Body Fat Calculator

Calculate your body fat percentage from gender, waist, neck, and hip circumference, and height using the U.S. Navy method to analyze body composition. Free online body fat calculator.

Gender

For body fat mass / lean body mass calculation

How to Use

  1. Enter basic info

    Select your gender and enter your height (cm) and weight (kg).

  2. Enter measurements

    Measure and input your waist, neck, and hip (for women) circumferences in centimeters.

  3. View results

    See your estimated body fat percentage and body fat category.

What is body fat percentage?

Body fat percentage expresses the weight of fat tissue as a proportion of your total body weight. Two people at the same weight can be in very different health, depending on how much is muscle versus fat, so it reflects body composition far more accurately than BMI, which looks only at height and weight.

Fat is not inherently bad — it includes essential fat that the body needs for hormone production, organ protection, and temperature regulation. Because of this, men physiologically require about 3–5% and women about 10–13% body fat.

  • Setting diet goals: it lets you focus on losing fat while preserving muscle, not just dropping weight.
  • Assessing health risk: excess visceral fat is directly linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.
  • Tracking training results: even when the scale doesn't move, you can confirm whether fat went down and muscle went up.

Calculation formula

This calculator uses the U.S. Navy circumference method, which needs only a tape measure. The equation differs by sex.

Men: %BF = 86.010 × log10(waist − neck) − 70.041 × log10(height) + 36.76

Women: %BF = 163.205 × log10(waist + hip − neck) − 97.684 × log10(height) − 78.387

All circumferences and height are in centimeters and log10 is the base-10 logarithm. For example, a man who is 175 cm tall with an 85 cm waist and 38 cm neck gets 86.010 × log10(85 − 38) − 70.041 × log10(175) + 36.76 ≈ 23.5%.

If you enter your weight, the tool also splits it into fat and lean mass using fat mass = weight × (body fat % ÷ 100) and lean mass = weight − fat mass.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is body fat percentage?
Body fat percentage is the share of your total body weight that comes from fat. Generally, 14–18% is considered a good range for men and 21–25% for women.
Is the U.S. Navy formula accurate?
Because it estimates from only the waist, neck, and (for women) hip circumferences, it carries a ±3–4% margin of error. It is plenty accurate for tracking trends with just a tape measure, but a DEXA scan is recommended when precise measurement is needed.
What is the difference between body fat percentage and BMI?
BMI is calculated from height and weight alone and cannot account for muscle mass. A muscular athlete may register as overweight on BMI, but body fat percentage reflects the actual fat ratio and so represents body composition more accurately.
What is the normal body fat range?
This calculator classifies men as good at 14–18%, average at 18–25%, and obese above 25%. Women need more fat, so good is 21–25%, average is 25–32%, and obese is above 32%.
What is essential fat?
Essential fat is the minimum amount of fat required for hormone production and organ protection. In this calculator, below 6% for men and below 14% for women falls in this range, and going lower can be harmful to health.
What other methods can measure body fat?
Options include bioelectrical impedance (body-composition scales), skinfold calipers, hydrostatic weighing, and DEXA scans. DEXA is the most accurate but costly, while this calculator uses the circumference method anyone can do with a tape measure.
How should I measure to reduce errors?
Measure the waist at navel height and the neck just below the larynx (Adam's apple), keeping the tape level with the floor. Don't pull it too tight or leave it too loose, and measuring at the same time of day (usually in the morning on an empty stomach) makes trend comparisons more accurate.
Updated 2026 — WHO standards

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