What Is a Good Waist to Hip Ratio? Numbers, Formula and How to Measure
By Shihab Mia July 5, 2026 8 min read
Quick answer
Your waist to hip ratio (WHR) = waist circumference divided by hip circumference, measured in the same unit. Per the World Health Organization, health risk from abdominal fat is elevated at 0.90 or higher for men and 0.85 or higher for women. Anything below those numbers is considered lower risk. It is a screening signal, not a diagnosis.
Two people can weigh the same and share the same BMI yet carry fat in very different places. Waist to hip ratio captures that difference. It compares how much you measure around your middle to how much you measure around your hips, which is a quick proxy for how much fat sits around your abdomen. Fat stored around the waist is more strongly linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes than fat stored on the hips and thighs, so a simple tape measure and a bit of division can tell you something weight alone cannot.
This guide is general information
Waist to hip ratio is a screening tool, not medical advice or a diagnosis. For decisions about your health, talk to a qualified healthcare professional.
What is a good waist to hip ratio?
A good waist to hip ratio is below 0.90 for men and below 0.85 for women. According to the World Health Organization, abdominal obesity and its associated health risk are considered elevated at or above those thresholds. The lower your ratio sits below the cutoff, the more your body is storing fat on the hips and thighs rather than around the organs in your abdomen, which is generally the lower risk pattern.
WHO waist to hip ratio risk thresholds
| Group | Lower risk | Elevated risk (abdominal obesity) |
|---|---|---|
| Men | Below 0.90 | 0.90 or higher |
| Women | Below 0.85 | 0.85 or higher |
Notice the cutoffs differ by sex. Women naturally carry a higher share of body fat and tend to store more of it on the hips, so the same ratio means something different for a woman than for a man. These are population level screening numbers, not personal verdicts. A reading of 0.86 for a woman does not mean something is wrong today, it means the number sits on the higher risk side of a line drawn for convenience and is worth paying attention to.
What is the waist to hip ratio formula?
The formula is your waist circumference divided by your hip circumference, using the same unit for both. It does not matter whether you measure in centimetres or inches, because the units cancel out when you divide, so the ratio is the same either way.
| Measurement | Example (cm) | Example (in) |
|---|---|---|
| Waist | 81 cm | 32 in |
| Hips | 98 cm | 38.5 in |
| Ratio (waist divided by hips) | 0.83 | 0.83 |
In the example above, 81 divided by 98 is about 0.83, and 32 divided by 38.5 is also about 0.83. Same person, same ratio, whichever tape you own. Because the number is a ratio and not a raw size, it is quite forgiving of small measuring slips as long as you take the waist and hip readings the same way each time.
How do I measure my waist and hips correctly?
Measure your waist at the midpoint between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, or at the narrowest part of your torso, and measure your hips at the widest part of the buttocks. Stand relaxed, breathe out normally, and keep the tape snug but not digging into the skin. Getting these two spots right is the whole game, because a good ratio built on sloppy landmarks is meaningless.
- Stand upright and relaxed with your feet together and your weight evenly balanced. Do not suck in your stomach.
- For the waist, find the midpoint between the bottom of your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, then wrap the tape around that level. If that is hard to find, use the narrowest point of your torso.
- Breathe out gently and read the waist measurement with the tape snug and level all the way around, parallel to the floor.
- For the hips, wrap the tape around the widest part of your buttocks, again keeping it level and parallel to the floor.
- Divide the waist figure by the hip figure. For example, a 90 cm waist divided by 104 cm hips gives 90 divided by 104, which is about 0.87.
- Compare the result to the WHO thresholds: 0.87 for a man is just below the 0.90 line, while 0.87 for a woman is just above the 0.85 line.
Because waist to hip ratio comes down to one division, it is worth a quick refresher on the arithmetic if the decimals throw you off. Our guide on how to calculate percentages covers the same kind of everyday maths these health ratios rely on, and the percentage calculator handles the division for you if you would rather not do it by hand.
What does waist to hip ratio tell you that BMI does not?
Waist to hip ratio tells you where your body stores fat, while BMI only tells you how heavy you are for your height. That distinction matters because abdominal fat is the pattern most strongly tied to metabolic and heart health risk, and BMI is completely blind to it.
- Two people with an identical BMI can have very different waist to hip ratios, and therefore different risk profiles.
- A muscular person can read as overweight on BMI yet have a low, healthy waist to hip ratio.
- WHR flags the apple shaped pattern (fat around the middle), which carries more risk than the pear shaped pattern (fat on the hips and thighs).
- It needs nothing but a tape measure, so you can track it at home over time.
The two numbers work best together rather than in competition. If you want the fuller picture, read our plain English BMI explained guide alongside this one, run the BMI calculator for your height and weight, and use waist to hip ratio to add the location of your fat to the amount of it. Neither number is a diagnosis on its own.
Is 0.7 the "ideal" waist to hip ratio, or is that a different number entirely?
A waist to hip ratio near 0.7 in women is the figure most often quoted as the "ideal" or most attractive ratio, but that number comes from attractiveness research, not from the WHO health screening guidance covered above. The two numbers answer different questions, and mixing them up is where a lot of confusion starts.
