How Much Should I Weigh for My Height? Chart and Usual Range

For adults, how much you should weigh at your height is a range. The range is a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9, which is 107.8–145.0 lb (48.9–65.8 kg) at 5’4”. The World Health Organization applies it to women and men alike. Type your own height into the ideal weight calculator, or find your row in the chart below.

Height and weight chart: the usual range for every inch

The whole chart comes from one formula. Weight in kilograms equals BMI times height in meters squared, and the WHO adult range runs from 18.5 to 24.9. Take 5’4”, which is 1.6256 m. Squared, that is 2.6426. The low end is 2.6426 × 18.5 = 48.9 kg, and the high end is 2.6426 × 24.9 = 65.8 kg. I round the low end up and the high end down to 0.1, which keeps every number in the table inside the range. Each row comes from the formula, not from a printed table. You can check any of them by hand.

Height	cm	Usual range, lb	Usual range, kg
4’10”	147	88.6–119.1 lb	40.2–54.0 kg
4’11”	150	91.6–123.2 lb	41.6–55.9 kg
5’0”	152	94.8–127.4 lb	43.0–57.8 kg
5’1”	155	98.0–131.7 lb	44.5–59.7 kg
5’2”	157	101.2–136.1 lb	45.9–61.7 kg
5’3”	160	104.5–140.5 lb	47.4–63.7 kg
5’4”	163	107.8–145.0 lb	48.9–65.8 kg
5’5”	165	111.2–149.6 lb	50.5–67.8 kg
5’6”	168	114.7–154.2 lb	52.0–69.9 kg
5’7”	170	118.2–158.9 lb	53.6–72.1 kg
5’8”	173	121.7–163.7 lb	55.2–74.2 kg
5’9”	175	125.3–168.6 lb	56.9–76.4 kg
5’10”	178	129.0–173.5 lb	58.5–78.7 kg
5’11”	180	132.7–178.5 lb	60.2–80.9 kg
6’0”	183	136.5–183.5 lb	61.9–83.2 kg
6’1”	185	140.3–188.7 lb	63.7–85.6 kg
6’2”	188	144.1–193.9 lb	65.4–87.9 kg
6’3”	191	148.1–199.2 lb	67.2–90.3 kg
6’4”	193	152.0–204.5 lb	69.0–92.7 kg
6’5”	196	156.1–209.9 lb	70.8–95.2 kg
6’6”	198	160.1–215.4 lb	72.7–97.7 kg

Not standing at a whole inch? Between 5’4” and 5’5” the low end climbs from 107.8 to 111.2 lb, and the high end from 145.0 to 149.6 lb. Half an inch? Take half of each step. Or calculate the range for your own height in kilograms or pounds. Measure your height barefoot against a wall, round to the nearest inch, and read across.

The rows are wide on purpose. The top of every row is about 35% heavier than the bottom, because 24.9 is 35% above 18.5. At 5’6” that gap is 39.5 lb. Two adults of the same height can sit 40 lb apart and share a row, and neither is closer to a “right” number than the other.

Quick answers for the heights people ask about most

These seven rows come straight from the WHO range in the chart above.

• 5’2”: 101.2–136.1 lb (45.9–61.7 kg)
• 5’4”: 107.8–145.0 lb (48.9–65.8 kg)
• 5’5”: 111.2–149.6 lb (50.5–67.8 kg)
• 5’6”: 114.7–154.2 lb (52.0–69.9 kg)
• 5’7”: 118.2–158.9 lb (53.6–72.1 kg)
• 5’9”: 125.3–168.6 lb (56.9–76.4 kg)
• 6’0”: 136.5–183.5 lb (61.9–83.2 kg)

Someone at 5’6” who weighs 120 lb and someone at 5’6” who weighs 150 lb are in the same row. Where you sit inside it says less than how your own weight moves over several weeks. I weigh myself three mornings a week on the same scale and ignore any single reading.

How much should I weigh as a woman or a man, and does age change it?

The same at a given height. BMI is built from height and weight alone, so it has no term for sex. The WHO says its adult values “are the same for both genders” and “age-independent for adult populations” (WHO). A woman and a man who are both 5’9” get 125.3–168.6 lb. The two differ in body composition and calorie needs. A weight chart can’t see either one. I started this chart expecting two columns, one for women and one for men. The formula only ever needed one.

Searches add “by age,” so here is the adult answer: one table for every adult. A 25-year-old and a 55-year-old at 5’6” both read 114.7–154.2 lb. The chart is for adults only, so it is not the right tool for anyone under 18.

Adults need three short steps. Find your row, write down both ends, and compare your weight with that span.

What is the usual BMI range, and where does BMI get it wrong?

The usual range for adults is a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9, and it’s identical for women and men (WHO). Your own BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared. Working in pounds and inches? Multiply your weight by 703, then divide by your height in inches squared. Take 150 lb at 5’6”, which is 66 inches: 150 × 703 ÷ 4,356 = 24.2, inside the range.

That is the whole formula, and every miss below comes from it. BMI sees two numbers and nothing else.

Muscle is the first miss. BMI can’t tell muscle from fat. Someone who lifts four days a week can sit above the range with little fat to spare.

