Use jQuery's innerHeight function to get the calculated height of an element, sans border and margin.
var height = $('#myElement').innerHeight();
**Edit:**
Use jQuery's outerHeight function to get the calculated height of an element, including padding, border and optionally the margin.
//without margin
var height = $('#myElement').outerHeight();
//with margin
var height = $('#myElement').outerHeight(true);
**Edit 2:**
You may also compare these results with native Javascript.
var el = document.getElementById('myElement');
var height = el.offsetHeight;