There’s no single number that applies to every woman. Your healthy weight depends on your height, age, body composition, and where your body stores fat. But as a starting point, a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered the healthy range for adult women. For a woman who is 5’5″, that translates to roughly 111 to 150 pounds.
Healthy Weight Ranges by Height
The most common way to estimate a healthy weight is through BMI, which divides your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared, then multiplies by 703. Rather than doing that math, here’s what the healthy BMI range (18.5 to 24.9) looks like in actual pounds for common heights:
- 5’0″: 95 to 128 lbs
- 5’1″: 98 to 132 lbs
- 5’2″: 101 to 136 lbs
- 5’3″: 105 to 141 lbs
- 5’4″: 108 to 145 lbs
- 5’5″: 111 to 150 lbs
- 5’6″: 115 to 155 lbs
- 5’7″: 118 to 159 lbs
- 5’8″: 122 to 164 lbs
- 5’9″: 125 to 169 lbs
- 5’10”: 129 to 174 lbs
These ranges are wide for a reason. A 5’6″ woman with a muscular build and a 5’6″ woman with a smaller frame can both be perfectly healthy at very different weights. The range gives you a general zone, not a target number.
What “Ideal Body Weight” Formulas Actually Say
Doctors and pharmacists sometimes use shorthand formulas to estimate a baseline weight for women. The two most commonly referenced ones work like this: start with a base weight for a height of 5’0″, then add a fixed amount for each inch above that.
The Hamwi formula sets the baseline at 100 pounds for a 5’0″ woman and adds 5 pounds per inch. So a 5’5″ woman would land at 125 pounds. The Devine formula, widely used in clinical settings, starts at about 100 pounds for 5’0″ and adds roughly 5 pounds per inch as well, landing in a similar neighborhood. A third formula from Robinson calculates slightly higher, while the Miller formula starts higher still at about 117 pounds for 5’0″ and adds only 3 pounds per inch.
None of these formulas account for age, muscle mass, or body frame. They were designed for quick clinical estimates, not as personal weight goals. If you’re muscular, have a larger frame, or are over 65, these numbers may underestimate what’s healthy for you.
Why BMI Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
In 2023, the American Medical Association formally acknowledged what many doctors already knew: BMI loses its predictive power when applied to individuals. It correlates well with body fat across large populations, but for any one person, it can be misleading. A woman who strength trains may have a BMI of 26 while carrying very little excess fat. Another woman with a BMI of 22 could carry a higher proportion of body fat concentrated around her organs.
The AMA now recommends using BMI alongside other measures, not as a standalone number. Those other measures include waist circumference, body composition, and metabolic markers like blood pressure and blood sugar. BMI also doesn’t account for differences in body shape and composition across racial and ethnic groups, which can make it more or less accurate depending on your background.
Body Fat Percentage: A More Complete Picture
Body fat percentage tells you how much of your total weight is fat versus muscle, bone, and organs. For women, a typical healthy range is 25% to 31% for someone who isn’t an athlete. Women who exercise regularly and maintain higher fitness levels often fall between 21% and 24%. Female athletes may be lower still, though dropping below 14% body fat is considered potentially dangerous for women and can disrupt hormones, bone density, and reproductive health.
You can estimate body fat through methods like skinfold calipers, bioelectrical impedance scales (the kind you stand on at the gym), or more precise scans at a clinic. Home scales that measure body fat aren’t perfectly accurate, but they can be useful for tracking trends over time.
Where You Carry Weight Matters
Two women at the same weight can have very different health risks depending on where their fat sits. Fat stored around the midsection, particularly the deep fat surrounding your organs, is more strongly linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic problems than fat stored in the hips and thighs.
There are a few simple ways to check this at home:
Waist circumference: Measure around your bare waist at the narrowest point, usually just above the belly button. For women, a waist measurement above 35 inches (88 cm) is the standard threshold for increased metabolic risk. The NHS offers an even simpler guideline: try to keep your waist size below half your height. If you’re 5’4″ (64 inches), that means aiming for a waist under 32 inches.
Waist-to-hip ratio: Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement at its widest point. The American Heart Association flags a ratio above 0.80 as elevated risk for women. Research on overweight women found that cardiovascular risk factors like high triglycerides and elevated blood pressure became significantly more common at a ratio of 0.90 or higher.
Healthy Weight Shifts as You Age
If you’re over 65, the standard BMI advice may actually steer you wrong. A large meta-analysis looking at BMI and mortality in older adults found that the lowest risk of death was at a BMI of 23 to 24, not at the lower end of the “healthy” range. Being slightly overweight by standard BMI categories carried no increased mortality risk at all.
More striking, older adults with a BMI of 20 to 21, which falls squarely in the “healthy” range for younger adults, had a 12% to 19% greater risk of death compared to those at a BMI of 23 to 24. Mortality risk didn’t start climbing on the higher end until BMI reached about 33. The takeaway: carrying a few extra pounds in your later years appears protective, possibly because it provides reserves during illness or injury. Unintentional weight loss in older women is worth paying attention to, not celebrating.
Finding Your Personal Healthy Weight
Rather than fixating on a single number, it helps to look at the full picture. Your BMI gives you a rough starting zone. Your waist measurement tells you whether fat distribution is a concern. Your body fat percentage reveals whether your weight comes from muscle or fat. And your bloodwork, things like blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure, tells you how your body is actually functioning at your current weight.
A weight where you sleep well, have consistent energy, maintain regular menstrual cycles (if premenopausal), and can do the physical activities you want to do is often a better marker than any formula. Some women feel their best at the higher end of the BMI range, others at the lower end. The number on the scale is one data point among many, and for most women, it’s not the most important one.