BMI Chart for Adults
Last updated: August 2026
Body mass index compares your weight to your height and hands you one number. It is not precise — it is quick, free, and roughly predictive across large groups, which is why it is the first figure almost every clinician reaches for.
Below: the full adult chart, a height-and-weight lookup table, and what your category does and does not mean. Prefer the math? See how to calculate BMI.
The adult BMI chart
The World Health Organization thresholds for adults 20 and over, any sex, used essentially worldwide.
| Category | BMI range | What it generally indicates |
|---|---|---|
| Underweight | Below 18.5 | May signal undernutrition, illness, or a naturally light frame |
| Healthy weight | 18.5 – 24.9 | The range with the lowest average health risk |
| Overweight | 25.0 – 29.9 | Slightly raised average risk; body composition matters a lot here |
| Obesity class 1 | 30.0 – 34.9 | Raised risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, joint problems |
| Obesity class 2 | 35.0 – 39.9 | Substantially raised risk; worth a conversation with a doctor |
| Obesity class 3 | 40.0 and above | Highest risk category; medical support usually recommended |
Two footnotes. The boundaries are conventions, not cliffs — 24.9 and 25.1 are the same body. And several health bodies set lower cutoffs for people of South Asian, Chinese, and other Asian ancestry (overweight from about 23, obesity from about 27.5), where diabetes and heart-disease risk rises earlier. Ask your doctor which set applies to you.
BMI chart by height and weight
Find your height and read across. The middle columns are the healthy band (BMI 18.5 to 24.9); the last column is where overweight begins.
| Height | Height (ft/in) | Healthy weight (kg) | Healthy weight (lb) | Overweight from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150 cm | 4 ft 11 in | 42 – 56 kg | 92 – 123 lb | 56 kg / 124 lb |
| 155 cm | 5 ft 1 in | 44 – 60 kg | 98 – 132 lb | 60 kg / 132 lb |
| 160 cm | 5 ft 3 in | 47 – 64 kg | 104 – 140 lb | 64 kg / 141 lb |
| 165 cm | 5 ft 5 in | 50 – 68 kg | 111 – 149 lb | 68 kg / 150 lb |
| 170 cm | 5 ft 7 in | 53 – 72 kg | 118 – 159 lb | 72 kg / 159 lb |
| 175 cm | 5 ft 9 in | 57 – 76 kg | 125 – 168 lb | 77 kg / 169 lb |
| 180 cm | 5 ft 11 in | 60 – 81 kg | 132 – 178 lb | 81 kg / 179 lb |
| 185 cm | 6 ft 1 in | 63 – 85 kg | 140 – 188 lb | 86 kg / 189 lb |
| 190 cm | 6 ft 3 in | 67 – 90 kg | 147 – 198 lb | 90 kg / 199 lb |
Each band is nearly 20 kg wide at 170 cm — there is no single correct weight for a height, which is why a healthy weight for your height is a target zone, not a target number.
What your category means — and what BMI can't see
A category is a starting point, not a verdict.
- Underweight. Worth investigating, not celebrating — unintentional loss can point to thyroid problems, malabsorption, or an eating disorder, though some people are simply built light.
- Healthy weight. Lowest average risk, no guarantee: little muscle plus abdominal fat at BMI 23 still carries metabolic risk.
- Overweight. Where BMI is least informative — a muscular person and a sedentary one can share a BMI of 27. This is where waist-to-height ratio earns its keep.
- Obesity classes 1 to 3. Misclassification gets rare as BMI rises; risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and joint pain climbs with each class.
The blind spots share one cause: BMI divides weight by height squared and nothing else. It cannot tell muscle from fat, cannot see where fat sits — fat around the organs is far more harmful than fat on the hips — and ignores age, sex, and ancestry. It is not valid in pregnancy, and children use percentile charts. Pair it with a tape measure and, for the fullest picture, body fat percentage.
In every category, direction beats the snapshot: a BMI drifting up half a point a year says more than any single reading.
Tracking BMI over time: notebook vs app
A notebook works: weigh at the same time of day, write the number down, recalculate every few weeks. The friction comes later — daily weight bounces a kilogram or two for reasons unrelated to fat, so the signal is a trend line, and nobody draws trend lines by hand twice.
The free Weight & BMI Feeltracker app does the boring part: it calculates BMI for every weigh-in, in kilograms or pounds, plots both with a trend line through the noise, and tracks distance to a goal. It syncs with Apple Health and across your devices via iCloud — no account, no email — and exports to PDF, XLSX, CSV, or JSON for your doctor. Optional AI insights tell you what your history has actually been doing.
A chart tells you where you are today; a record tells you where you are heading.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good BMI for an adult?
Anything from 18.5 to 24.9 counts as a healthy weight, with no meaningful risk difference across the range. Aim to sit comfortably inside the band for your height rather than at a specific figure — see healthy weight for your height.
Is the BMI chart different for men and women?
No — the adult categories are identical, even though women naturally carry more body fat at the same BMI. That is a known limitation, and one reason body fat percentage uses separate ranges for men and women.
Does the BMI chart work for children?
No. Children and teenagers are assessed on age- and sex-specific percentile charts, because healthy body composition changes throughout growth — a child's BMI is compared to other children the same age, not to the adult thresholds above.
Can you be healthy with a BMI over 25?
Yes, and many people are — particularly if the extra weight is muscle, your waist is under half your height, and your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol are normal. BMI is a screening tool; those other markers are what your doctor acts on.
How often should I check my BMI?
Monthly is plenty. BMI only moves when weight moves meaningfully — checking daily just exposes you to normal day-to-day fluctuation that has nothing to do with body composition.
