BMI Chart for Women — Weight by Height

The healthy BMI range for adult women is 18.5 to 24.9 — the same range NHLBI publishes for men, because US guidance has one adult table and no sex column in it. Below is that range converted to weight at the heights most common among women, in both units.

Height	Healthy weight	Metric	Height (metric)
4 ft 10 in	89–119 lb	40–54 kg	147 cm
4 ft 11 in	92–123 lb	42–56 kg	150 cm
5 ft 0 in	95–128 lb	43–58 kg	152 cm
5 ft 1 in	98–132 lb	44–60 kg	155 cm
5 ft 2 in	102–136 lb	46–62 kg	157 cm
5 ft 3 in	105–141 lb	48–64 kg	160 cm
5 ft 4 in	108–145 lb	49–66 kg	163 cm
5 ft 5 in	112–150 lb	51–68 kg	165 cm
5 ft 6 in	115–154 lb	52–70 kg	168 cm
5 ft 7 in	119–159 lb	54–72 kg	170 cm
5 ft 8 in	122–164 lb	55–74 kg	173 cm
5 ft 9 in	126–169 lb	57–77 kg	175 cm
5 ft 10 in	129–174 lb	59–79 kg	178 cm
5 ft 11 in	133–179 lb	60–81 kg	180 cm
6 ft 0 in	137–184 lb	62–83 kg	183 cm

Derived from the NHLBI cutoffs by solving the formula for weight — weight = BMI × height (in)² ÷ 703 — at 18.5 and at 25.0, then rounding so the healthy band ends one pound before overweight begins. Kilograms are the same pounds converted, not a second calculation.

The one number US guidance really does set by sex

BMI does not split by sex. Waist circumference does. NHLBI’s threshold is more than 35 inches for women, against more than 40 for men, and crossing it raises the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes on its own terms.

That single line does more work than any women-specific BMI chart could, because it captures what BMI structurally cannot: where the weight sits. Body fat distributed around the hips and thighs — a more common pattern in women before menopause — behaves differently from the same pounds carried abdominally. Two women at 5 ft 5 in and 150 lb, both reading 24.9, can sit on opposite sides of the waist threshold.

Why a body-fat difference does not move the cutoff

Women carry more essential body fat than men at the same BMI. That is real, and it is a fair reason to expect a different table — but the cutoffs were not drawn from body-fat percentage. They were drawn from where disease risk began climbing in large mixed cohorts, and those inflection points landed close enough together that one table serves both.

The difference shows up a level down, in body-composition assessment, where healthy body-fat ranges for women genuinely are higher. BMI is the screen; composition is the follow-up.

Life stages this chart does not cover

• Pregnancy. Expected gain is tracked week by week against pre-pregnancy BMI in prenatal care. A current BMI reading during pregnancy has no category to fall into.
• After menopause. The published numbers stay put, but the body underneath them shifts toward more fat and less lean mass, and fat redistributes toward the abdomen. A stable BMI across those years can hide a real change — one more reason to keep the tape measure in the drawer.
• Under 20. Girls and teens are read against growth charts by age and sex, never against a fixed adult range.

Reading your row without over-reading it

Find your height and note how wide the band is: at 5 ft 4 in it runs 37 pounds. Two women at that height can differ by more than three dress sizes and both land inside “healthy”, which is the honest resolution of this instrument. Use the row to see roughly where you sit, then take the waist measurement, then take questions to a clinician.

For the men’s version of the same table, see the BMI chart for men; for every band at every height, see the BMI chart.

This content is informational and does not replace evaluation by a health professional.