What Is the Standard Size of a Dinner Plate?

By Staff WriterLast Updated December 11, 2023

The modern dinner plate measures between 10 and 11 inches in diameter. The dinner plate is used more frequently than any other plate, holding the main course for each meal, no matter how formal.

The modern dinner plate reflects an increase in size by approximately 23 percent since 1900, when the average dinner plate measured a little over 9 inches in diameter. The increased size in dinner plates has led to larger portion sizes, which is a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic affecting many in the West. Even a plate size from the 1950s, when the average diameter was just under 10 inches, would reflect a healthy change over the larger plates of today.