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Ideal weight calculator

Four classic ideal-body-weight formulas and the BMI healthy range side by side, checked against your current weight, with a note on why muscle changes the picture.

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1 About you

Sex
Height
cm
ft
in
kg

Formulas vs your weight

Formula estimateYour current weight

Reference Weight

—
Formula average–
kg
Devine (1974)–
Robinson (1983)–
Miller (1983)–
Hamwi (1964)–
BMI 18.5–24.9 range–
You vs formula average–

These equations were built for drug dosing in average-build adults. They ignore muscle mass, so treat them as a loose reference.

Check body fat → Plan a cut

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The formulas

All four equations share the same structure: a base weight for a height of 5 ft (152.4 cm), plus a fixed amount for every inch above it.

Men Women Devine 50.0 kg + 2.3 kg/inch 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg/inch Robinson 52.0 kg + 1.9 kg/inch 49.0 kg + 1.7 kg/inch Miller 56.2 kg + 1.41 kg/inch 53.1 kg + 1.36 kg/inch Hamwi 48.0 kg + 2.7 kg/inch 45.5 kg + 2.2 kg/inch (inches above 5 ft = height(cm) / 2.54 − 60)

Where these numbers come from

As Pai and Paloucek (2000) documented, the Devine equation appeared almost in passing in a 1974 article on dosing an antibiotic. It was never validated as a health target. Robinson and Miller later re-derived similar equations from life-insurance height–weight tables.

A better question for lifters

If you train, the more useful question is "what body-fat range do I want, and how much lean mass do I have?" A 90 kg lifter at 12% body fat and a 90 kg sedentary person at 30% have very different bodies. The body fat and FFMI calculators will help you answer it.

Frequently asked questions

What is my ideal weight?

There isn't a single ideal weight. The formulas on this page were created to estimate drug doses in hospitals, and they give a reference weight for an average build. A healthy weight for you depends on body composition, frame size, health markers, and how you feel and perform.

Which ideal weight formula is best?

None is clearly best. Devine (1974) is the most widely used in clinical settings; Robinson and Miller (both 1983) were proposed as refinements. Looking at several of them alongside the BMI healthy range gives you a more realistic band than any one number.

Do these formulas work for bodybuilders?

Not well. They don't account for muscle mass, so muscular people often weigh far more than their "ideal" weight while being lean. Lifters are better off looking at body-fat percentage and FFMI.

Why do the formulas start at 5 feet?

They were designed as "a base weight at 5 ft plus a fixed amount per inch above it". Below 5 ft (152 cm) they become unreliable, so this calculator simply uses the base weight.

Sources & further reading

  1. Devine BJ (1974). Gentamicin therapy . Drug Intell Clin Pharm 8:650–655
  2. Robinson JD, Lupkiewicz SM, Palenik L, Lopez LM, Ariet M (1983). Determination of ideal body weight for drug dosage calculations . Am J Hosp Pharm 40(6):1016–1019
  3. Miller DR, Carlson JD, Loyd BJ, Day BJ (1983). Determining ideal body weight (and mass) . Am J Hosp Pharm 40(10):1622–1625
  4. Pai MP, Paloucek FP (2000). The origin of the "ideal" body weight equations . Ann Pharmacother 34(9):1066–1069 · doi:10.1345/aph.19381