Most people have a vague idea of what they “should” weigh, but vague ideas make poor goals. An ideal weight chart turns that guesswork into a concrete reference: find your height, find your sex, and read off the weight zone where three classic clinical formulas — Devine, Robinson, and Miller — agree. For a personalized result at your exact height, try our free Ideal Body Weight Calculator, which computes all three formulas instantly.
How to Read This Chart
The chart below lists heights from 5 feet to 6 feet 4 inches. For each height, the number shown is the average of the three formulas, in both kilograms and pounds. Think of each value as the center of a small zone: your healthy target is anywhere within a few pounds of that number, not the number itself.
Example: A woman who is 5’6″ sees 59.9 kg (132.1 lbs). In practice, anywhere from roughly 130 to 134 lbs sits comfortably in the ideal zone for her height.
The Ideal Weight Chart
| Height | Men (average of 3 formulas) | Women (average 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 Ideal Body Weight Calculator gives your exact numbers for any height — down to the centimeter.
How These Numbers Are Calculated
Every figure in the chart is derived from the same three equations, then averaged:
- Devine (1974) — Men: 50 kg + 2.3 kg per inch over 5 ft; Women: 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg per inch over 5 ft. The most widely used formula in clinical practice, originally developed for drug dosage calculations.
- Robinson (1983) — Men: 52 kg + 1.9 kg per inch over 5 ft; Women: 49 kg + 1.7 kg per inch over 5 ft. A refinement with a gentler per-inch slope.
- 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. The flattest of the three, designed to compress estimates at extreme heights.
At average heights the three formulas agree within about 2–3 kg, which is exactly why their average makes a trustworthy chart value. At taller heights the spread widens — Devine runs highest for men because of its steep 2.3 kg per-inch slope, while Miller runs lowest.
A quick check you can do yourself: for a 5’10” man, the formulas give Devine 73.0 kg, Robinson 71.0 kg, and Miller 70.3 kg. The average is 71.4 kg — the number in the chart.
Why Charts Use Formulas Instead of “Looking It Up”
You might wonder why anyone needs formulas when you could just weigh thousands of healthy people and publish the averages. In fact, that approach exists — the classic Metropolitan Life insurance tables of the mid-20th century did exactly that. But those tables came with problems: they were based on policyholder data (not a random population), they grouped people into small/medium/large “frames” that were never precisely defined, and they never fully separated the effects of muscle from fat.
Formulas like Devine, Robinson, and Miller won out in practice because they are transparent, reproducible, and simple: two inputs, one equation, no mystery. Anyone can verify them, which is why hospitals still teach them. Charts like this one simply pre-compute the formulas so you don’t have to.
Where Ideal Weight Charts Fall Short
Honesty matters here, so let’s be clear about what a chart cannot do:
- It 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 formulas only know height and sex.
- It ignores body frame. Two women at 5’6″ with different bone structure and muscle distribution can have healthy weights several kilograms apart.
- It does not account for age. Body composition shifts over the decades; a chart value is age-blind.
- It is a guideline, not a diagnosis. Falling outside the zone does not mean you are unhealthy, and landing inside it does not guarantee you are.
That is why the chart works best as one data point among several. Check where your current weight sits with our BMI Calculator, look at body composition with our Body Fat Percentage Calculator, and use our BMR Calculator to understand your calorie baseline. Together, they tell a fuller story than any chart alone.
Putting the Chart to Work
Here is a practical way to use these numbers without obsessing over them:
- Find your zone. Locate your height in the chart above and note the average — that’s your starting reference.
- Give yourself a band. Add and subtract about 3–5 lbs around the average. That whole band is your realistic target area.
- Compare with your actual weight. Weigh yourself under consistent conditions (morning, before breakfast) a few times across a week.
- 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.
- Recheck the full picture. As weight changes, re-run the BMI and body fat calculators. Muscle gained through training legitimately raises your healthy weight.
The Bottom Line
An ideal weight chart is not a verdict on your body — it is a starting line drawn from decades-old clinical formulas. Find your height, note the zone, and use it as one input among several when setting health goals. And whenever you want the exact numbers for your precise height instead of the nearest row, the Ideal Body Weight Calculator is one click away.
Try Our Free Calculators
Put this guide into practice with our free tools: Bmi Calculator, Body Fat Percentage Calculator, Calorie Calculator.