By Tim King · Updated 7 October 2026

BMI Calculator for Women

Healthy Weight for Your Height in Kilograms or Feet and Inches, With Chart

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How the BMI Calculator For Women works

A healthy BMI range for women is 18.5 to 24.9, the same adult band as for men. This BMI calculator for women takes your height and weight, in metric or as 5'4" and pounds, and gives your BMI, its category and the weight range that is healthy at your height. The female BMI chart below lists healthy weights from 5'0" to 5'10". The average BMI for a woman is higher than the healthy band, about 27 in England and 29.6 in the United States, and the page explains how age, pregnancy and menopause change what the number means.

BMI calculator for women: the formula is not sex-specific

Body mass index is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. The adult cut-offs set by the World Health Organization — 18.5, 25 and 30 — are the same for women and men, and there is no separate female formula. Any calculator claiming one is applying an adjustment the WHO does not. What differs between the sexes is what the same number tends to mean, which is why this page exists. BMI matters because it is the figure doctors, insurers, fertility clinics and surgeons actually use: it decides screening referrals, IVF eligibility in many public health systems, and anaesthetic risk assessments, so it is worth knowing yours and what it does and does not say.

Worked example 1 (metric). A woman 165 cm tall weighing 62 kg: 1.65 × 1.65 = 2.7225, and 62 ÷ 2.7225 = 22.8. That is a healthy weight. Her healthy range is 18.5 × 2.7225 = 50.4 kg up to 25 × 2.7225 = 68.1 kg.

Worked example 2 (imperial). A woman 5'4" (64 inches) weighing 160 lb. The imperial version multiplies by 703 to convert units: 703 × 160 ÷ (64 × 64) = 112,480 ÷ 4,096 = 27.5, which is overweight. Her healthy range works out at 107.8 to 145.7 lb, so she is about 14 lb above the top.

The calculator rounds to one decimal place, and the healthy range it shows runs from 18.5 to 25. A result of 24.96 rounds to 25.0 but is still classed as healthy, because the category is decided on the unrounded figure.

What is a good BMI for a woman?

The healthy band is 18.5 to 24.9 for adult women, exactly as for men. Within that band, a woman carries on average about 10 percentage points more body fat than a man at the same BMI — roughly 30% against 20% in the mid-twenties — because female physiology stores more essential fat for hormone production and reproduction. That is normal, not a problem. It does mean the index is a weaker predictor of health risk for women near the top of the healthy range, and that waist measurement adds more information for women than BMI alone.

BMI chart for women by height

The table gives the weight at each cut-off for common female heights. Find your height, then see which column your weight falls in.

Height	Under 18.5	Healthy 18.5–24.9	Overweight 25–29.9	Obese 30+
148 cm (4'10")	below 40.5 kg	40.5–54.8 kg	54.8–65.7 kg	above 65.7 kg
150 cm (4'11")	below 41.6 kg	41.6–56.2 kg	56.2–67.5 kg	above 67.5 kg
152 cm (5'0")	below 42.7 kg	42.7–57.8 kg	57.8–69.3 kg	above 69.3 kg
154 cm (5'1")	below 43.9 kg	43.9–59.3 kg	59.3–71.1 kg	above 71.1 kg
156 cm (5'1")	below 45.0 kg	45.0–60.8 kg	60.8–73.0 kg	above 73.0 kg
158 cm (5'2")	below 46.2 kg	46.2–62.4 kg	62.4–74.9 kg	above 74.9 kg
160 cm (5'3")	below 47.4 kg	47.4–64.0 kg	64.0–76.8 kg	above 76.8 kg
162 cm (5'4")	below 48.6 kg	48.6–65.6 kg	65.6–78.7 kg	above 78.7 kg
164 cm (5'5")	below 49.8 kg	49.8–67.2 kg	67.2–80.7 kg	above 80.7 kg
166 cm (5'5")	below 51.0 kg	51.0–68.9 kg	68.9–82.7 kg	above 82.7 kg
168 cm (5'6")	below 52.2 kg	52.2–70.6 kg	70.6–84.7 kg	above 84.7 kg
170 cm (5'7")	below 53.5 kg	53.5–72.2 kg	72.2–86.7 kg	above 86.7 kg
172 cm (5'8")	below 54.7 kg	54.7–74.0 kg	74.0–88.8 kg	above 88.8 kg
174 cm (5'9")	below 56.0 kg	56.0–75.7 kg	75.7–90.8 kg	above 90.8 kg
176 cm (5'9")	below 57.3 kg	57.3–77.4 kg	77.4–92.9 kg	above 92.9 kg
178 cm (5'10")	below 58.6 kg	58.6–79.2 kg	79.2–95.1 kg	above 95.1 kg
180 cm (5'11")	below 59.9 kg	59.9–81.0 kg	81.0–97.2 kg	above 97.2 kg
182 cm (6'0")	below 61.3 kg	61.3–82.8 kg	82.8–99.4 kg	above 99.4 kg
184 cm (6'0")	below 62.6 kg	62.6–84.6 kg	84.6–101.6 kg	above 101.6 kg
186 cm (6'1")	below 64.0 kg	64.0–86.5 kg	86.5–103.8 kg	above 103.8 kg
188 cm (6'2")	below 65.4 kg	65.4–88.4 kg	88.4–106.0 kg	above 106.0 kg

