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Browse all calculatorsEnter age, sex, height, weight and activity. See BMR and TDEE side by side for three published formulas, with every step shown.
| Formula | BMR | TDEE |
|---|
This is a general estimate for educational use. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis or a treatment plan. Talk to a doctor, registered dietitian or other qualified professional before you change your diet, exercise or health care.
| Activity | Mifflin-St Jeor | Harris-Benedict | Katch-McArdle |
|---|
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TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure, is the number of calories the body is estimated to burn in a day. A TDEE calculator first estimates basal metabolic rate (BMR) from age, sex, height and weight, then multiplies it by an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9. This page compares three published BMR formulas.
Most TDEE calculators show one number from one formula. This one shows BMR and TDEE side by side for Mifflin-St Jeor, revised Harris-Benedict and, once a body fat percentage is typed, Katch-McArdle. It also lists the TDEE at all five activity levels and writes out every step. It estimates what the body burns; it does not set a calorie target. For targets, see the Calorie Calculator, and for other everyday sums browse the free online calculators.
| Person | Formula | BMR | TDEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woman, 30 y, 165 cm, 65 kg | Mifflin-St Jeor | 1,370 | 2,124 |
| Woman, 30 y, 165 cm, 65 kg | Revised Harris-Benedict | 1,430 | 2,216 |
| Man, 30 y, 180 cm, 80 kg | Mifflin-St Jeor | 1,780 | 2,759 |
| Man, 30 y, 180 cm, 80 kg | Revised Harris-Benedict | 1,854 | 2,873 |
| Man, 30 y, 180 cm, 80 kg, 20% body fat | Katch-McArdle | 1,752 | 2,716 |
The first estimate is already on screen. Change any field and it updates at once, with no Calculate button.
Pick sex and units, then type age, height and weight. If the exact age is unclear, the age calculator works it out from a birth date.
Select the description closest to a typical week, from sedentary to extra active. The multiplier from 1.2 to 1.9 is shown in the menu.
The large number is TDEE for the formula you pick. The table underneath lists BMR and TDEE for every formula, with the gap between them.
Type a body fat percentage to add Katch-McArdle, open the all-activity table to compare levels, then copy the result or share a link with the same numbers.
The calculation has two steps. First a formula estimates BMR, the energy used at complete rest, in kcal per day. Then BMR is multiplied by an activity factor to give TDEE. Formulas work in kilograms, centimetres and years, so pounds are multiplied by 0.45359237 and inches by 2.54 first.
The formulas come from measurements of resting energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry in groups of adults, so they describe an average person like the one entered, not the individual. Values are kept at full precision and rounded to whole kcal, half up, only when shown. The calories burned calculator covers the energy of a single activity instead.
| Formula | Equation | Fitted on |
|---|---|---|
| Mifflin-St Jeor (1990) | Men: 10w + 6.25h − 5a + 5 Women: 10w + 6.25h − 5a − 161 |
498 healthy adults aged 19 to 78 |
| Revised Harris-Benedict (Roza and Shizgal, 1984) | Men: 88.362 + 13.397w + 4.799h − 5.677a Women: 447.593 + 9.247w + 3.098h − 4.330a |
337 adults, 168 men and 169 women |
| Katch-McArdle | 370 + 21.6 × lean body mass Lean mass = w × (1 − body fat % ÷ 100) |
Lean body mass only; no sex, height or age |
TDEE equals BMR times the multiplier. The last column applies each multiplier to the Mifflin-St Jeor BMR of the example woman above (1,370 kcal).
| Level | Multiplier | Typical week | Example TDEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | Little or no exercise | 1,644 |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | Light exercise 1 to 3 days a week | 1,884 |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | Exercise 3 to 5 days a week | 2,124 |
| Very active | 1.725 | Exercise 6 to 7 days a week | 2,364 |
| Extra active | 1.9 | Hard daily exercise plus a physical job, or two sessions a day | 2,603 |
These five multipliers are a long-standing convention used by many calculators, not values measured on the person. The FAO, WHO and United Nations University report describes physical activity level (PAL) as TEE ÷ BMR and gives 1.40 to 1.69 for a sedentary or light lifestyle, 1.70 to 1.99 for active or moderately active, and 2.00 to 2.40 for vigorous.
Three different numbers are often mixed up. BMR is the energy used at rest. TDEE is BMR plus the energy of digesting food and moving about. A calorie target is an amount of food energy someone chooses to aim for, which may be above, at or below TDEE.
This page owns the middle number. If the next question is how a published goal relates to it, the daily calorie calculator turns an estimate into goal-based daily amounts, and the macro calculator splits a calorie amount into grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat.
| Number | What it is | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| BMR | Energy used at complete rest | The formula and body measurements |
| TDEE | BMR plus digestion and all movement (BMR × activity factor) | The formula and the activity level picked |
| Calorie target | Food energy someone aims to eat, relative to TDEE | A personal or professional decision; not set on this page |
Many TDEE calculators give a single figure. These are the details that change how far a figure can be trusted.
| Feature | Basic TDEE calculator | This calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Formulas | One formula, or the others hidden behind an advanced toggle | Mifflin-St Jeor, revised Harris-Benedict and Katch-McArdle side by side |
| Body fat | Often not asked | Optional; typing it adds Katch-McArdle |
| Activity levels | One result for the level picked, multipliers not shown | All five levels in one table, multipliers shown |
| Working | Answer only | Every substitution, unit conversion and the rounding rule |
| Sources | Often unsourced or loosely cited | Equations tied to the papers they come from |
| Units | Metric or US, conversion not shown | Metric and US with the conversion written out |
| Targets | Estimate and diet advice mixed together | Estimate only; goals live on the Calorie Calculator |
| Results | Often needs a Calculate button | Updates as you type, with an answer on first load |
Type the same person here and compare the three formulas. The spread between them is usually the reason two websites show different numbers.
