BMI Goal Weight Calculator

What BMI is, what it decides, and what it cannot see

Body mass index is your weight divided by the square of your height. That is the entire definition. It contains no information about body composition, fat distribution, fitness, age, sex or ancestry, because none of those quantities is in the formula. What it gives you is a single number that can be computed from two measurements anyone can take, which is why every health system on earth uses it and why it is on the front of your medical record.

It is also, for the specific reader of this site, the number most likely to be wrong about him. The NIH/NHLBI clinical guidelines that the American cut-points come from state it directly: "BMI overestimates body fat in persons who are very muscular and can underestimate body fat in persons who have lost muscle mass (e.g., the elderly)." CDC's own FAQ is no softer — "BMI cannot distinguish fat mass from lean body mass (muscle and bone)." and "Based on BMI alone, people with a lot of muscle might have a BMI that falls in the overweight category (BMI of 25.0 to less than 30.0) or obesity category (BMI of 30.0 or more). However, BMI cannot distinguish between fat, muscle, and bone mass." A 5 ft 10 in man carrying 200 lb of well-trained bodyweight has a BMI of 28.7, which this table calls overweight. A man the same height and weight who does not train has the same BMI. The formula cannot tell them apart and does not claim to.

That is not a reason to ignore the number, because of what it decides. BMI is the threshold the obesity drug trials enrolled on, and it is what most insurers and most telehealth platforms screen against. Both GLP-1 labels read for this page — WEGOVY SPL 19 and ZEPBOUND SPL 40 — name the same two figures: 27 and 30 kg/m². A BMI of 29.6 with treated hypertension and a BMI of 26.4 without it are on different sides of a door, and the difference can be ten pounds.

One correction worth having, because it is repeated everywhere and it is not what the current labels say. Neither section 1 states a BMI number. WEGOVY's indication reads "adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition"; ZEPBOUND's reads almost identically. Every kg/m² figure in either document is in section 14, describing who a trial enrolled, or in section 8.4. So a BMI below 27 does not mean a label excludes you — it means the trials that supported the approval did not study you. Which door that closes is a question for a prescriber and an insurer, not for a chart.

BMI chart by height and weight

Find your height down the left and the nearest weight across the top. The figure is BMI; the line beneath it is the CDC category that figure falls in.

Categories from CDC's "BMI categories for adults 20 and older", which applies "regardless of age, sex, or race". Read every cell against CDC's own caveat: "BMI cannot distinguish fat mass from lean body mass (muscle and bone)." A cell that says Overweight on a man who squats is describing his mass, not his fat. BMI is a screening measure. BMI should be considered with other factors when assessing an individual’s health.

Goal weight chart — what each BMI weighs at your height

The inversion: the weight that produces a given BMI. Pounds above, kilograms beneath. The 27 and 30 columns are the two figures the GLP-1 trials enrolled on.

Each cell is target BMI × height², nothing more. A column heading is the boundary of a statistical band, not a weight anyone should be: CDC calls 18.5 to less than 25 a "Healthy Weight" for a population, and the NHLBI guidelines note that "the relation between BMI and disease risk varies among individuals and among different populations" and that the classification "must be viewed as a broad generalization". Where 25 and 30 fall for you personally is a conversation with a clinician who can see your body composition; this chart only knows your height.

What a BMI number actually decides on the GLP-1 labels

Every BMI figure in the current WEGOVY and ZEPBOUND labels, with the section it sits in and whether it is part of the approval or a description of who was studied. The two are commonly conflated.

Read verbatim from DailyMed. WEGOVY section 1: "to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in: adults and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with obesity. adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition." ZEPBOUND section 1: "to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults with obesity or adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition." Neither sentence contains a number. The numbers appear in section 14 — ZEPBOUND's Study 1 "enrolled 2,539 adult patients with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ), or with overweight (BMI 27 to <30 kg/m 2 ) and at least one weight-related comorbid condition". Note the two labels write the same band differently: WEGOVY says "27 to 29.9" and ZEPBOUND says "27 to <30", which are the same interval except at a BMI between 29.9 and 30.

Frequently asked questions

What weight do I need to be for a BMI of 25?

Multiply 25 by your height in metres squared. At 5 ft 10 in (1.778 m) that is 79.0 kg, or 174 lb; at 6 ft 0 in it is 184 lb and at 5 ft 8 in it is 164 lb. The second chart above does every height from 5 ft 0 in to 6 ft 6 in. Twenty-five is the top of CDC's "Healthy Weight" band, which is a population boundary rather than a personal target — it is where a statistical category ends, not where your health does.

Is BMI accurate if you lift weights?

No, and the bodies that publish the categories say so. NHLBI's clinical guidelines state that "BMI overestimates body fat in persons who are very muscular and can underestimate body fat in persons who have lost muscle mass (e.g., the elderly)." and that "Individuals who are very muscular may have a BMI placing them in an overweight category when they are not overly fat." CDC's FAQ adds that "BMI cannot distinguish fat mass from lean body mass (muscle and bone)." Concretely: at 5 ft 10 in, a BMI of 25 is 174 lb and a BMI of 30 is 209 lb. A trained man of that height at 200 lb scores 28.7, which the table calls overweight, while carrying visibly less fat than an untrained man at 185 lb who scores 26.5 and is called healthy. Waist circumference, a DEXA scan or a body-composition estimate answer the question BMI cannot.

What BMI do you need for Wegovy or Zepbound?