Pregnancy, menopause and age

BMI is not used during pregnancy. The pre-pregnancy figure sets the recommended weight gain — the US Institute of Medicine guidance is 12.5 to 18 kg for women starting under 18.5, 11.5 to 16 kg for 18.5 to 24.9, 7 to 11.5 kg for 25 to 29.9 and 5 to 9 kg from 30 — and then the index is set aside until well after the birth. After menopause, falling oestrogen moves fat from hips and thighs to the abdomen without the BMI changing, so the same number at 55 carries more cardiometabolic risk than at 30. Older women also lose muscle, which lowers weight and BMI while body fat rises, so a "healthy" BMI in later life can hide low muscle mass.

Expert tips and pitfalls

Add a waist measurement. Measure midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, breathing out normally. The WHO treats more than 80 cm as increased risk for women and more than 88 cm as substantially increased. A simpler rule from the UK's NICE: keep your waist under half your height. A 165 cm woman should aim for a waist below 82.5 cm, whatever her BMI says.

Know which populations use lower cut-offs. Women of South Asian, Chinese and some other Asian backgrounds see raised diabetes and heart risk at lower BMIs, and the WHO suggests action points of 23 and 27.5 for those groups. A BMI of 24 may be "healthy" on the standard chart and still worth acting on.

Muscle and frame skew it both ways. Strength-trained women and athletes get classed as overweight while carrying little fat. A naturally small frame can sit just under 18.5 in perfectly good health. Persistent underweight still deserves a check, because it is linked to bone loss, missed periods and lower fertility.

Weigh at the same time of day. Body weight swings by 1 to 2 kg across a day and across a menstrual cycle with fluid retention. Use a morning weight, and compare like with like over weeks rather than days.

How to read the result

The calculator returns three things: your BMI to one decimal, its WHO category, and the healthy weight range for your height in kilograms or pounds. The range is the useful part — it turns an abstract index into a target you can step on a scale for. Treat the category as a screening figure that says "look further", not a verdict, and read it alongside waist size, activity and family history. For girls under 18, use the child BMI calculator, which compares against age and sex percentiles instead of fixed adult cut-offs.

More BMI examples for women

First example. 58 kg at 160 cm is 58 ÷ 2.56 = 22.7, a healthy weight.

Second example. 80 kg at 170 cm is 80 ÷ 2.89 = 27.7, overweight.

How many kilograms above the healthy range is the second woman? The top of the range at 170 cm is 25 × 2.89 = 72.3 kg, so about 7.7 kg.

Sources: WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet.

Checked against: WHO BMI formula: 70 kg at 1.75 m = 22.9

FAQ

Is there a separate female BMI formula?

No. The formula and the adult categories are identical for both sexes. The difference is interpretation: a woman naturally carries more body fat than a man at the same BMI, so the index reads slightly differently for the two, and waist measurement adds more for women.

What is a healthy BMI for a woman?

18.5 to 24.9 by the WHO adult categories, which this calculator uses. The healthy weight range result converts that band to kilograms or pounds at your exact height, which is usually the more useful number to remember.

What is a healthy weight for a 5'2", 5'4" or 5'6" woman?

At 5'2" (157 cm) a healthy BMI means about 101 to 136 lb, or 45.6 to 61.6 kg. At 5'4" (163 cm) it is 108 to 145 lb, or 49.2 to 66.4 kg. At 5'6" (168 cm) it is 115 to 154 lb, or 52.2 to 70.5 kg.

What is the average BMI for a woman?

In the United States the average adult woman has a BMI of about 29.6, according to CDC survey data for 2015 to 2018, which is in the overweight band. In England the figure is around 27. The average is not the healthy target, which stays at 18.5 to 24.9.

Does BMI apply during pregnancy?

No. Pregnancy weight gain is expected and healthy, so the index is not meaningful until several months after the birth. Midwives use the pre-pregnancy BMI to set the recommended gain and do not recalculate it during the pregnancy.

Why is my BMI healthy but my body fat high?

Because the index cannot see composition. Low muscle mass with a moderate amount of fat produces a normal BMI and a high body fat percentage, which is common in women who are sedentary or older. A waist-to-height ratio under 0.5 is a better quick check.

Should older women use the same cut-offs?

The categories do not change with age, but some evidence suggests slightly higher BMIs, around 25 to 27, carry the lowest mortality risk after 65. Muscle loss with age also means a stable BMI can hide rising body fat, so the number should be read alongside strength and waist size.