Open the all-activity table to see what moving one step up or down the scale does to the estimate, without retyping anything.
Device and app estimates use their own methods. Put the same age, height, weight and activity here to see how a published formula compares.
Copy the result with its inputs and bring it to a doctor or registered dietitian, who can judge it against an individual situation.
A new weight, a new job or a different training week changes the inputs. Edit one field and the estimate and the table update straight away.
Add a body fat percentage to see how a lean-mass formula compares with the height and weight formulas. The protein calculator is another place lean mass matters.
These points explain the sums. They are not advice about how much to eat or how to exercise.
A 2024 review puts basal metabolism at about 60 percent of daily expenditure, the thermic effect of food at about 10 percent, exercise at 0 to 10 percent and everyday movement at about 20 percent. The FAO report gives BMR a wider 45 to 70 percent share in adults.
The five multipliers rise in steps of 0.175, so each step adds 0.175 × BMR. For the example woman that is about 240 kcal per day.
They were fitted on different people. Mifflin and colleagues found the 1919 Harris-Benedict equations overestimated resting expenditure by 5 percent in their sample.
Scales, calipers and tape methods each carry error, and Katch-McArdle passes that error straight into BMR.
Age, weight and activity all move the result, so an estimate made last year describes a different person.
Nothing you type leaves your browser. After the page loads, the calculator keeps working without a connection.
Roza and Shizgal report a precision of 14 percent for the Harris-Benedict equations in normal subjects. Two people with the same inputs can burn quite different amounts.
The equations were fitted on healthy adults. No estimate is shown under 18, and pregnancy, illness or medicines are not covered. A doctor or school nurse is the right person to ask.
The five multipliers are fixed round numbers, not a measurement of the person. The FAO chapter on adult energy requirements shows how activity level is defined and ranged.
Each equation below was checked against a page that states it. The five activity multipliers are a widely used convention and are not taken from a single paper.
Short answers about TDEE, BMR and the formulas used here.
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure, the number of calories the body is estimated to burn in a day. It adds the energy used at rest (BMR), the energy used to digest food and the energy used for all movement.
A calculator first estimates BMR from age, sex, height and weight, or from lean body mass, then multiplies it by an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9. For a 30-year-old woman, 165 cm and 65 kg, Mifflin-St Jeor gives a BMR of 1,370 and 1,370 × 1.55 gives a TDEE of 2,124 kcal per day.
BMR is the energy the body is estimated to use at complete rest, while TDEE adds digestion and all daily movement on top. TDEE is always the larger number because every activity multiplier is above 1.
No. TDEE is an estimate of what the body burns, and what someone eats is a separate decision that depends on personal goals and health. This page does not set a target; the Calorie Calculator shows published goal amounts, and a doctor or registered dietitian can advise on an individual situation.
None is exact. Mifflin-St Jeor was fitted in 1990 on 498 healthy adults measured by indirect calorimetry, and it found that the 1919 Harris-Benedict equations overestimated resting expenditure by 5 percent in that sample. Roza and Shizgal reported a precision of 14 percent for the Harris-Benedict equations in normal subjects, and a 2021 study of 620 Chilean women found that all twelve equations it tested tended to overestimate.
They were fitted on different groups of people and use different inputs. Mifflin-St Jeor and Harris-Benedict use age, sex, height and weight, while Katch-McArdle uses only lean body mass, so a body fat figure can move it away from the other two.
Each level matches a description of a typical week: sedentary is little or no exercise, lightly active is 1 to 3 days, moderately active is 3 to 5 days, very active is 6 to 7 days, and extra active is hard daily exercise plus a physical job or two sessions a day. The activity table on this page shows all five results at once, so the effect of one step is easy to see.
It estimates BMR from lean body mass, which is weight × (1 − body fat percentage ÷ 100), as 370 + 21.6 × lean mass in kg. Body fat from scales and calipers is itself an estimate, so the result is only as reliable as that figure.
Yes. Switch Units to US and enter feet, inches and pounds. The page converts them with 0.45359237 kg per pound and 2.54 cm per inch and shows the conversion in the working.
The formulas were fitted on adults, so this page shows no estimate under age 18. Energy needs in childhood and adolescence are different and are best discussed with a doctor or school nurse.
Yes. Age, weight, height and activity are all inputs, so the estimate changes when any of them does. Lean body mass also changes the Katch-McArdle result.
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent to a server. Once you change a value, the numbers are added to the page address after the hash sign, which never leaves your browser, so the link can be copied or shared; your unit choice is remembered on your own device.