The 0.7 figure traces back to research by psychologist Devendra Singh in the 1990s, which found that a waist to hip ratio around 0.7 in women was rated as most attractive by observers across a range of cultures, and was proposed as a signal correlated with fertility and reproductive health. That is a finding about perceived attractiveness, drawn from psychology studies using drawings and photographs. It is not the same exercise as the WHO setting a public health cutoff from population health data, and it is not a target you need to hit for your own health. A ratio of 0.7 sits comfortably below the WHO's 0.85 threshold for women, so it is not unhealthy, but chasing a specific number for appearance reasons is a different goal than managing health risk, and the two should not be confused. For men, no equivalent "ideal" figure is nearly as widely studied or agreed upon, and the WHO's 0.90 threshold remains the relevant reference point for health.
Common mistakes when measuring waist to hip ratio
Most bad readings come from measuring the wrong spot or measuring inconsistently, not from the maths. Watch for these.
- Measuring the waist at the belly button by default, which is often lower than the true waist landmark and inflates the number.
- Sucking in your stomach or holding your breath, which shrinks the waist reading and hides risk.
- Pulling the tape too tight so it digs into the skin, or leaving it so loose it sags below level.
- Measuring hips at the hip bone instead of the widest part of the buttocks, which understates the denominator.
- Mixing units, for example a waist in inches and hips in centimetres, which breaks the ratio entirely.
- Reading a number just over the cutoff as a diagnosis rather than a prompt to look at the wider picture with a professional.
Good to know: WHR is one screen, not the whole story
Waist to hip ratio is a fast, cheap screen, but it has real limits and should sit alongside other measures. It can behave oddly for people carrying a lot of weight everywhere, where both the waist and the hips grow together and the ratio can look deceptively normal. It also does not capture fitness, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol or how you feel and move day to day.
Treat it as one useful data point. Waist circumference on its own, waist to height ratio, body fat percentage and simple trends over time all add context. Waist to height ratio is calculated as waist circumference divided by height, in the same unit, and a common public health guideline is to keep that figure under 0.5, meaning your waist stays under half your height. It is a different sum from waist to hip ratio, but it is built the same simple way and catches a similar pattern from a different angle. If you want to layer in another estimate, the body fat calculator uses your measurements to approximate composition. If your ratio sits close to or above the WHO threshold, that is a reason to look further with a clinician, not a reason to panic over a single tape reading.
Calculate your waist to hip ratio
The tool below does the division for you, labels your result against the WHO thresholds for your sex, and works in either centimetres or inches. Nothing you enter leaves your device.
📐 Try the free tool Waist to Hip Ratio Calculator Free waist to hip ratio calculator. Enter your waist and hip measurements to get your WHR to 2 decimals and your WHO health risk category for men and women.Once you have your number, pair it with the other health metrics for a rounder view, and remember that steady change over weeks beats chasing a single reading. Building better habits works the same patient, additive way as the compound effect explained here, where small consistent inputs add up far more than one dramatic effort.
Frequently asked questions
What is a healthy waist to hip ratio for a woman?
For women, a waist to hip ratio below 0.85 is considered lower risk by the World Health Organization, and 0.85 or higher signals elevated risk from abdominal fat. Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement using the same unit for both. The number is a screening signal, not a diagnosis, so read it alongside other health measures.
What is a healthy waist to hip ratio for a man?
For men, a waist to hip ratio below 0.90 is classed as lower risk by the WHO, while 0.90 or higher indicates elevated abdominal obesity risk. You calculate it by dividing your waist circumference by your hip circumference in the same unit. As with any single screen, use it to decide whether to look deeper with a professional, not as a verdict.
How do I measure my waist and hips for the ratio?
Measure your waist at the midpoint between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, or at your narrowest point, and measure your hips at the widest part of your buttocks. Stand relaxed, breathe out normally, and keep the tape snug and level. Then divide the waist figure by the hip figure to get your ratio.
Is waist to hip ratio better than BMI?
Neither is better in every case, they measure different things. BMI tells you how heavy you are for your height, while waist to hip ratio tells you where your body stores fat, which is a stronger signal of heart and metabolic risk. Using both together gives a fuller picture than relying on either number on its own.
Does the unit I measure in change my waist to hip ratio?
No. Because the ratio divides one measurement by another, the units cancel out, so centimetres and inches give the same result as long as you use the same unit for both the waist and the hips. Mixing units, such as an inch waist and a centimetre hip, is the one thing that will break the calculation.
Can a normal weight person have a high waist to hip ratio?
Yes. Someone at a healthy weight or BMI can still carry a larger share of fat around the abdomen relative to the hips, pushing their waist to hip ratio above the WHO threshold. This is one reason the ratio is useful, because it can flag an at risk fat pattern that weight and BMI alone would miss entirely.
Is a waist to hip ratio of 0.7 the same as a healthy ratio?
Not exactly. A ratio of 0.7 in women comes from research on perceived attractiveness, not from the WHO health guidance, though it does sit well below the WHO's 0.85 risk cutoff, so it is not unhealthy either. Treat 0.7 as an attractiveness research figure and treat 0.85 as the health screening line, since they answer different questions.
Does waist to hip ratio change as you get older?
It can. Many people gain a larger share of abdominal fat with age even at a stable weight, particularly after menopause in women, which tends to push the ratio upward over the years. This is a good reason to recheck your waist to hip ratio periodically rather than treating one measurement in your twenties as fixed for life.