An ideal weight calculator estimates a reference body weight from your height and sex using established clinical formulas such as Devine, Robinson, Miller and Hamwi. It is worth knowing what these formulas actually are: they were built for clinical dosing and population reference, not as personal goals. The number they produce is a rough midpoint, useful as context, and it says nothing about your muscle mass, frame or health.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter your height and sex.These are the only inputs the classic formulas use, which is itself an indication of how broad the estimate is.
Compare the formula results.You will see several figures rather than one. The spread between them is the honest picture: there is no single ideal weight.
Read the range, not the number.Treat the results as a band of reasonable weights for your height, and interpret it alongside how you feel, move and function.
The Four Classic Formulas
Each formula sets a base weight at five feet of height and adds a fixed amount for every inch above that. They differ only in their constants, which reflects the different populations and decades they came from.
Devine (1974): Men 50.0 kg + 2.3 kg per inch over 5 ft | Women 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg per inch Robinson (1983): Men 52.0 kg + 1.9 kg per inch | Women 49.0 kg + 1.7 kg per inch Miller (1983): Men 56.2 kg + 1.41 kg per inch | Women 53.1 kg + 1.36 kg per inch Hamwi (1964): Men 48.0 kg + 2.7 kg per inch | Women 45.5 kg + 2.2 kg per inch
Worked Example
A woman of 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm)
Step 1: Find the inches above five feet
5 ft 6 in - 5 ft 0 in = 6 inches
Step 2: Apply each formula
Devine: 45.5 + (2.3 x 6) = 59.3 kg (131 lb)
Robinson: 49.0 + (1.7 x 6) = 59.2 kg (131 lb)
Miller: 53.1 + (1.36 x 6) = 61.3 kg (135 lb)
Hamwi: 45.5 + (2.2 x 6) = 58.7 kg (129 lb)
The four formulas span 58.7 to 61.3 kg — a range of about 2.6 kg, which is the useful answer
Reference Weights by Height
The table below uses the Devine formula, the most commonly cited of the four. Read each figure as the middle of a range rather than a target.
Height
Men (Devine)
Women (Devine)
5 ft 0 in (152 cm)
50.0 kg / 110 lb
45.5 kg / 100 lb
5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
59.2 kg / 131 lb
54.7 kg / 121 lb
5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
68.4 kg / 151 lb
63.9 kg / 141 lb
6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
77.6 kg / 171 lb
73.1 kg / 161 lb
6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
86.8 kg / 191 lb
82.3 kg / 181 lb
What These Formulas Cannot Tell You
The Devine formula was published in 1974 for a specific clinical purpose: estimating drug doses that depend on lean body mass. It was never validated as a health or appearance target, and it is still used in pharmacy today for exactly that original reason.
Height and sex are not enough
These formulas use two inputs. They cannot see muscle mass, bone structure, body composition, age or ethnicity, all of which meaningfully change what a healthy weight looks like for an individual. A muscular person will read as overweight and a sedentary person with low muscle may read as ideal.
Better indicators to look at alongside this
Waist circumference. More closely linked to metabolic risk than total weight, because it reflects where fat is stored.
Body composition. The proportion of fat to lean tissue tells you far more than the number on the scale.
Functional markers. Energy through the day, sleep quality, strength and stamina are direct signals of how your body is doing.
Clinical measures. Blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid profile assess health directly rather than by proxy.
A more useful way to read the result
Take the lowest and highest figures the formulas produce and treat that span as a reasonable reference range for your height. If your weight sits near it and you feel well, there is little here that needs acting on. If it sits well outside, that is a prompt for a conversation with a clinician, not a target to chase.
Weight and Health Are Not the Same Thing
Research consistently shows that fitness, diet quality, sleep and activity levels predict health outcomes better than weight alone. People at the same weight can have very different metabolic profiles. Fixating on a single target number tends to be counterproductive, and for some people it is actively harmful.
If your weight is a genuine concern, the most useful step is a conversation with a doctor or registered dietitian who can look at your full picture: medical history, medications, activity, sleep and eating patterns. That is a materially different exercise from reading a number off a height chart.
People Also Ask
The most widely used method is the Devine formula, which starts from a base weight for a height of five feet and adds a fixed amount per additional inch. For men the base is 50 kg plus 2.3 kg per inch over five feet; for women it is 45.5 kg plus 2.3 kg per inch. Other formulas such as Robinson, Miller and Hamwi use slightly different constants, which is why results vary by a few kilograms.
Each formula was developed from a different population and for a different purpose. Devine was created in 1974 for calculating medication doses, not for assessing appearance or fitness. Robinson and Miller revised the constants using later data. The spread between them is usually 3 to 6 kg, which is a reasonable indication of how imprecise the whole concept is.
No, and this is its central limitation. Height-based formulas cannot distinguish muscle from fat, so a well-trained athlete will often appear overweight by these figures despite low body fat. Body composition measurements, waist circumference and how you feel and function are more informative than any single target number.
No. Ideal weight formulas produce a single number, whereas health guidance uses a range. A healthy weight is better understood as a band of perhaps 8 to 10 kg within which most people function well. Treating one number as a target is not supported by the way these formulas were designed.
No. Ideal weight formulas were developed for adults and do not apply to growing bodies. Children and adolescents are assessed with age-and-sex-specific growth percentiles by a paediatrician, because normal development involves substantial variation in weight and height over short periods.
This calculator is for general information only and is not medical advice. Ideal weight formulas were developed for clinical reference and do not account for muscle mass, body composition or individual health. Speak to a doctor or registered dietitian before making changes to your diet, exercise or weight.