BMI Chart by Height: Healthy Weight Ranges (CDC/WHO)

How the chart is worked out

Body mass index is weight divided by height squared. In imperial units the formula is weight in pounds times 703, divided by height in inches squared: at 5 ft 9 in and 160 lb that is 160 times 703 divided by 69 squared, which is 112,480 divided by 4,761, which is 23.6. In metric units it is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared: 75 divided by 1.75 squared is 24.5. The chart turns the formula around: for each height, the weight at a given BMI is the BMI times height squared, divided by 703. At 5 ft 9 in the weight at BMI 18.5 is 18.5 times 69 squared divided by 703, which is 125.3 lb; at BMI 25 it is 169.3 lb; at BMI 30 it is 203.2 lb; at BMI 35 it is 237.0 lb; and at BMI 40 it is 270.9 lb. Every row of the table is the same five calculations at a different height, from 4 ft 10 in to 6 ft 6 in in one-inch steps.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: height 5 ft 9 in (69 inches), weight 160 lb.

Line 1 — height squared. 69 × 69 = 4,761.

Line 2 — weight times 703. 160 × 703 = 112,480.

Line 3 — BMI. 112,480 / 4,761 = 23.6 — Normal weight.

Line 4 — healthy range low. 18.5 × 4,761 / 703 = 125.3 lb.

Line 5 — healthy range high. 25 × 4,761 / 703 = 169.3 lb.

Line 6 — obesity begins. 30 × 4,761 / 703 = 203.2 lb.

Line 7 — the verdict. 160 lb sits between 125.3 lb and 169.3 lb, so the BMI of 23.6 is Normal weight — 9.3 lb below the overweight line.

The chart: weight in pounds at each BMI boundary

Find your height in the left column, then read across: the five columns are the weights at BMI 18.5, 25, 30, 35, and 40 — the boundaries between Underweight and Normal, Normal and Overweight, and the three obesity classes. If your weight falls between the first two columns, your BMI is in the healthy range. Weights are in pounds, to one decimal.

The categories, from the CDC and WHO

The cut-offs are the same ones the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization use for adults: Underweight below 18.5, Normal from 18.5 to 24.9, Overweight from 25 to 29.9, and Obesity from 30 up, split into three classes. The boundaries are the same at every height — only the weights in pounds change.

Every branch, checked

Metric lookup: 175 cm is 1.75 metres, and 1.75 squared is 3.0625, so 75 divided by 3.0625 is 24.5 — Normal weight. The healthy range at 175 cm is 18.5 times 3.0625, which is 56.7 kg, to 25 times 3.0625, which is 76.6 kg.

At 5 ft 4 in: the healthy range is 107.8–145.7 lb and obesity begins at 174.8 lb — a shorter height means a narrower range in pounds: the whole healthy band is only 37.9 lb wide, against 44.0 lb at 5 ft 9 in.

At 6 ft 0 in: the healthy range is 136.4–184.4 lb and obesity begins at 221.2 lb — the same BMI bands, shifted up by the extra height: the band is 48.0 lb wide.

At 5 ft 0 in: the healthy range is 94.7–128.0 lb and obesity begins at 153.6 lb — the narrowest band on the chart, 33.3 lb wide.

The honest flip: what BMI misses

BMI measures weight against height, and it cannot tell muscle from fat. A muscular build can read Overweight or Obese at a healthy body fat — the classic example is a rugby player at 5 ft 9 in and 203.2 lb, who would read Obese at BMI 30 while carrying little fat. The flip runs the other way too: an older adult can read Normal at BMI 23 while carrying too much fat and too little muscle, because muscle is lost with age and BMI does not notice. The honest way to use the chart is as a first screen, not a verdict: if your BMI is in the healthy range and you are active, you are probably fine; if it is above 25, check the body fat percentage calculator before deciding what to do — and if you are under 20, use the child BMI calculator, because adult cut-offs do not apply to growing bodies.

What the defaults assume

The defaults are an adult at 5 ft 9 in and 160 lb, measured in imperial units, and the metric example is 175 cm and 75 kg. The categories are the CDC and WHO adult cut-offs, which apply from age 20: Underweight below 18.5, Normal 18.5 to 24.9, Overweight 25 to 29.9, Obesity class I 30 to 34.9, class II 35 to 39.9, and class III 40 and above. The table weights are rounded to one decimal place — 125.3 lb at BMI 18.5 for 5 ft 9 in is 18.5 times 4,761 divided by 703, which is 125.29 before rounding. The chart assumes the adult cut-offs and a single height and weight; it does not account for body composition, age, sex, or ethnicity, all of which shift where the healthy range sits for an individual.

Rounding convention, stated plainly: table weights are rounded to one decimal place — 125.3, 169.3, 203.2 — and BMI values to one decimal — 23.6, 24.5. The boundaries are exact in BMI and rounded in pounds, so a weight a tenth of a pound either side of a boundary can read either way.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The person checking a number: weighs 160 lb at 5 ft 9 in and learns the BMI is 23.6 — Normal weight — with the healthy range at 125.3–169.3 lb, so the number comes with its context instead of standing alone.
• The person starting a plan: weighs more than the 25 column at their height and learns exactly how far above the healthy range they are — the gap to the 25 column is the first target, not the gap to the 18.5 column.
• The metric user: measures in centimetres and kilograms and learns 175 cm and 75 kg is BMI 24.5 — Normal weight — with the healthy range at 56.7–76.6 kg.
• The parent or coach: checks an adult’s number on this chart and learns children need the child BMI calculator instead — and that a muscular athlete’s Overweight reading is a body-composition question, not a weight question.

Accuracy & limitations

The math is exact for the numbers you enter: the imperial BMI is weight in pounds times 703, divided by height in inches squared; the metric BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared; the table weights are the BMI times height squared, divided by 703, rounded to one decimal. But the inputs carry the assumptions. BMI cannot tell muscle from fat, so it overstates risk for muscular people and understates it for older adults who have lost muscle. It does not account for where fat sits — fat around the waist carries more risk than the same fat elsewhere, and BMI does not measure it. It does not account for sex or ethnicity: the same BMI carries different risk at different ages and in different populations, and the WHO notes lower cut-offs for some Asian populations. It does not apply to children or teenagers, whose BMI is judged against age and sex percentiles. It does not apply to pregnant people or to people with conditions that change fluid balance. The categories are population cut-offs from the CDC and WHO, not personal diagnoses: a BMI of 25.1 is not meaningfully different from 24.9, and no single number should decide a health plan. No studies or statistics are cited on this page beyond the CDC and WHO cut-offs named above, because none are needed: every figure is arithmetic on the numbers you enter.