Body Fat Calculator for Women

The circumference method is sex-specific because men and women store fat differently. The female equation was statistically fitted with three sites — neck, waist and hip — so that the hip measurement captures the fat distribution the waist alone would miss. The male equation uses only neck and waist. Adding the hip is not an optional refinement here; it is part of the equation, which is why the calculator shows a hip field the moment you select female.

Measure your neck just below the larynx, your waist at its narrowest point between the ribcage and hip bone (usually just above the navel), and your hip at the widest part of the buttocks. Keep the tape level and snug without compressing the skin, and average two or three reads at each site. Measuring at the same time of day — ideally in the morning — keeps successive readings comparable.

The tool reports your body-fat percentage and, if you add your weight, your fat and lean mass. It also places the figure against the American Council on Exercise (ACE) reference bands for women. Those bands are shown for context only — they describe how figures are commonly grouped, not a target you should aim for, and healthy ranges differ between individuals and across life stages.

A Note on Very Low Readings

The female Navy equation was developed on military personnel, and for very lean, proportionate builds it can read below the typical physiological range — the calculator flags a result under about 10% for exactly this reason. If your figure looks surprisingly low, re-check that every measurement is in the same unit, and cross-check it with the BMI method on the full Body Fat Percentage Calculator. To estimate the lean half of your body directly, use the Lean Body Mass Calculator, and to see the calories your body burns in a day, the TDEE Calculator.