to African Americans. Except that there is quite a trend to natural hair in some areas now, especially more affluent/educated areas (college campuses and so forth). I don't see a lot of natural hair that isn't very short except on the internet, but it could be long and not appear to be long because of shrinkage. (or else people with long natural hair could be wearing it up--like I do lol). Usually though it looks to be somewhere around ear length. But it does look much healthier than the relaxed hair and MUCH nicer than the weaves.

Here, most women's hair ranges from shaved to SL. SL is actually what people call long, and anything beyond APL is considered extremely long. Most of the SL+ lengths I see are very unhealthy thanks to chemical damage (relaxers), over manipulation and wearing hair down all the time. The few people I see with healthy SL+ hair have dreadlocks. Most women wear weaves and wigs that are long (I saw a WL weave once). Men are normally shaved, and the few with long hair keep it in an afro or dreadlocks.

[Gertrude]

I work in Canary Wharf London at the moment and go on the Underground a lot, and here in the business district hair on women tends to be APL to BSL. Sometimes longer. Not many bobs at all, many older women have shoulder length hair. I do see Ficcares and steel hair sticks and some complex up dos too, so LHC style toys. Lots of top knots and it's been summer of the claw clips in the warmer weather.
Often on the underground every woman in the carriage has at least SL hair.

My daughter goes to school around here too, and in her time there, she's now nearly 7, every girl has at least a long bob but more usually SL to BSL with some with very long hair. My daughter believes girls and women have long hair and boys and men short hair, and it's hard to convince her that's not always the case.

[dvep]

Here in LA/OC, I would say the average for women is between pixie and APL. Of course, some girls are long haired but that tends to be outside the average.

[Frankenstein]

The hair in my town ranges anywhere from pixie cut to around BSL or waist usually. I don't see many people with hair past waist, but I'm starting to see more.

[vampyyri]

Shoulder to BSL, extremely rarely will you see someone with WL hair, and rarely is it healthy/unprocessed to high heaven.

[likelikepenny]

Pixie to maybe BSL. My best friend and I are the only ones with hair longer than waist.

[Obsidian]

I don't know if there is a average length around here, I see all different lengths. I suppose APL to waist is the most popular with a few really long haired woman (and a couple men) here and there. Pixie and bobs are the least common. In fact, the only person I can think of with a pixie is a cashier at the local grocery store.

[lithostoic]

Pixie to APL. Short cuts are very popular though there are people (mostly younger) with long hair.

[Garnetgem]

short pixies is the norm here,its rare to see anyone with hair past shoulder come to think of it even shoulder length is hardly seen..so to have long hair just past classic like mine turns heads people tend to stare..one time someone walked into a lamp post because she was so transfixed by my barnet!

[Totty]

Working in a public place in the north of the Netherlands. (Rural place)
Age 4 - 9 years most shoulder blades about 15-20 girls with longer hair.
12-18 years mostly shoulder blades hair, 25> waist to hip length
20-30year mostly to shoulders, some shoulder blades, a few waist
30-40 5 or 6 beyond waist, rest to shoulder or shorter mostly

[Mrstran]

What I've noticed here,

For Men:
Mostly somewhat ear length shag at any age. Very few with shaved heads or chin length +.

For Children:
All ages - SL to APL

For women:
Teens- APL to BSL
20's - APL to BSL
30's - APL to MBL
40's + 50's - SL to APL
60's + 70's - SL to APL
70's + 80's+ - pixie - CL

[marvel-lover]

Here, young girls usually have shoulder to hip length. Women in my age group (teens to mid-twenties) have their hair APL to waist, sometimes but rarely hip. You never really see classic. Ladies older than me have shorter hair, typically shorter than APL, and the older women generally have pixie cuts.

[Nettyx]

Depends on the age here (South England). I see the majority of teenagers & twenty-somethings with BSL to WL hair. 30s & 40s seems to be shoulder length to BSL with a smattering of crops and bobs. I thought it was all over the UK like a new trend but maybe it is just us by the sea.

[Kikyou]

In my hometown (rural, south-eastern Poland) it depends on age, young girls have it usually from shoulder to waist usually armpit or bra strap. Middle aged ladies from pixie to shoulder, older ladies usually some sort of short hairstyle, occasional ear lenghts.
In the city I lived in as a university student (180 000 population) it was pretty much the same, but less cases of hair longer than bra strap.
Now I'm living in UK (east midlands), and the average would be shoulder to armpit, with less differences between age groups. Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern ladies have some amazing, shiny long hair.

[Dark40]

Here in the USA:
Real Hair: MBL and to the bottoms.
Extensions: Waist Length and Hip Length.

