How Much Should I Weigh for My Height? Healthy Weight Ranges for Adults, by Height
There is no single ideal weight for a given height. What health services give instead is a range: the weights that put an adult's body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9. This page explains where that range comes from, lists it for common heights in feet and inches and in centimetres, and sets out who it does not suit.
Where the range comes from
BMI is a simple ratio: weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. The World Health Organization defines overweight in adults as a BMI of 25 or more and obesity as a BMI of 30 or more, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the NHS use the same cut-offs, with a healthy weight running from 18.5 to just under 25. Turn the formula around and you get a weight range for any height: multiply your height in metres squared by 18.5 for the lower end and by 24.9 for the upper end.
Take someone who is 1.70 m tall. Their height squared is 2.89. Multiplied by 18.5 that gives 53.5 kg, and multiplied by 24.9 it gives 71.9 kg (after rounding inwards so that both ends stay inside the range). In pounds and inches the arithmetic is the same once the units are converted: 1 inch is 2.54 cm and 1 pound is 0.4536 kg. The calculator on our home page does this for any height, in either set of units.
The range is wide on purpose. For a person of 5 ft 10 in it spans more than 40 pounds. That width reflects how much bodies vary in frame, muscle and the way fat is distributed, and the fact that health risks do not jump suddenly at one particular number. The range describes where risks of weight-related conditions are lowest for adults as a group; it says much less about any one person.
Healthy weight range by height (feet and inches)
Each row shows the weights that give a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. Pounds are rounded to whole numbers and kilograms to one decimal place, rounded inwards.
| Height | About | Pounds | Kilograms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 ft 10 in | 147 cm | 89 to 119 lb | 40.2 to 54.0 kg |
| 4 ft 11 in | 150 cm | 92 to 123 lb | 41.6 to 55.9 kg |
| 5 ft 0 in | 152 cm | 95 to 127 lb | 43.0 to 57.8 kg |
| 5 ft 1 in | 155 cm | 98 to 131 lb | 44.5 to 59.7 kg |
| 5 ft 2 in | 157 cm | 102 to 136 lb | 45.9 to 61.7 kg |
| 5 ft 3 in | 160 cm | 105 to 140 lb | 47.4 to 63.7 kg |
| 5 ft 4 in | 163 cm | 108 to 145 lb | 48.9 to 65.8 kg |
| 5 ft 5 in | 165 cm | 112 to 149 lb | 50.5 to 67.8 kg |
| 5 ft 6 in | 168 cm | 115 to 154 lb | 52.0 to 69.9 kg |
| 5 ft 7 in | 170 cm | 119 to 158 lb | 53.6 to 72.1 kg |
| 5 ft 8 in | 173 cm | 122 to 163 lb | 55.2 to 74.2 kg |
| 5 ft 9 in | 175 cm | 126 to 168 lb | 56.9 to 76.4 kg |
| 5 ft 10 in | 178 cm | 129 to 173 lb | 58.5 to 78.7 kg |
| 5 ft 11 in | 180 cm | 133 to 178 lb | 60.2 to 80.9 kg |
| 6 ft 0 in | 183 cm | 137 to 183 lb | 61.9 to 83.2 kg |
| 6 ft 1 in | 185 cm | 141 to 188 lb | 63.6 to 85.6 kg |
| 6 ft 2 in | 188 cm | 145 to 193 lb | 65.4 to 87.9 kg |
| 6 ft 3 in | 191 cm | 149 to 199 lb | 67.2 to 90.3 kg |
| 6 ft 4 in | 193 cm | 152 to 204 lb | 69.0 to 92.7 kg |
| 6 ft 5 in | 196 cm | 157 to 209 lb | 70.8 to 95.2 kg |
| 6 ft 6 in | 198 cm | 161 to 215 lb | 72.7 to 97.7 kg |
Healthy weight range by height (centimetres)
| Height | Kilograms |
|---|---|
| 150 cm | 41.7 to 56.0 kg |
| 155 cm | 44.5 to 59.8 kg |
| 160 cm | 47.4 to 63.7 kg |
| 165 cm | 50.4 to 67.7 kg |
| 170 cm | 53.5 to 71.9 kg |
| 175 cm | 56.7 to 76.2 kg |
| 180 cm | 60.0 to 80.6 kg |
| 185 cm | 63.4 to 85.2 kg |
| 190 cm | 66.8 to 89.8 kg |
| 195 cm | 70.4 to 94.6 kg |
Is the range different for women and men?
