Ideal weight calculator
Four formulas have circulated as ideal body weight since the 1960s. Here is what each gives for your height, and why the healthy BMI range underneath them is the number worth using.
Healthy weight range for your height
58.6 kg to 78.9 kg
- Devine (1974)
- 73.2 kg
- Robinson (1983)
- 71.1 kg
- Miller (1983)
- 70.4 kg
- Hamwi (1964)
- 75.2 kg
- Average of the four formulas
- 72.5 kg
All four formulas are height-only equations built for drug dosing rather than for describing a body. Use the range above them, not any single figure.
Information only. Not medical advice or an endorsement. Always consult a licensed physician. Individual results vary and no outcome is guaranteed.
Where these formulas came from
Not from research into what people should weigh. Hamwi in 1964 was a rule of thumb for insulin dosing in diabetes. Devine in 1974 was for calculating drug doses. Robinson and Miller in 1983 were refits of Devine against better data. All four are height-only, all four ignore build, age and body composition, and none was ever intended to describe a target weight for a person.
They survive because clinical pharmacy still uses them. Some drugs are dosed on ideal or adjusted body weight rather than actual weight, and Devine remains the standard for several of those calculations. That is a genuine use, and it is not this one.
Use the range, not the number
The healthy BMI window for your height, shown under the formulas, is what clinicians actually work with. It is a range rather than a point, typically spanning fifteen kilograms or more for an adult, and everywhere inside it is fine. A single kilogram figure implies a precision that nothing about human bodies supports.
Where you sit inside that range reasonably depends on build and on how much muscle you carry. Someone lifting seriously may sit at the top of it or above it at a low body fat percentage, which is a limitation of BMI rather than a problem with them.
If you are trying to reduce joint pain
The target that matters is not an ideal weight, it is a change from where you are now. Sustained loss of five to ten percent of body weight is associated with clinically meaningful improvement in knee osteoarthritis pain, and that holds whether or not it lands you anywhere near a formula's output. Someone at 110 kg who reaches 100 kg has done the thing the evidence supports, regardless of what Devine says about their height.
Common questions
Which ideal weight formula is best?
For dosing certain drugs, Devine, because that is what the protocols specify. For describing what a person should weigh, none of them. They are height-only equations from the 1960s to 1980s that were built for other purposes. The healthy BMI range is the better answer.
Why do the four formulas disagree?
They were fitted to different data for different purposes at different times. The spread between them for the same height is usually five to eight kilograms, which is a fair indication of how much precision to read into any single one.
Should I aim for my ideal weight before treatment?
Aim for a percentage change instead. Five to ten percent of body weight lost and kept off is the target with evidence behind it for knee osteoarthritis pain, and it is achievable from any starting point. A clinic asking for weight loss before treating a weight-bearing joint is usually asking for something like that, not for a formula's number.
Do these formulas work for very tall or short people?
Poorly. All four extrapolate linearly from a five-foot baseline and were fitted on populations near average height, so they drift at both extremes. The BMI range handles the tails somewhat better, though it has its own problems there.
Related calculators
BMI calculator
Metric or imperial, with the healthy range for your height and what it means for joints.
OpenBody fat calculator
US Navy tape method, or a BMI estimate when you have no tape measure.
OpenBMR and TDEE calculator
Resting metabolic rate by Mifflin-St Jeor, then daily burn by activity level.
Open