🎯 Ideal Weight Calculator
Estimate a healthy weight range from height, using two common formulas.
About this tool
Estimates a reference "ideal weight" two different ways from height alone: the Devine formula (originally developed for medical drug-dosing calculations, but widely adopted as a general reference), and the weight range corresponding to a healthy BMI (18.5–24.9) at that height.
Neither formula accounts for muscle mass, frame size, or individual health — both are population-level reference points, not personalized medical targets.
Worked example
For a 175 cm tall male, the Devine formula estimates about 71.4 kg, while the healthy-BMI-based range is about 56.7 to 76.2 kg — a noticeably wider band.
How to use it
- Choose metric or imperial units.
- Select sex (the Devine formula uses a different base value for male and female bodies).
- Enter height.
- Press Estimate ideal weight range.
Tips
- The BMI-based range is generally the more useful reference for most people, since it reflects a broad healthy band rather than a single point figure.
- Muscular, athletic individuals will often fall above these reference numbers while still being perfectly healthy — these formulas don't distinguish muscle from fat.
- Treat any single "ideal weight" number as a rough anchor for conversation, not a target to hit exactly — talk to a healthcare provider for advice specific to your body and health history.
FAQ
What is the Devine formula?
It's a height-based weight formula originally created in 1974 to help estimate medication dosing, later adopted more broadly as a quick reference weight — it doesn't account for body composition.
Why does the result show a range instead of one number?
A single "ideal weight" figure oversimplifies a genuinely individual question — showing the BMI-based healthy range alongside the Devine point estimate gives a more honest, less falsely precise picture.
Is this accurate for athletes or very muscular people?
No — like BMI, these formulas can't distinguish muscle from fat, so muscular individuals often fall above these reference numbers while remaining perfectly healthy.
From the blog: getting the most out of this tool
We show two different formulas side by side rather than picking one and presenting it as "the" answer, because a single ideal-weight number implies a precision that none of these formulas actually have — they're reference points from population data, not verdicts on any one person's body.
The BMI Calculator is a natural companion here if you want to see where a specific current weight falls within the healthy range shown by this tool, rather than just the range itself.
📖 Want the fuller explanation?
See BMI vs Body Fat Percentage for the reasoning behind this calculation, with worked examples.