What is a healthy body fat percentage?

Healthy body fat is a range, not a single target, and it is genuinely different for men and women. A number that reads as lean for a man is too low for a woman, because women carry more essential fat by biology.

The reference ranges above are a good general map. For men, the mid-teens to low-twenties covers fit to average and healthy. For women, add roughly seven to ten points across the board: low-twenties reads as fit, and the mid-twenties to low-thirties is average and healthy. Below the essential-fat floor, around 6 percent for men and 14 for women, is not a goal to chase. Your body needs that fat to function.

A couple of honest notes. These estimators, including the tape-measure method in the tool, are approximations, not lab-grade readings. What they are genuinely good for is tracking direction over time, whether your number is trending the way you want, not nailing a precise figure. And leaner is not automatically healthier past a point. Chasing very low body fat has real costs to energy, mood, and hormones, and stage-lean is not a place to live.

Where your healthy range sits also depends on your goals and how you feel and perform, which is a bigger picture than one percentage.

Estimate your own body fat with a tape measure in the tool to see where you land.