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Waist to Hip Ratio Calculator

Source: WHO Expert Consultation on Waist Circumference and Waist-Hip Ratio, Geneva 2008 (published 2011), section 5.2 measurement protocol and Annex Table A1 · Source verified August 21, 2026

Blake Boege
Written by Blake Boege · Founder, Calculator Answers

The waist-to-hip ratio is a dimensionless ratio calculated by dividing the waist circumference by the hip circumference. A waist-to-hip ratio calculator determines this ratio to assess body fat distribution and evaluate associated health risks, particularly cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization defines abdominal obesity as a ratio above 0.90 for men and above 0.85 for women. WHO specifies the waist be measured at the midpoint between the lowest rib and the top of the iliac crest, not at the navel, and reports that measuring at the navel underestimates the true waist circumference. Epidemiologists and medical professionals use this metric alongside body mass index to gauge visceral fat accumulation and general health status.

Pick inches or centimeters, choose the female or male reference, and enter waist and hip measurements. The calculator returns your waist-to-hip ratio and a screening-level category.

See also: Bra Size Calculator, BMI Calculator, and Body Shape Calculator.

Quick Answer

Calculate your waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) from waist and hip circumferences measured at the landmarks WHO specifies.

in

Midpoint between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, tape level. · e.g. 30

in

Largest circumference of the buttocks, tape level. · e.g. 38

The category is this page's own screening band, not WHO's. It is not a diagnosis.

Waist-to-hip ratio

Ratio · Low

0.789

30 in ÷ 38 in

Waist30 in
Hip38 in
Ratio0.789
CategoryLow
ReferenceFemale bands

Screening estimate, not a diagnosis. The three bands are this page's own: female 0.80 / 0.85, male 0.90 / 1.00. WHO publishes a single cut-off rather than bands, above 0.85 for women and above 0.90 for men. Body shape is influenced by many factors. Talk to a clinician about your personal health.

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Examples

Female 30 in waist, 38 in hip

ratio 0.789 · Low

Male 36 in waist, 38 in hip

ratio 0.947 · Moderate

Female 36 in waist, 38 in hip

ratio 0.947 · Higher

How it works

Waist-to-hip ratio is a simple shape measure. Divide the waist by the hips and compare against a reference threshold. The three bands below are this page's own presentation. WHO does not publish three bands: it publishes a single cut-off above which risk is described as substantially increased, and that line is marked against each band so you can see where the two disagree.

Formula · WHR = waist ÷ hip

Female reference · < 0.80 low · 0.80 to 0.85 moderate · ≥ 0.85 higher

WHO's published cut-off for women is above 0.85, which is where this page's higher band also begins. The two agree.

Male reference · < 0.90 low · 0.90 to 1.00 moderate · ≥ 1.00 higher

WHO's published cut-off for men is above 0.90. That is where this page's moderate band starts, not where its higher band starts, so a man between 0.90 and 1.00 is inside WHO's substantially-increased range while this page still shows moderate. Read WHO's line as the one with a source behind it.

The whole calculation is one division

Waist circumference divided by hip circumference. That is all of it, and it is worth saying plainly because the difficulty in this measurement is never the arithmetic.

WHR = waist ÷ hip

The result is dimensionless, so inches and centimetres give the same answer as long as both measurements use the same unit. A 30 inch waist over a 38 inch hip is 0.789; 76.2 cm over 96.52 cm is the same 0.789. Mixing the two is the one way to get a meaningless number out of this page.

Where the tape goes, and why it decides the answer

Everything difficult about this measurement is in the landmarks. WHO's protocol puts the waist tape at the midpoint between the lower margin of the last palpable rib and the top of the iliac crest, in the mid axillary line, at the end of a normal breath out. The hip goes around the largest circumference of the buttocks. Both tapes stay parallel to the floor.

Find your lowest rib with your fingers, find the top of your hip bone, and take the tape halfway between them. That is usually above the navel, and on many people it is noticeably above it.

A centimetre of tape placement is not a rounding error here. On a 96.5 cm hip, moving the waist tape by 2 cm moves the ratio by about 0.021, which is a fifth of the width of a band. Take two readings and average them, and take them the same way each time if you intend to compare.

Working one out by hand

A 36 inch waist and a 38 inch hip.

  1. Divide. 36 ÷ 38 = 0.947.
  2. Read it against the reference for your sex. The same 0.947 sits in this page's moderate band on the male reference and its higher band on the female one.
  3. Check it against WHO's published line, which is a single cut-off rather than a set of bands: above 0.90 for men and above 0.85 for women.

That third step is the one worth doing. One ratio, two references and two different-looking answers, and the only figure with a publication behind it is WHO's.

Why the shape matters and not just the size

A ratio compares two circumferences on the same body, so it says something a single measurement cannot: where the tape is bigger relative to where it is smaller. Two people of identical height and weight can have very different ratios, and two people with the same ratio can be very different sizes.

That independence cuts both ways. Because the ratio ignores absolute size, it says nothing at all about how large either measurement is. A 24 inch waist over a 30 inch hip and a 40 inch waist over a 50 inch hip are both exactly 0.800. The page will report the same figure for both, because that is what the division does.

