Ounces to pounds
Enter a weight in ounces to get decimal pounds and the pounds-and-ounces reading. This is the conversion you need when your scale shows ounces but the form wants pounds.
Type a weight in ounces and the conversion appears here.
Reading a scale in ounces
Kitchen and postal scales under a few pounds often display in ounces, while rate tables and customs forms want pounds. 20 oz is 1.25 lb, which is also 1 lb 4 oz — three ways of writing the same weight, and different forms want different ones.
Decimal pounds and pounds-and-ounces are not interchangeable in a form field. Typing 1.4 when you mean 1 lb 4 oz overstates the weight, because 1 lb 4 oz is 1.25 lb.
The conversion
Divide ounces by 16. The result is often a repeating decimal in principle but always exact in practice, because sixteenths are exactly representable: 1 oz is 0.0625 lb, and every ounce after that adds another 0.0625.
- 16 oz = 1 lb
- 17 oz = 1.0625 lb, which reads as 1 lb 1 oz
- 8 oz = 0.5 lb
Quick reference
| Ounces | Decimal pounds | On a postal scale |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 0.0625 lb | 1 oz |
| 4 oz | 0.25 lb | 4 oz |
| 8 oz | 0.5 lb | 8 oz |
| 12 oz | 0.75 lb | 12 oz |
| 16 oz | 1 lb | 1 lb |
| 20 oz | 1.25 lb | 1 lb 4 oz |
| 24 oz | 1.5 lb | 1 lb 8 oz |
| 32 oz | 2 lb | 2 lb |
| 48 oz | 3 lb | 3 lb |
| 70 oz | 4.375 lb | 4 lb 6 oz |
The last row is 70 oz, which is 4 lb 6 oz. Worth knowing that the general USPS parcel maximum is 70 pounds, not ounces — an easy misreading.
Common questions
- How many pounds is 16 ounces?
- Exactly one pound.
- Why does my label show 1 lb 1 oz instead of 1.0625 lb?
- They are the same weight written two ways. Labels usually split whole pounds from the leftover ounces; rate calculators usually want the decimal.
- Is 1.4 lb the same as 1 lb 4 oz?
- No, and this is a common and costly mix-up. 1 lb 4 oz is 1.25 lb. 1.4 lb is 1 lb 6.4 oz.
- Do I round to the nearest ounce?
- Round up rather than down. Carriers price on the weight they measure, and being under-declared is the expensive direction.