How Heavy Are Cremation Ashes? Is Weight Based On Age and Gender?

Some people wonder: How heavy are human ashes? To answer that here are some answers based on the age and gender of the deceased person.

Ashes following cremation for a human adult will weigh between 4 to 6 pounds (2 to 3 kg) or around 3.5% of the deceased person’s original weight.

Weight of a woman's cremation ashes

• Cremation ashes for a 130 lbs woman weighs about 4.5 lbs or ~2 kg.
• Cremation ashes for a 150 lbs woman weighs about 5.25 lbs or ~2.4 kg.
• Cremation ashes for a 200 lbs woman weighs about 7 lbs or ~3.1 kg.

Weight of a man's cremation ashes

A man's ashes will weight in the 4 lb to 9 lb (1.8 to 4 kg) range.

• Cremation ashes for a 175 lbs man weighs about 4.5 lbs or ~2 kg.
• Cremation ashes for a 200 lbs man weighs about 7 lbs or ~3.1 kg.
• Cremation ashes for a 250 lbs man weighs about 8.75 lbs or ~4 kg.

Weight of a child's cremation ashes

In the case of children, ashes weigh about 2.5% of the original body weight.

Stillborn infant ashes for a pre-term baby will weigh about 1 to 2 oz. For a full term baby up to 4 oz.

For example:

• 25 lb child's ashes would weigh about 11 oz (~0.7 lbs) or 0.3 kg
• 50 lb child's ashes would weigh about 22 oz (~1.3 lbs) or 0.6 kg
• 75 lb child's ashes would weigh about 34 oz (~2.1 lbs) 0.9 kg
• 100 lb child's ashes would weigh about 45 oz (2.8 lbs)  1.2 kg

Fat and muscle do not affect the mass of cremated ashes, which means height and gender (which predict skeletal weight) can be used to accurately predict the weight of the remains.

Note: To choose an urn you you need the volume of ashes (cubic inches or litres) not their weight. You can find volume of human ashes information here.