Edge cases

  • A hip of zero. Refused. The hip is the denominator, so there is no ratio rather than an enormous one.
  • A waist larger than the hip. Allowed, and the ratio comes out above 1.0. That is an ordinary measurement for some people and the page reports it rather than treating it as an error.
  • Mixed units. The one genuine trap. A waist in centimetres over a hip in inches produces a number roughly 2.5 times too large, and nothing about it looks wrong. Both boxes take the same unit.
  • Pregnancy. The landmarks the protocol depends on are not where the protocol assumes, so the ratio is not interpretable. Nothing on this page accounts for that.
  • Sitting on a boundary. A ratio of exactly 0.850 on the female reference falls in the higher band, because the band is defined as 0.85 or above. One millimetre of tape placement decides it, which is a good reason not to read a band change as an event.

What this page reports, and what it does not

It reports where a measurement falls. It does not report anything about the person who took it.

A ratio is one number from two tape measurements taken on one day. It carries no information about blood pressure, blood glucose, lipids, fitness, diet, family history or anything else that would be needed to say something about health, and it is a screening figure in the literature rather than a diagnosis. A band on this page is a band on this page.

Nothing here is advice, and no threshold on this page is offered as a target to move toward. If a figure concerns you, the useful next step is a conversation with someone who can examine you, not a different calculator.

Your figures stay in this page

The waist and hip measurements you enter are computed by this page in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is stored after you close the tab, and there is no account.

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Health note. This tool is for educational and planning use, not a medical diagnosis. For questions about cardiovascular or metabolic health, talk to a qualified clinician.

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Frequently asked questions

Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) divides waist circumference by hip circumference. It is a body-shape screening measure that tracks fat distribution around the abdomen relative to the hips. A higher ratio reflects more abdominal fat relative to hips.

WHO specifies the waist be measured at the midpoint between the lower margin of the last palpable rib and the top of the iliac crest, in the mid axillary line, at the end of a normal breath out. Find your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, and take the tape halfway between them. Measure the hip at the largest circumference of the buttocks. Keep the tape parallel to the floor for both, snug without compressing, and take two readings and average them. This page used to say the navel. WHO reviewed that protocol and did not adopt it, reporting that measurements taken at the level of the umbilicus may underestimate the true waist circumference.

WHO publishes ONE cut-off, not a set of bands: abdominal obesity is defined as a ratio above 0.90 for men and above 0.85 for women. The three bands this page shows are its own presentation and are marked as such beside the calculator, because three bands can never be WHO's when WHO draws one line. For women the two agree, since 0.85 is where this page's higher band begins. For men they do not: WHO's line at 0.90 is where this page's MODERATE band starts, so a man between 0.90 and 1.00 sits inside WHO's substantially-increased range while this page still shows moderate. Read WHO's line as the one with a publication behind it.

Neither replaces the other. BMI compares weight to height across the whole body. WHR focuses on fat distribution. They give different signals, and many clinicians look at both together along with waist circumference, blood pressure, and lab work for a fuller picture.

A higher ratio is one screening signal, not a diagnosis. Talk to a clinician about your overall health, family history, blood pressure, blood sugar, lipids, activity, and sleep. Body-composition habits like activity, sleep, and balanced eating influence WHR over time.

Not at all, as long as both measurements use the same one. The ratio is a division of two lengths, so the units cancel: 30 over 38 inches and 76.2 over 96.52 centimetres are both 0.789. Mixing them is the only real trap, and it is a silent one, because a centimetre waist over an inch hip produces a number about two and a half times too large and nothing about it looks wrong.

More than most people expect. On a 96.5 cm hip, moving the waist tape 2 cm changes the ratio by about 0.021, which is roughly a fifth of the width of a band. That is why the protocol specifies landmarks rather than a height, and why two readings averaged are better than one.

Because the references differ. A ratio of 0.947 sits in this page's moderate band on the male reference and its higher band on the female one. That is not the arithmetic changing; it is two different sets of reference values applied to one number, and it is worth knowing which reference you selected before reading anything into the label.

Yes, and the page reports it rather than treating it as an error. A ratio above 1.0 simply means the waist measurement is larger than the hip measurement, which is an ordinary result for some people. The division does not care which of the two is bigger.

Nothing whatsoever, and this is the most useful thing to understand about it. Because it divides one circumference by another, absolute size cancels out. A 24 inch waist over a 30 inch hip and a 40 inch waist over a 50 inch hip are both exactly 0.800. If size is what you want to know, the ratio is the wrong number to look at.

Then the band is not telling you much. A ratio of exactly 0.850 on the female reference falls in the higher band because the band is defined as 0.85 or above, and a millimetre of tape placement would have put it in the moderate one. Treat a band change as a rounding artefact rather than as an event.

The measurement is not interpretable then. The protocol's landmarks assume an anatomy the tape is not finding, and nothing on this page adjusts for it. The number the division returns would still be a number; it would not be a waist-to-hip ratio in the sense the references were built on.

Because the hip is the denominator. Dividing by zero has no answer rather than a very large one, so the page declines instead of printing something that looks like a result.

No. The waist and hip measurements are computed by this page in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is kept after you close the tab, and there is no account.

Yes. WHR can change with body composition shifts, so re-measuring monthly gives a useful trend. Measure under similar conditions each time (same time of day, same tape, same posture) for a fair comparison.