Background is the second miss. A WHO expert consultation in 2004 looked at Asian populations. It found that the share at high risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease was substantial. It named 23.0 as a potential public health action point. At 5’4”, BMI 23 is 60.8 kg (134.0 lb), against 65.8 kg (145.0 lb) at 24.9. The consultation kept the WHO cut-offs as the international classification. It set no new ones for each population, which is why the chart above still uses 18.5 to 24.9.

Age is the third miss. The NICE guideline NG246 tells clinicians to read BMI with caution from 65 on, and in people with a lot of muscle. It also adds a second measure that needs only a tape: your waist divided by your height. Under 0.5 sits in its lowest band, and NICE uses the same bands for women and men of every background, as long as BMI is under 35. Its own worked example is a 38-inch waist at 5’7”, which gives 0.57.

What is my ideal weight, and how do you calculate ideal body weight?

Ideal body weight is a height-based estimate that exists mainly to dose drugs, so it isn’t a goal. The best-known version is the Devine formula. Robinson, Miller and Hamwi wrote close variations. A 2000 review in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy found that the pharmacokinetics of certain drugs correlated with ideal body weight. That finding led to the use of Devine’s equations. The formulas were derived from height-weight tables, and those tables broadly agree with one another, which is why the four results sit close together.

The Devine formula gives men 50 kg plus 2.3 kg for every inch over 5 feet. For women it is 45.5 kg plus 2.3 kg per inch, and one paper lists it beside the other three. A woman at 5’4” is 4 inches over, so 45.5 + 2.3 × 4 = 54.7 kg (120.6 lb).

A woman at 5’4” can run all four. Hamwi gives 54.3 kg, Devine 54.7 kg, Robinson 55.8 kg and Miller 58.5 kg. That is a spread of 4.2 kg between four formulas, set against 16.9 kg between the two ends of her row in the chart.

Height	Devine, woman (kg)	Devine, man (kg)	Usual range (kg)
5’0”	45.5	50.0	43.0–57.8
5’4”	54.7	59.2	48.9–65.8
5’8”	63.9	68.4	55.2–74.2
6’0”	73.1	77.6	61.9–83.2

Devine lands inside the usual range at all four heights, for women and for men. The formula returns one number, and the chart returns the span that number lives in. I use the chart. A span tells you more than a figure that changes with the formula you pick. If a pharmacist or doctor asks for your ideal body weight, that is a dose calculation and has nothing to do with a goal.

How much weight is safe to lose in a month, and when will I reach my goal weight?

The CDC calls a pace of about 1 to 2 lb (0.5–0.9 kg) a week gradual and steady, and over four weeks that comes to 4 to 8 lb (1.8–3.6 kg). People who lose at that pace are more likely to keep the weight off than people who lose faster, according to the CDC. My own default sits at the low end: 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) a week, about 2 kg (4.4 lb) in a month.

I also set a ceiling of my own: 1% of body weight a week. For a 70 kg adult, that is 0.7 kg, and I wouldn’t plan anything faster.

Pregnancy changes the answer. So do breastfeeding, being under 18 and any medical condition, because a clinician sets the pace in those cases and no chart does. All of this applies only when your goal is below your weight today. If you’re inside your row of the chart, there is no gap to close, and holding steady is a complete plan. A goal below the low end of your row, the weight at BMI 18.5 for your height, isn’t one I’d set.

To estimate when you’ll get there, divide the kilograms to lose by the weekly pace. Say 6 kg at 0.5 kg a week: 12 weeks on paper. Treat that as a plan to check, not a date, because real weight rarely follows a straight line. Weigh yourself three mornings a week. Average each week, and compare two weeks of averages with the plan. Behind the plan? The plan needs a second look before you do.

A calendar month holds four or five weigh-in weeks, so the monthly total is just the weekly pace times four or five. Losing faster than the ceiling? Eat more, and let the scale slow down. Speed isn’t a score, and a pace you can hold beats a fast one you can’t.

The calorie calculator turns a weekly pace into daily calories. It uses your age, height, weight and activity. How many calories to eat to lose weight shows the arithmetic behind it.

How do I stay at my weight, or gain toward the range?

Staying put means eating your maintenance calories, the amount at which your weight holds steady across weeks. How many calories to maintain weight walks through the equation. If you’re already inside your row, this is the whole job: log your food, weigh in, and adjust when the two-week trend drifts.

If you’re below the low end of your row and want to gain, you need a surplus, which means calories above maintenance. A calorie surplus to gain weight covers how large it should be and how to check it. A weight below the range can have causes that no calculator sees, so a doctor is the right first stop.

Say you’re a few pounds under the low end of the 5’4” row. The gap is small. A modest surplus held for several weeks can close it. If the weight dropped without you trying, see a doctor first. Unplanned loss is a reason to ask, not a number to fix. Once you’ve gained, check your row again and let the two-week trend decide what comes next.

Calsa sets its lowest goal weight at a BMI of 18.5 for your height, and it puts no upper limit on a goal.

Open the usual range for your height and write down both ends of it.

A weight chart answers one question, and it answers it with a span. Pick your row. Hold it up against the trend of your own weigh-ins, and use the range as a reference point instead of a verdict. The number on the scale will move from one morning to the next on its own.