Picture two friends who both weigh 170 lb (77 kg) and stand 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) tall. On a bathroom scale, they look the same. One lifts weights four days a week. The other hasn't worked out in years. Their bodies are clearly different, and a body fat percentage chart helps show why. It looks past your weight and asks a better question: how much of you is fat, and how much is everything else?
Let me walk you through a chart you can trust, how to find your own number, and what that number really means.
What body fat percentage means
Body fat percentage is the share of your total weight that comes from fat. If you weigh 200 lb (91 kg) and 50 lb (23 kg) of that is fat, your body fat is 25%.
The rest is your lean mass. That includes muscle, bone, organs, and water.
Here's why this matters. BMI only uses your height and weight. The CDC calls BMI a screening measure, not a diagnosis, and says it should be looked at along with other factors. Body fat percentage is one of those other factors. It can tell a muscular person apart from someone who carries more fat at the same weight.
The body fat percentage chart (ACE ranges)
The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a US nonprofit that certifies fitness trainers. It publishes a few simple reference points for adults. I've kept this chart to only the numbers ACE gives, so you know exactly where each line comes from.
| What it means | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| May be dangerously low | Below 14% | Below 6% |
| Lower than the average non-athlete | 14% to 24% | 6% to 17% |
| Typical for the average non-athlete | 25% to 31% | 18% to 24% |
| Obesity | 32% or more | 25% or more |
Source: American Council on Exercise.
A quick note on the second row. ACE doesn't use that label. I added it only to fill the gap between the "dangerously low" line and the "average" range, so the chart has no holes.
Why women and men have different ranges
You'll notice the women's numbers run higher at every level. ACE's average range for non-athlete women sits several points above the range for men, which is why it gives separate numbers. A 28% reading means something very different for a woman than for a man.
How to measure your body fat at home
This is simpler than it sounds. You need a soft tape measure and two minutes.
A common home method comes from the US Navy. In 1984, researchers J.A. Hodgdon and M.B. Beckett at the Naval Health Research Center built formulas that estimate body fat from a few body measurements. They checked the formulas against underwater weighing, a lab method.
Here's what you measure:
- Men: height, neck, and waist
- Women: height, neck, waist, and hips (at the widest point)
For a general waist measurement, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) gives an easy tip. Stand up, place the tape around your middle just above your hipbones, and measure right after you breathe out. Whatever spots you use, use the same ones every time.
A worked example
I ran two example people through the Navy formulas to show you how it works.
- A man who is 5 ft 10 in (70 in, or 178 cm) tall, with a 15 in (38 cm) neck and a 34 in (86 cm) waist, comes out at about 17.5% body fat. On the ACE chart, that's just under the average non-athlete range.
- A woman who is 5 ft 5 in (65 in, or 165 cm) tall, with a 13 in (33 cm) neck, a 30 in (76 cm) waist, and 40 in (102 cm) hips, comes out at about 31%. That's at the top of the typical range for a non-athlete woman.
You don't have to do this math by hand. Our body fat calculator does it for you in a few seconds.
Other ways people measure body fat
You've probably seen other options too:
- Smart scales send a tiny, painless electric current through your body.
- Skinfold calipers pinch the skin at a few spots.
- DEXA scans are done at a clinic or lab.
Each one gives an estimate, and different methods don't always agree. So the smartest move is to pick one method and stick with it.
How to read your number
Once you have a number, find it on the body fat percentage chart. Then keep these three ideas in mind.
1. It's an estimate, not a verdict. Tape measures slip, and small measuring errors change the result. Treat your number as a close guess, not an exact reading.
2. The trend matters most. Measure the same way, at the same time of day, every few weeks. If the number slowly moves the way you want, you're on track.
3. Look at more than one number. Your waist size, your strength, and how you feel all count. Our waist-to-height ratio calculator is a nice partner to this chart, since it focuses on belly fat.
What this means for you
Here's the good news. You can change your body fat percentage from two directions. You can lose fat, gain muscle, or both. Either one lowers the number.
This is where it gets interesting for gym-goers. If you lift weights and eat enough protein, your weight might barely move while your body fat drops. The scale would miss that progress. A body fat check would catch it.
Protein plays a big role here. A 2018 review by Robert Morton and colleagues in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that gains in lean mass from strength training leveled off at about 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight a day. For a 170 lb (77 kg) person, that's about 123 g a day. Our protein calculator can give you a range that fits your goal.
Want to see how much of your weight is muscle, bone, and water? Try our lean body mass calculator. It's the flip side of your body fat number.
When lower is not better
ACE notes that body fat below 14% for women or 6% for men may be dangerously low. If you are pushing hard to get lean, or food and weight feel stressful, please talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian. The same goes if you have a health condition or take medicines that affect your weight.
My take on body fat charts
Based on what I've seen in the research, the most useful thing a body fat percentage chart does is change the question you ask. "How much do I weigh?" becomes "What is my weight made of?" That shift helps a lot of people.
I also think it's easy to get too fixed on a single number. The ACE ranges are wide on purpose. A woman at 26% and a woman at 30% are both in the typical range. Neither one is "wrong."
If you're a gym-goer, use the chart to track progress over months, not days. If you're just curious, use it as one more piece of the picture next to your BMI and waist size.
The bottom line
A body fat percentage chart shows what your weight is made of, not just how much there is. According to ACE, 25% to 31% is typical for non-athlete women and 18% to 24% for non-athlete men. Measure the same way each time, watch the trend, and pair it with strength work and enough protein. Ready to find your number? Start with our body fat calculator.