For adults, no. The WHO, CDC and NHS adult categories are the same for both sexes, so the healthy weight range at a given height is identical. Older height-and-weight charts sometimes gave separate figures for men and women, or for "small", "medium" and "large" frames, but the BMI-based range that health services use today does not. Sex does matter for children and teenagers, whose BMI is compared with others of the same age and sex; that is explained in our guide to BMI for children and teens.
Women and men do tend to carry fat differently, and on average men carry more around the abdomen. That is one reason why a waist measurement is a useful addition to BMI: see waist-to-height ratio.
When the range needs care, or does not apply
- Children and teenagers. They are still growing, so adult cut-offs are not used. BMI is compared with growth references for the same age and sex, as a percentile.
- Pregnancy. BMI calculators are not designed for use during pregnancy; the NHS adult BMI calculator, for example, asks pregnant women not to use it. Midwives and doctors use other guidance.
- Very muscular people. Muscle is dense, so athletes and people who do a lot of strength training can have a BMI above 25 without much body fat. The NHS notes that BMI cannot tell the difference between muscle and fat.
- Adults aged 65 and over. NICE, which writes clinical guidance for England, advises interpreting BMI with caution at this age, taking account of other health conditions and the possible protective effect of a slightly higher BMI in later life.
- Some ethnic groups. People with a South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean background tend to carry more fat around the middle, and health risks start at a lower BMI. NICE recommends treating a BMI of 23 to 27.4 as overweight and 27.5 or more as obesity for these groups. The healthy range at 170 cm then becomes 53.5 to 66.1 kg. Our page on adult BMI categories goes into the detail.
- Conditions that affect height. The NHS also excludes people with a condition that affects their height, since the formula depends on it.
How to use the range sensibly
A range is a starting point for a conversation, not a verdict. If your weight sits inside it, that is reassuring, but it does not rule out other risks, such as high blood pressure or a large waist. If your weight sits outside it, that is a prompt to look at the wider picture with a health professional, who can consider your waist size, blood pressure, blood tests, family history, activity and how you feel.
Weight also changes slowly and naturally over a lifetime, and it fluctuates from day to day with fluid and food. A single reading on a bathroom scale is a rough measure. If you weigh yourself, the same scale, at the same time of day, gives more consistent figures.
Finally, if numbers about weight make you anxious, or you have, or think you may have, an eating disorder, a calculator is not the right tool. The NHS asks people in that situation not to use its BMI calculator and to speak to a GP instead. Our wider take on what a healthy weight means is in what is a healthy weight?
Sources
- World Health Organization, "Obesity and overweight" fact sheet: adult definitions (overweight: BMI of 25 or more; obesity: 30 or more) and the BMI formula.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Adult BMI Categories": healthy weight 18.5 to less than 25; obesity classes 1 to 3.
- NHS, "Calculate your body mass index (BMI) for adults": worked example, who should not use the tool, muscle and fat.
- NICE guideline NG246, "Overweight and obesity management" (2025, updated 2026), recommendations 1.9.10 to 1.9.13: adult classification, lower thresholds for some ethnic groups, caution with high muscle mass and after 65.
Healthy weight & BMIWhat is a healthy weight?
Why health services use BMI to describe a healthy weight, what it misses, which other measures help and what affects weight beyond food and exercise.
Healthy weight & BMIAdult BMI categories explained
Underweight, healthy weight, overweight and the three obesity classes, the lower NICE thresholds for some ethnic groups, and how to read your number.
Healthy weight & BMIWaist-to-height ratio
Keep your waist to less than half your height: how to measure, how to calculate the ratio and what the NICE bands mean.