Ideal Weight Calculator
Four clinical formulas and the healthy BMI range for your height, shown side by side, because no single number is the right answer.
Healthy weight range for your height
129 to 174 lb
BMI 18.5 to 24.9, the span most clinicians actually work from
Devine
–
1974, clinical standard
Robinson
–
1983, revised fit
Miller
–
1983, lowest estimate
Hamwi
–
1964, the original
Read the spread, not one number. These formulas disagree by 15 to 20 lb because each starts from a fixed weight at five feet and adds a fixed amount per inch. None of them can see your build. If you carry more muscle than average, all four will read low. Body fat percentage answers that question properly.
Ideal weight chart for men
All four formulas, plus the healthy BMI span, calculated for each height. Look across a row and you will see the disagreement for yourself.
| Height | Devine | Robinson | Miller | Hamwi | Healthy BMI range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5'2" | 120 | 123 | 130 | 118 | 101 to 136 lb |
| 5'4" | 131 | 131 | 136 | 130 | 108 to 145 lb |
| 5'6" | 141 | 140 | 143 | 142 | 115 to 154 lb |
| 5'8" | 151 | 148 | 149 | 153 | 122 to 164 lb |
| 5'10" | 161 | 157 | 155 | 165 | 129 to 174 lb |
| 6'0" | 171 | 165 | 161 | 177 | 136 to 184 lb |
| 6'2" | 181 | 173 | 167 | 189 | 144 to 194 lb |
| 6'4" | 191 | 182 | 174 | 201 | 152 to 205 lb |
All figures in pounds. Notice how the formulas spread apart at the tall end: at 6'4" they disagree by 27 lb.
Ideal weight chart for women
| Height | Devine | Robinson | Miller | Hamwi | Healthy BMI range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5'0" | 100 | 108 | 117 | 100 | 95 to 127 lb |
| 5'2" | 110 | 116 | 123 | 110 | 101 to 136 lb |
| 5'4" | 121 | 123 | 129 | 120 | 108 to 145 lb |
| 5'6" | 131 | 131 | 135 | 129 | 115 to 154 lb |
| 5'8" | 141 | 138 | 141 | 139 | 122 to 164 lb |
| 5'10" | 151 | 146 | 147 | 149 | 129 to 174 lb |
| 6'0" | 161 | 153 | 153 | 159 | 136 to 184 lb |
Below 5 feet the formulas run out of data and simply return their base weight, which is why you will not find shorter heights listed here. For anyone under 5'0", the BMI range is the more meaningful column.
Where these formulas came from
All four were written for medicine rather than for dieting. Hamwi (1964) was a rule of thumb for estimating insulin needs in diabetic patients. Devine (1974) was created to dose gentamicin, an antibiotic whose safe dose depends on lean mass rather than total weight, and it is still used for exactly that today. Robinson and Miller, both published in 1983, tried to refit the same idea to real population data.
Every one of them has the same shape: a base weight at five feet, plus a fixed increment for each inch above it. That structure explains why they diverge so much at the extremes, and why none of them can tell a heavily built person from a slight one of the same height.
Devine: men 50 kg + 2.3 kg/inch over 5ft, women 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg/inch
Robinson: men 52 kg + 1.9 kg/inch, women 49 kg + 1.7 kg/inch
Miller: men 56.2 kg + 1.41 kg/inch, women 53.1 kg + 1.36 kg/inch
Hamwi: men 48 kg + 2.7 kg/inch, women 45.5 kg + 2.2 kg/inch
Where these numbers go wrong
If you lift
A 5'10" man at 190 lb and 12% body fat is lean and healthy, and every formula on this page tells him to lose 30 lb. Muscle weighs the same as fat and behaves nothing like it.
If you are over 65
A slightly higher weight appears protective in older adults, and being underweight is the bigger risk. Preserving muscle matters far more than reaching a number.
If you have a large or small frame
Bone structure varies by roughly 10% either way. Clinicians used to adjust for it using wrist or elbow measurements. These formulas do not adjust at all.
If your ancestry differs from the source data
The formulas came from largely white Western populations. Health risk at a given BMI differs across ethnic groups, and several health authorities use lower thresholds for people of South Asian descent.
A better way to set a target
1. Start with 5 to 10%
Losing 5 to 10% of your body weight delivers most of the measurable benefit to blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol. At 200 lb that is 10 to 20 lb, which is reachable, and it is the point at which the health markers actually move.
2. Hold it before going further
Spending a few months at a new weight before continuing makes it far more likely to stick. Most regain happens because people go straight from a deficit back to how they used to eat, with no maintenance phase in between.
3. Track composition, not just weight
Body fat percentage, waist measurement and how your clothes fit all tell you more than the scale does, particularly if you are training. Someone can hold their weight steady for six months and change shape completely.
4. Work out the calories
Once you have a target, the calorie deficit calculator turns it into a daily number and a realistic timeline. A goal without a plan behind it tends to stay a goal.