[Kitteny]

In my part of the USA I live in a relatively small college town. The college girls tend to have hair between pixies and BSL, kids have a huge variety I'm not sure skews one way or another, and the older population has a wide variety as well. We have a sizeable population of certain religions that require no hair cutting, so I see quite a few classic or thigh lengths. Makes me jealous every time!

The weather here is very temperate with very cold winters, very hot humid summers, wet springs, and dry autumns... so I think that keeps it open for a lot of variety.

[Dendra]

Quite long. Longer than in London that's for sure. I regularly see girls and women with waist length hair, which is something of a rarity in the capital.

[Lavendersugar]

Bay Area to Sacramento
Mostly shoulder to arm pits
Once in a while I'll see middle of back to waist

[leayellena]

Bra strap is long and waist is holly effing o' Ma'am ga' extremely very super long!
People here don't talk about hair... They don't talk about other people in general - just as good! But the lengths described above are "the norm(al)". It's a rare moment to see someone who has hair longer than hip. I only saw one woman with thick knee length hair in an English braid. Updos are very rare. They wear their hair down or in ponytail. Braids are also somewhat rare...

[Wavybrunetteuk]

In my hometown it ranges between APL and MBL, I've never seen someone in my hometown with longer hair. Here in China is a different story, most girls have between APL and TBL hair.

[Wavybrunetteuk]

Depends on the age here (South England). I see the majority of teenagers & twenty-somethings with BSL to WL hair. 30s & 40s seems to be shoulder length to BSL with a smattering of crops and bobs. I thought it was all over the UK like a new trend but maybe it is just us by the sea.

Ooh honey, I am from the South West x it is similar with us.

[unheardletters]

Mostly pixies and bobs where I live. A few people with SL to BSL.

[Jas]

Ooh honey, I am from the South West x it is similar with us.

South West here too and agree with you both :P

[ErinEM]

I'd say here (outside of Toronto, Ontario), the average for women is between very short (what I think of, from the ubiquity of the length, as a "grown-woman haircut" XD) to bra-strap length, which would be considered long. Lots of bobbed hair and shoulder-length cuts. I started getting frequent comments on the length of my hair from about BSL onward. Now (I'm nearing tailbone) little girls sometimes get excited about how long my hair is and make Rapunzel comments or ask for tips. It makes me smile! However, another woman at my workplace has hair about the same length as mine, and through the course of a week I might spot a couple people with mid-back-length or hip-length hair. Any longer than that would be seen as exceptionally long.

[katydid317]

I see a lot of teenagers with waist length hair or maybe a bit longer, and a few of the younger girls at work have almost waist length or around was it length hair. Long hair seems popular with teens or 20 somethings, but I don't see older women with very long hair much. There is one other mom at my church with waist length hair around the same colour as mine. And I love it.

We do also have a large Mennonite population here and the women all do have long long hair but it's always up.

[diddiedaisy]

Ooh honey, I am from the South West x it is similar with us.

Yep, same in the north west haha

[Andthetalltrees]

Southern US here. I see A LOT of shoulder to hip on all age groups except the very oldest(Which are usually short and permed), Average is probably APL to BSL, However TBL isn't rare to find, or shorter than shoulder as well. I say mid-thigh+ is unusually long for me

[LizzyGrant]

Lately I've noticed more long (waist-tbl), very healthy looking, virgin colour hair especially on teenagers and young women. Anything past TBL is super rare though. But also a lot of not so healthy looking, coloured hair around SL-BSL on 20-40 years old women. Long bob is popular. Also in my town/country I think there are a lot of women with very thin and fine hair that just won't grow past shoulders, even if it's not constantly fried with heath and hair dyes. Women over 40 usually have short (pixie-shoulder) and not very flattering hair styles, thinned out with layers and hair dyes. Older women have short, maybe ear length permed hair styles that are usually grey, not coloured.

[Reyn127]

Where I live, outside of a small city in Northern California, I'd say the average is somewhere between BSL-Hip, for women. Averaging mostly around MBL. But really, I don't feel like my hair is exceptionally long at (just about) BCL, because there are lots of women, and even a good amount of men, with hair at least as long as mine, and I've seen a handful of knee-lengths as well. Also, long hair is popular with men around here, and if they don't have short hair, it tends to be anywhere in the growing out to about BSL range, though there are also a few guys that have REALLY long hair, like one of the town's like 8 bus drivers, who has dreads down to his thighs. Wow!

[Corvana]

I think that waist is pushing it, and general average is probably somewhere between APL and BSL. One of my best friends has WL, and we both know someone with ~TBL, but besides those two I don't see much longer than BSL.

[lisamt]

it really depends on the age here where I am. little kids have a very wide variety, girls my age usually have from shoulder to waist, some having longer or shorter. as they get older, they tend to cut their hair shorter and shorter.