If you’ve spent any time staring at those dusty charts in a doctor’s office, you know the drill. You look for your height—5'8"—and run your finger across to find the "ideal" zone. It usually says something like 125 to 158 pounds. But honestly, how many women do you know who actually feel their best at the bottom end of that range? Most people searching for the average weight for 58 female aren't just looking for a math equation. They’re trying to figure out if their body makes sense in a world obsessed with standardized metrics.
Numbers lie. Or, at the very least, they omit the truth.
A woman who is 5'8" is tall. She’s got more bone mass, more surface area, and potentially more muscle than someone five inches shorter. Yet, we still rely on the Body Mass Index (BMI), a formula invented in the 1830s by a Belgian mathematician named Adolphe Quetelet. He wasn't even a doctor. He was an astronomer and a statistician. He literally told people his formula shouldn't be used to judge individual health, yet here we are in 2026, still stressing over it.
The Reality of the Average Weight for 58 Female
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the actual average weight for an adult woman in the United States has hovered around 170.8 pounds lately. Now, that's a general average across all heights. For a woman specifically at 5'8", the "normal" BMI range sits between $125$ and $158$ pounds.
But wait.
If you walk into a gym and see a woman who lifts weights regularly, she might weigh 165 pounds at 5'8" and look incredibly lean. Meanwhile, someone else at the same height might weigh 140 pounds but have a much higher body fat percentage and lower bone density. This is where the average weight for 58 female becomes a bit of a trap. We focus on the scale because it’s easy to measure, but the scale can’t tell the difference between a gallon of water, a dense femur, or a bicep.
Dr. Margaret Ashwell, a prominent nutrition scientist, has long argued that we should be looking at waist-to-height ratios instead of just weight. Her research suggests that your waist circumference should be less than half your height. For a 5'8" woman (68 inches), that means keeping a waist under 34 inches is a much better predictor of longevity than hitting a specific number on a Taylor scale in your bathroom.
Why Bone Density and Muscle Change Everything
Tall women have a different structural reality. You have longer levers. Your limbs are heavier.
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I once talked to a physical therapist who explained that "frame size" isn't just a gym-bro myth used to justify a big appetite. It's a real clinical observation. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company used to publish tables that accounted for small, medium, and large frames. For a 5'8" woman with a large frame, they actually listed the "ideal" weight as high as 167 pounds. That was back in the 80s! Today, we've weirdly become less nuanced, cramming everyone into the same BMI bucket regardless of whether they have the narrow shoulders of a marathoner or the broad build of a swimmer.
Muscle is heavy. It's dense. It's metabolically active. If you are 5'8" and active, you might find that your body "wants" to sit at 160 or 165 pounds. Trying to force it down to 135 just because a chart says so can lead to a sluggish metabolism and hormonal disruptions. It's about finding that set point where you have energy, your cycles are regular (if applicable), and you aren't constantly dreaming about a bagel.
The Age Factor No One Mentions
The average weight for 58 female in her 20s is rarely the same as the average weight for that same woman at 55.
Perimenopause and menopause change the game entirely. As estrogen levels dip, the body naturally redistributes fat toward the midsection. It’s frustrating, sure. But it’s also biological. Studies published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society have actually suggested that as we age, carrying a little extra weight—being in the "overweight" BMI category—might actually be protective against osteoporosis and mortality.
You need some fat. Fat produces a form of estrogen called estrone after the ovaries take their permanent vacation. If you’re 5'8" and 60 years old, being 165 pounds might be significantly healthier for your bones than being 128 pounds. A fall at 128 pounds with low bone density is a recipe for a hip fracture. A little extra "padding" isn't just aesthetic; it's a buffer.
What the Charts Don't See
- Hydration levels: You can swing five pounds in a day just based on salt and water.
- Inflammation: A hard workout or a flight can make you hold onto fluid.
- Muscle mass: Heavy lifters will almost always "fail" the BMI test.
- Race and Ethnicity: Research has shown that the BMI cut-offs don't accurately predict health risks for Black, Asian, or Hispanic women in the same way they do for white women of European descent. For instance, some studies suggest Asian women may face metabolic risks at lower weights, while Black women may have higher bone density and muscle mass that makes a higher weight perfectly healthy.
Breaking Down the "Health" Metrics That Actually Matter
If we aren't using the average weight for 58 female as our North Star, what are we using?
Blood pressure. Fasting blood sugar. Triglycerides. These are the "Big Three." You can be 180 pounds at 5'8" and have the cardiovascular health of an Olympian. Conversely, you can be 130 pounds—the "perfect" weight—and be "skinny fat," with high internal inflammation and pre-diabetic blood sugar levels.
Metabolic health is the goal.
If you can walk up three flights of stairs without gasping, sleep seven hours a night, and your blood work comes back clean, the number on the scale is just data. It’s not a grade. It’s not a measure of your worth as a human.
Basically, your body is a chemistry lab, not a physics equation.
Actionable Steps for Finding Your Own "Normal"
Stop chasing the "average." Average is just a midpoint of a massive, messy data set. Instead, focus on these specific shifts to find where your 5'8" frame functions best.
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Check your waist-to-height ratio. Grab a piece of string. Measure your height. Fold the string in half. Does it fit around your waist? If yes, your visceral fat levels are likely in a very healthy range, regardless of what the scale says.
Prioritize protein and resistance training. Because you are tall, maintaining muscle mass is vital for protecting your joints. Aim for roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal weight. If you want to be 155, eat like it. Lift things that feel heavy. This ensures that the weight you carry is functional.
Track your energy, not just your calories. If you are hitting the "average weight" but you feel like a zombie, you're doing it wrong. Keep a journal for a week. Note when you feel strongest. Usually, that’s at a weight slightly higher than the "skinny" end of the charts.
Get a DEXA scan if you're curious. If you really want the truth, a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry scan will tell you exactly how much of you is bone, fat, and muscle. It’s the gold standard. You might find you have "heavy bones" after all—it’s a real thing.
Watch the trends, not the daily blips. Use an app that averages your weight over a month. This smooths out the noise of cycles, salt, and stress.
The bottom line is that 5'8" is a statuesque height that requires adequate fuel. Don't let a chart designed for an 1830s Frenchman tell you how to live your life in 2026. Focus on how you move, how you feel, and what your blood work says. That’s the only "average" that matters.
Next Steps for Your Health Journey
- Schedule a metabolic panel. Ask your doctor for fasting insulin and A1C tests to see how your body is actually processing fuel.
- Measure your waist circumference. Use this as your primary "size" metric instead of the scale for the next 90 days.
- Audit your strength. Can you do 10 pushups? Can you hold a plank for a minute? If not, focus on building the muscle that will support your 5'8" frame as you age.