AR 600-9 body fat % and pass/fail check from neck, waist and hip measurements.
Updated
| Age | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 17–20 | 20% | 30% |
| 21–27 | 22% | 32% |
| 28–39 | 24% | 34% |
| 40+ | 26% | 36% |
Educational only — not medical advice. Talk to a clinician for personal health decisions.
Quick start
Enter age, sex, height and tape measurements to see body-fat % per AR 600-9 (multi-site) and the June 2023 single-site update, with pass/fail vs the age bracket.
Switch between metric (cm) and imperial (in). Age picks the AR 600-9 max-allowed bracket.
Height, neck, waist (and hip for women). The result updates live — no Calculate button.
Body-fat % vs the maximum allowed for your age bracket, plus the new single-site number for comparison.
In-depth guide
The US Army uses circumference (tape) measurements to estimate body fat % under AR 600-9, the Army Body Composition Program. The June 2023 update moved screening to a single-site waist tape; the previous multi-site tape (height/neck/waist for men; plus hip for women) is still the most widely cited formula. This calculator shows both numbers and the pass/fail thresholds by age and sex.
Identical regression to the US Navy method (Hodgdon & Beckett, 1984). All inputs in inches; cm input is converted internally.
Male: %BF = 86.010·log10(waist − neck) − 70.041·log10(height) + 36.76
Female: %BF = 163.205·log10(waist + hip − neck) − 97.684·log10(height) − 78.387
The formula is undefined when (waist − neck) ≤ 0 for men or (waist + hip − neck) ≤ 0 for women — re-measure if you hit that.
The June 2023 AR 600-9 update simplified field screening to one circumference: the waist, measured at the navel. The published model uses height as a small correction:
Male: %BF = 0.74·waist_cm − 1.13·height_cm + 47.7
Female: %BF = 0.85·waist_cm − 1.10·height_cm + 60.0
Constants vary across Army field references and lookup tables — treat this as a screening estimate. For an official record, follow the procedure your command specifies in the current order.
AR 600-9 sets a maximum allowable body-fat percentage by age and sex. The reference values (pre-2023 baseline that many published guides still cite) are:
| Age | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 17–20 | 20% | 30% |
| 21–27 | 22% | 32% |
| 28–39 | 24% | 34% |
| 40+ | 26% | 36% |
Soldiers above the threshold for their bracket are flagged for the Army Body Composition Program. Current thresholds may differ — always follow your command's current AR 600-9 implementing guidance.
Use a tailor's tape, snug but not compressing the tissue. Per AR 600-9:
Take three measurements at each site and use the average — single-shot tape readings can vary by 1–2 cm from breathing, posture and tape tension.
When to reach for it. Use it to self-check against the US Army standard before a tape test, or to track your circumference numbers over a training cycle.
When something else is better. It is the Army’s screening method, not a precise body-composition reading — DEXA will differ.
The pitfall to watch. Tape placement is everything: a centimetre off at the neck or waist swings the result by whole percentage points.
Everything runs on your device. The values you enter are processed locally in this browser tab — EpitomeTool does not send your input to a server, store it, or log it. That means you can use the tool offline once the page has loaded, and refreshing the tab wipes the slate.
No. The Army body-fat calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, stored, or logged.
Two: the long-standing multi-site tape test (height/neck/waist for men; height/neck/waist/hip for women) which uses the same formula as the US Navy body-fat method, and the single-site (waist-only) tape test introduced by the June 2023 AR 600-9 update. The multi-site number is reported with pass/fail; the single-site number is shown as a comparison.
Per AR 600-9 (pre-2023 reference standard) the maximum allowable body-fat percentages by age are: Men — 17-20: 20%, 21-27: 22%, 28-39: 24%, 40+: 26%. Women — 17-20: 30%, 21-27: 32%, 28-39: 34%, 40+: 36%. Field tape-test screening enforces these; thresholds may be adjusted per current Army policy.
The Army moved to a single-site waist-only tape in June 2023 to simplify field measurement and reduce variance. The multi-site formula is still widely cited in published guides and remains a reasonable alternative. Soldiers and recruiters reading this should follow the method specified in their command's current order of the day.
Per AR 600-9: Neck — just below the larynx (Adam's apple), tape level. Waist (men) — at the navel, parallel to the floor, end of normal exhale. Waist (women) — at the narrowest point above the hip bones. Hip (women) — at the largest point of the buttocks, tape parallel to the floor. Use a tailor's tape, snug but not compressing the tissue.
Yes for the multi-site formula — the Navy tool and the Army multi-site tool share the Hodgdon-Beckett (1984) regression. The Army wraps it in pass/fail thresholds and surfaces the new single-site formula as well; the Navy tool reports the bands through ACE categories (essential / fitness / average / obese).
Population-level standard error of about ±3% body fat vs DEXA scan, with larger errors at the high end of the BF% range. It's intended as a screening tool, not a precision measurement. For training or medical decisions, use DEXA, BodPod or hydrostatic measurement.
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