How do I read a BMI chart by height?

Find your height in the left column, then read across to the healthy range for that row. Your weight belongs in the healthy band if it falls between the two figures shown for your height.

What weight is normal for 5 feet 6 inches?

At 5 ft 6 in the healthy band runs from 115 to 154 lb (52 to 70 kg). From 155 lb the BMI crosses 25 into overweight, and from 186 lb it crosses 30 into obesity.

How do I find my target weight from BMI?

Reverse the formula: target weight = BMI x height squared in metres. For 1.70 m, the healthy band is 18.5 x 2.89 = 53.5 kg and 24.9 x 2.89 = 72.0 kg, or about 118 to 159 lb.

Why do the ranges get wider for taller people?

BMI squares height, so each extra centimetre of height covers a larger spread of acceptable weight. A 6 ft 4 in person has a healthy band roughly 50 lb wider than someone who is 5 ft 0.

Does everyone use the same BMI cut-offs?

The WHO adult cut-offs are 18.5, 25 and 30, but the WHO advises lower action points of 23 and 27.5 for South Asian and Chinese populations, where metabolic risk rises earlier.

BMI Chart by Height - Weight Ranges for 5'0 to 6'4

This chart does one job: it tells you, for a given height, which weights fall into each BMI band. Work out the healthy range, the point where BMI reaches 25, and the point where it reaches 30, in both pounds and kilograms. If you would rather type your numbers in, our BMI Calculator returns the same figures and your category.

BMI calculator with height and weight inputs

The Four BMI Bands

BMI	Category	What it means
Below 18.5	Underweight	Below the healthy band for your height
18.5 to 24.9	Normal weight	Healthy adult range
25.0 to 29.9	Overweight	Above the healthy band
30.0 and above	Obesity	WHO obesity threshold, split into classes I, II and III

BMI Chart by Height (5 ft 0 in to 6 ft 4 in)

Height	Healthy (lb)	Overweight from	Obese from	Healthy (kg)
5 ft 0 in (152 cm)	95 to 127	128 lb	154 lb	43 to 58
5 ft 2 in (157 cm)	101 to 136	137 lb	164 lb	46 to 62
5 ft 4 in (163 cm)	108 to 145	146 lb	175 lb	49 to 66
5 ft 6 in (168 cm)	115 to 154	155 lb	186 lb	52 to 70
5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	122 to 163	164 lb	197 lb	55 to 74
5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	129 to 173	174 lb	209 lb	58 to 79
6 ft 0 in (183 cm)	136 to 183	184 lb	221 lb	62 to 83
6 ft 2 in (188 cm)	144 to 194	195 lb	234 lb	65 to 88
6 ft 4 in (193 cm)	152 to 204	205 lb	246 lb	69 to 93

How to Read the Row for Your Height

Take 5 ft 6 in. Square your height in metres: 1.6764 x 1.6764 = 2.810. Multiply the bottom of the healthy band by it: 18.5 x 2.810 = 52.0 kg, which is 114.6 lb. Multiply the top: 24.9 x 2.810 = 70.0 kg, or 154.3 lb. So a 115 to 154 lb adult at 5 ft 6 in reads normal on the chart, 155 lb is where overweight starts, and 186 lb is where obesity starts.

Why the Range Widens With Height

Because height is squared in the formula, a small gain in height buys a much bigger allowance in weight. Between 5 ft 0 in and 6 ft 4 in the healthy band grows from 32 lb wide to 52 lb wide. This is also why a single number such as 150 lb tells you nothing on its own — at 5 ft 2 in it is overweight, at 5 ft 8 in it is comfortably inside the band, and at 6 ft 2 in it is underweight.

The Reverse Formula: Target Weight from BMI

Target weight = BMI x height(m) squared. For someone 1.70 m tall, height squared is 2.89, so the healthy band runs from 18.5 x 2.89 = 53.5 kg up to 24.9 x 2.89 = 72.0 kg, which is 118 to 159 lb. A clinical planning target of BMI 22 would be 22 x 2.89 = 63.6 kg, or 140 lb. This is the formula dietitians use when they quote a goal weight.

What the Chart Cannot Tell You

BMI counts total mass, so a weightlifter at 6 ft 0 in and 220 lb reads obese while carrying single-digit body fat. It says nothing about where fat sits — waist circumference predicts heart risk better than BMI does. It also ignores frame size, age-related muscle loss, and the WHO's lower cut-offs for South Asian and Chinese adults. Children are scored on age-and-sex percentile charts instead, so this table does not apply to anyone under 20 — the bands and worked examples for that age group are in the BMI percentile chart for kids.

Where These Figures Come From

The bands are the adult cut-offs published by the WHO and used by the CDC. The weight ranges were calculated from those cut-offs and your height rather than read off a printed table, so they are exact to the pound rather than rounded to the nearest 5 lb the way many charts are.

Privacy: nothing you work out here is sent anywhere — the numbers on this page are static, and the calculator runs in your browser.

Next Step: want your exact number, category and healthy weight range in one step? Use the BMI Calculator.