This is the question the page exists to correct. Neither current label names a BMI in its indication: WEGOVY (SPL 19) and ZEPBOUND (SPL 40) both say "adults with obesity" or "adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition" in section 1, with no kg/m² figure. The familiar numbers — 27 and 30 — are in section 14, as what the trials enrolled on: ZEPBOUND's Study 1 took patients "with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ), or with overweight (BMI 27 to <30 kg/m 2 ) and at least one weight-related comorbid condition". Insurers and telehealth platforms generally apply those trial figures as though they were label criteria, so in practice they behave like a threshold — but the label itself does not state one, and knowing the difference is worth having before a coverage appeal.

How do I calculate BMI from pounds and inches?

Weight in pounds divided by height in inches squared, multiplied by 703 — that is CDC's own hand formula. For 200 lb at 68 inches: 200 ÷ 4,624 × 703 = 30.4. The 703 is a rounded constant; the exact conversion factor is 0.45359237 ÷ 0.0254², which is 703.0696. The rounding costs about 0.003 of a BMI point at 30, which is nothing. This calculator converts exactly instead, so switching between kg and lb never changes the answer it shows you.

What are the BMI categories for adults?

CDC publishes six bands for adults 20 and older, applied "regardless of age, sex, or race": Underweight less than 18.5; Healthy Weight 18.5 to less than 25; Overweight 25 to less than 30; Class 1 Obesity 30 to less than 35; Class 2 Obesity 35 to less than 40; Class 3 Obesity (Severe Obesity) 40 or greater. Note they are exclusive at the top — CDC writes "18.5 to less than 25", so a BMI of 24.97 is a healthy weight. CDC also prints, on the same page, that "BMI is a screening measure. BMI should be considered with other factors when assessing an individual’s health."

How much weight do I have to lose to drop a BMI category?

About 5 BMI points per category, and what that weighs depends only on your height. At 5 ft 10 in each BMI point is 7 lb, so moving from 30 to 25 is 35 lb. At 5 ft 4 in the same five points are 29 lb, and at 6 ft 4 in they are 41 lb. Expressed as a share of bodyweight rather than in pounds, dropping from BMI 30 to BMI 25 is a 16.7% loss at any height — which is the unit the GLP-1 trials report in, and a useful way to compare your target with what those trials achieved.

Is BMI a diagnosis?

No. CDC's Adult BMI Categories page states plainly that "BMI is a screening measure. BMI should be considered with other factors when assessing an individual’s health." and its FAQ that BMI "is not a direct measure of body fat". The NHLBI guidelines add that "Clinical judgment must be used in interpreting BMI in situations in which it may not be an accurate indicator of total body fat. Examples are the presence of edema, high muscularity, muscle wasting, or for very short people." A BMI is a screening number computed from two measurements, and it is the start of a conversation about waist circumference, blood pressure, lipids, glucose and how you actually live — not the end of one.

Sources

1. [1]CDC — Adult BMI Categories. The six bands for adults 20 and older, transcribed verbatim: Underweight less than 18.5; Healthy Weight 18.5 to less than 25; Overweight 25 to less than 30; Obesity 30 or greater; Class 1 Obesity 30 to less than 35; Class 2 Obesity 35 to less than 40; Class 3 Obesity (Severe Obesity) 40 or greater. Also: "BMI is a screening measure. BMI should be considered with other factors when assessing an individual’s health."
2. [2]CDC — BMI Frequently Asked Questions. "For most people, BMI is a good indicator of whether they have too much or too little body fat. However, BMI is not a direct measure of body fat. BMI cannot distinguish fat mass from lean body mass (muscle and bone). BMI also cannot indicate where fat is located in the body." And on athletes: "Based on BMI alone, people with a lot of muscle might have a BMI that falls in the overweight category (BMI of 25.0 to less than 30.0) or obesity category (BMI of 30.0 or more). However, BMI cannot distinguish between fat, muscle, and bone mass." The hand formulas are given there as "weight (kg)/[height (m)] 2" and "weight (pounds)/[height (in)] 2 x 703"
3. [3]NIH/NHLBI — Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (NIH Publication 98-4083). Chapter 4: "BMI overestimates body fat in persons who are very muscular and can underestimate body fat in persons who have lost muscle mass (e.g., the elderly)." On the classification: "Individuals who are very muscular may have a BMI placing them in an overweight category when they are not overly fat." And: "Clinical judgment must be used in interpreting BMI in situations in which it may not be an accurate indicator of total body fat. Examples are the presence of edema, high muscularity, muscle wasting, or for very short people."
4. [4]DailyMed — WEGOVY (semaglutide) injection and tablet, Novo Nordisk, SPL version 19. Section 1 names no kg/m² figure: "to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in: adults and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with obesity. adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition." Section 14.2, Study 2: "enrolled 1,961 patients with obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m 2 ) or with overweight (BMI 27 to 29.9 kg/m 2 ) and at least one weight-related comorbid condition". Section 8.4: "pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with a BMI corresponding to ≥95th percentile for age and sex"
5. [5]DailyMed — ZEPBOUND (tirzepatide) injection, Eli Lilly and Company, SPL version 40. Section 1 names no kg/m² figure: "to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults with obesity or adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition." Section 14.1, Study 1 (NCT04184622): "enrolled 2,539 adult patients with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ), or with overweight (BMI 27 to <30 kg/m 2 ) and at least one weight-related comorbid condition". Section 14.1, Study 2 (NCT04657003): "enrolled 938 adult patients with BMI ≥27 kg/m 2 and type 2 diabetes mellitus"