BMI Chart for Adults

How to read a BMI chart

A BMI chart is a lookup table. Heights run down the side, weights run across the top, and the cell where they meet is the body mass index for that pair. You do not need to do any math to use one, though the number in the cell comes from a fixed formula: BMI equals 703 times weight in pounds divided by height in inches squared. The 703 is the conversion factor that lets US units produce the same number as the metric version, weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, which is the form the CDC publishes.

Read the chart in one direction only. Find your height row, slide across to the column closest to your weight, and read the cell. Then compare that number with the category bands. Two people with the same BMI can have sharply different bodies, which is why the chart is the start of a conversation and not the end of one.

The formula rewards height in a way that surprises people. Height is squared, so an extra two inches changes the result more than an extra two pounds does. That is also why the same 10 pounds moves BMI by about 2.0 points at 5 ft 0 in and by about 1.2 points at 6 ft 4 in.

The four adult BMI categories

For adults 20 and older the CDC uses four categories, and it applies them regardless of age, sex or race. The top category is split into three classes because risk climbs with the number.

The CDC writes the healthy band as 18.5 to under 25, while the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute writes 18.5 to 24.9 on its healthy weight page. The two describe the same cutoff, since BMI is reported to one decimal. The CDC adult BMI category table is the source for the ranges above, and the weight column is the same table's 5 ft 9 in example.

One detail trips people up: the category is set by the BMI, not by how the weight looks. A 5 ft 9 in person at 170 pounds reads 25.1 and is in the overweight band even though they may be lean. The chart has no way to know.

BMI chart: height and weight together

This grid is the chart most people picture. Values are rounded to one decimal, and cells between 18.5 and 24.9 are the healthy band.

Two readings from the grid show how the bands shift with height. At 5 ft 4 in, 170 pounds is 29.2, just under the obesity line. At 6 ft 2 in the same 170 pounds is 21.8, comfortably healthy. The weight did not change; the height did.

Use the grid to see direction, not to fine tune. If your weight sits between two columns, the true BMI sits between the two cells, and the calculator above will give you the exact figure. The grid is built for a glance at a doctor's office wall.

Healthy weight range for every height

The healthy range is the weight band that produces a BMI between 18.5 and 25 at a given height. It is wider than most people expect, and it widens as height goes up.

At 5 ft 0 in the healthy band is 95 to 127 pounds, a spread of 32 pounds. At 6 ft 4 in it is 152 to 204 pounds, a spread of 52 pounds. That is the squared height term at work again.

Charts printed in different places can differ by a pound or two at the edges, because they round the boundary in different directions. A 5 ft 9 in table that prints 125 to 168 and one that prints 125 to 169 are both describing a BMI just under 25. Treat the ends of the band as soft edges, not as a pass or fail line.

Worked example: three people, three readings

Three adults, all measured with the same formula. The arithmetic is shown in full so you can check it against the calculator.

• 5 ft 9 in, 165 lb. 69 squared is 4,761. 703 times 165 is 115,995. 115,995 divided by 4,761 is 24.4, healthy weight, 3 pounds under the top of the band at 168.
• 5 ft 4 in, 200 lb. 64 squared is 4,096. 703 times 200 is 140,600. 140,600 divided by 4,096 is 34.3, obesity class 1. A BMI of 30 at that height is 174.8 pounds, so this person is 25 pounds above the obesity line.
• 6 ft 2 in, 180 lb. 74 squared is 5,476. 703 times 180 is 126,540. 126,540 divided by 5,476 is 23.1, healthy weight, with 14 pounds of room before the band ends at 194 pounds.

Notice how much the same body weight means at different heights. 180 pounds is healthy at 6 ft 2 in, and at 5 ft 4 in the same weight reads 30.9, which is obesity class 1. The chart is doing geometry, not judgement.

Why the same BMI can mean different things

The formula has one input for weight and one for height, and weight includes everything: fat, muscle, bone, organs and water. The CDC is direct about the limit, stating on its About BMI page that BMI does not distinguish between fat, muscle and bone mass, and that it does not show where fat is carried.

That gap matters in both directions. A college linebacker at 6 ft 0 in and 235 pounds reads 31.9, in the obesity range, with a body fat percentage that may be in the teens. An older adult who has lost muscle can read 24.5 with a higher fat percentage than a younger person at the same number. Neither reading is wrong arithmetic; both are incomplete pictures.

Fat placement adds information the number cannot carry. Two people at BMI 27 can have markedly different risk profiles depending on whether the weight sits around the waist or on the hips and thighs. That is why a clinician will measure a waist, ask about activity, and look at blood pressure and blood work rather than reading one number off a chart.

BMI for kids, teens and pregnancy is a different scale

Every adult number on this page applies to people 20 and older. For children and teens from 2 through 19 the CDC uses a BMI percentile for age and sex, because a growing body has a different healthy range at every birthday. A 10 year old and a 40 year old can share a BMI of 19 and land in completely different places on their respective charts.

Pregnancy is the other exception. The number that matters is the BMI before conception, and the recommended gain depends on which band that starting number fell in. Stepping on a scale at 30 weeks and reading the result against an adult chart tells you nothing useful.

If you are checking a child, use a child and teen chart. If you are pregnant, use a pregnancy weight gain chart. The adult table is the wrong tool for both, and using it produces a category that does not apply.

What to do with the number

A BMI reading is a screening result. The CDC calls it one potential health indicator that should be considered with other factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, physical exam findings and family history. On its own it does not diagnose anything.

The useful question is not whether you are in a band today, but which way the number is moving over months. A BMI that went from 24 to 27 over two years is worth a conversation even though 27 is only two points into the overweight band. A BMI that has held at 26 for a decade with normal blood pressure tells a different story.

If you want a target, the healthy weight range for your height is the most concrete thing this page gives you. At 5 ft 9 in that is 125 to 168 pounds, which is a 43 pound window rather than a single goal weight. Pick a point inside it that you can hold, and track the trend rather than the daily reading.

This page is a screening reference, not medical advice. BMI categories are population cutoffs and do not account for muscle mass, body fat distribution or any individual medical condition. Talk with a clinician about what your number means for you.