Ideal Weight Calculator — Devine, Robinson, Miller & Hamwi

See the range four historical formulas give for your height — and why none of them is a target to chase.

  • Nutrition
  • 2 cited sources
  • Runs in your browser
Sex
Unit system

Historical formula range

68.1 kg – 72.0 kg

Ideal weight by formula
FormulaEstimate
Devine (1974)70.5 kg
Robinson (1983, original coefficients)68.1 kg
Miller (1983)68.7 kg
Hamwi (1964)72.0 kg

These are historical estimating formulas — most were built for drug dosing, not health advice. The spread between them is the honest takeaway: there is no single ideal weight for a height.

Methodology

The calculator reports all four classic ideal-body-weight formulas. Each takes the same shape — a base weight plus an increment per inch of height over five feet:

FormulaMenWomen
Devine (1974)50.0 + 2.3/in45.5 + 2.3/in
Robinson (1983)51.65 + 1.85/in48.67 + 1.65/in
Miller (1983)56.2 + 1.41/in53.1 + 1.36/in
Hamwi (1964)48.0 + 2.7/in45.5 + 2.2/in

One point of care: for the Robinson formula we implement the coefficients from the original 1983 publication (51.65 + 1.85 for men, 48.67 + 1.65 for women). Most calculators use a rounded variant (52 + 1.9, 49 + 1.7) that circulated via later reviews, so our Robinson figures can differ from other sites by up to about half a kilogram — ours match the source paper.

Interpreting your result

These formulas were never health guidance. Devine proposed his equation in 1974 to standardise drug dosing; the others refined it against insurance height–weight tables of their era. That the four "ideals" for the same height disagree by several kilograms is the most honest thing about them — there is no single correct weight for a height, and the range we report is the point, not a target band to aim for.

Limitations

  • Height and sex are the only inputs: body composition, frame and age are invisible to every one of these formulas.
  • All four are undefined below five feet, and behave increasingly oddly at very tall heights — artefacts of their linear form.
  • The underlying reference data is 40–110 years old and predominantly reflects white, insured, mid-century populations.
  • For actual health assessment, body-fat percentage, waist measurement and clinical markers with your GP supersede anything here (Pai & Paloucek, 2000, is the definitive history of why).

Sources

Pull the receipts — 2 cited sources

FitTools · sources

  1. 01 Pai MP, Paloucek FP. The origin of the "ideal" body weight equations. Ann Pharmacother 2000;34:1066–1069
  2. 02 Robinson JD, et al. Determination of ideal body weight for drug dosage calculations. Am J Hosp Pharm 1983;40:1016–1019 (original coefficients implemented here)

Every formula cited ✓

Frequently asked questions

What is my ideal weight for my height?
There is no single scientific 'ideal' weight. This tool reports the range produced by four historical formulas (Devine, Robinson, Miller and Hamwi), which typically spread across several kilograms for the same height — that spread is itself the honest answer.
Where do these formulas come from?
They were devised between the 1960s and 1980s, mostly for drug-dose estimation rather than health guidance. The Devine formula, for example, was published in 1974 to standardise medication dosing, and the others followed as refinements against insurance height–weight tables.
Why do the four formulas disagree?
Each was fitted to different reference data with different assumptions, and all reduce body composition to height and sex alone. Two people of the same height with different builds can both be perfectly healthy at weights outside these ranges.
Should I try to reach the weight shown?
No — treat it as historical context, not a goal. Body composition, waist measurement and health markers tracked with your GP say far more about health than matching a 50-year-old dosing formula.

Written and reviewed by Mathew Beale — MSc Biotechnology, University of Reading.

Last reviewed:

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