A sensible number — not a verdict
Have you ever wondered what number on the scale is actually “normal” for your height? An ideal body weight calculator answers exactly that. It takes your height and sex, runs three well-known clinical formulas — Devine, Robinson, and Miller — and shows you the weight range where all three agree, so you get a sensible guideline instead of a single opinionated number.
Use it as a starting point, not a verdict. Enter your height and gender below to see your ideal weight range in seconds — privately, in your browser, with nothing uploaded.
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Ideal weight formulas are estimates, not medical advice. They use height and sex only — they do not account for muscle mass, bone density, body frame, age, or ethnicity. For a personal target, check your BMI and talk with a healthcare professional.
How to Use This Calculator
- Pick your unit system. Use the US Units toggle for feet, inches, and pounds, or switch to Metric for centimeters and kilograms.
- Enter your height. In US mode, type your feet and inches (or drag the slider). In Metric mode, type your height in centimeters.
- Select your gender. The three formulas are sex-specific — men and women have different base weights — so choose the option that applies.
- Click "Calculate Ideal Weight." The calculator instantly shows your average ideal weight, the spread across all three formulas, each formula's individual result, and your healthy weight range based on a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9.
What Is Ideal Body Weight?
Ideal body weight (IBW) is an estimated weight associated with the lowest health risk for a given height and sex. It is not about appearance or clothing size; it is a clinical concept that has been used in hospitals for decades, originally to calculate safe drug dosages.
The key thing to understand is that "ideal" is really a small range, not one magic number. Height and sex alone cannot capture your muscle mass, bone density, body frame, age, or ethnicity — all of which move your personal healthy weight up or down. That is why this calculator shows three formulas at once: when Devine, Robinson, and Miller all point to a similar zone, you can treat that zone as a reasonable guideline, not a rule.
The Formulas + Worked Example
All three formulas work the same way: they start from a base weight for someone 5 feet tall, then add a fixed amount for every inch above 5 feet.
Robinson (1983): Men: 52 kg + 1.9 kg per inch over 5 ft · Women: 49 kg + 1.7 kg per inch over 5 ft
Miller (1983): Men: 56.2 kg + 1.41 kg per inch over 5 ft · Women: 53.1 kg + 1.36 kg per inch over 5 ft
Worked example: A woman who is 5 feet 6 inches tall (6 inches over 5 feet):
- Devine: 45.5 + (2.3 × 6) = 59.3 kg (130.7 lbs)
- Robinson: 49 + (1.7 × 6) = 59.2 kg (130.5 lbs)
- Miller: 53.1 + (1.36 × 6) = 61.26 kg (135.1 lbs)
The average is 59.9 kg (132.1 lbs), and the three formulas span 59.2–61.3 kg. Notice how close Devine and Robinson land — that agreement is exactly what makes the range trustworthy as a guideline.
Ideal Weight Chart
Prefer a quick lookup? Each value below is the average of the three formulas for that height. Treat each number as the center of a small zone — your realistic target is anywhere within a few pounds of it, not the number itself.
| Height | Men (avg of 3 formulas) | Women (avg of 3 formulas) |
|---|---|---|
| 5'0" | 52.7 kg (116.2 lbs) | 49.2 kg (108.5 lbs) |
| 5'2" | 56.5 kg (124.6 lbs) | 52.8 kg (116.4 lbs) |
| 5'4" | 60.2 kg (132.7 lbs) | 56.3 kg (124.1 lbs) |
| 5'6" | 64.0 kg (141.1 lbs) | 59.9 kg (132.1 lbs) |
| 5'8" | 67.7 kg (149.3 lbs) | 63.5 kg (140.0 lbs) |
| 5'10" | 71.4 kg (157.4 lbs) | 67.1 kg (147.9 lbs) |
| 6'0" | 75.2 kg (165.8 lbs) | 70.6 kg (155.6 lbs) |
| 6'2" | 78.9 kg (173.9 lbs) | 74.2 kg (163.6 lbs) |
| 6'4" | 82.7 kg (182.3 lbs) | 77.8 kg (171.5 lbs) |
Your height falls between two rows? The calculator above gives your exact numbers for any height — down to the centimeter.
Limitations of Ideal Weight Formulas
Honesty matters here, so let's be clear about what these formulas cannot do:
- They cannot see your muscle. A strength athlete at 6'0" and 190 lbs can be far healthier than the chart's 165.8 lbs suggests — the equations only know height and sex.
- They ignore body frame. Two women at 5'6" with different bone structure and muscle distribution can have healthy weights several kilograms apart.
- They do not account for age. Body composition shifts over the decades; a formula value is age-blind.
- They lose reliability at the extremes — for people well under 5 feet or well over 6 and a half feet tall.
- Not for children. These formulas were developed for adults; pediatric healthy weight is assessed with age- and sex-specific growth charts by a healthcare professional.
- A guideline, not a diagnosis. Falling outside the zone does not mean you are unhealthy, and landing inside it does not guarantee you are.
Tips for Using Your Ideal Weight Wisely
- Aim for the band, not a point. If the formulas span 59–61 kg, treat the whole zone as "on target" — day-to-day weight naturally fluctuates within a few pounds.
- Compare with your BMI. Your ideal weight range and your BMI-based healthy range should roughly overlap.
- Check body composition too. Pair the result with a body fat check — muscle gained through strength training legitimately raises your healthy weight.
- Weigh under consistent conditions. Morning, after the bathroom, before breakfast gives the most comparable readings from day to day.
- Decide on direction, not precision. If you're well above the band, a slow, sustainable downward trend is the goal — not hitting one magic number by Friday.
- Treat the result as a conversation starter. If your actual weight sits far outside the band, talk to a healthcare professional rather than chasing the number alone.
Related Tools
Frame Size and Adjusted Body Weight
The four formulas assume an average frame — adjust the result to your build. The common rule of thumb is plus or minus 10 percent: aim toward the lower end if you are small-framed and toward the higher end if you are large-framed. A quick self-check is the wrist test: wrap your thumb and middle finger around your wrist — overlap suggests a small frame, just touching a medium frame, and a gap a large frame.
For example, a woman who is 5'4" has a Devine ideal weight of 45.5 + 2.3 × 4 = 54.7 kg. Her frame-adjusted band runs from about 49.2 kg to about 60.2 kg.
Clinicians also use adjusted body weight for drug dosing and nutrition when a person's actual weight is far above ideal — roughly 120 percent of it or more:
For the same woman at an actual weight of 80 kg: ABW = 54.7 + 0.4 × (80 − 54.7) = 54.7 + 10.12 = 64.8 kg. That number guides clinicians, not personal targets.