BAC Calculator

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Estimated BAC
Status
Time until sober

⚠ Estimate only — do not use this to decide whether to drive This figure is a rough Widmark estimate. Your real blood alcohol content is affected by food, medication, metabolism, health and the true strength of each drink, and can be much higher or lower than shown. Never use this number to decide whether it is safe to drive or operate machinery. If you have been drinking, do not drive.

Estimate your blood alcohol content from the drinks you have had, your body weight, sex and the time since your first drink, using the Widmark formula. This is a rough estimate only — read the safety note below and never use it to decide whether to drive.

What this BAC calculator does

This tool gives a quick estimate of your blood alcohol content (BAC) — the percentage of alcohol in your bloodstream — from four things you enter: how many standard drinks you have had, your body weight, your sex and how long ago you started drinking. It is a learning and planning aid, not a breathalyser. As the red note above says, the real figure varies with food, medication, metabolism and drink strength, so it must never be used to judge whether you are safe to drive.

How your BAC is worked out

The calculation uses the well-known Widmark formula. Each US standard drink is taken as 14 grams of pure alcohol, so the total alcohol is your number of drinks times 14. That is divided by your body weight in grams multiplied by a distribution factor — about 0.68 for men and 0.55 for women — and turned into a percentage. Finally it subtracts roughly 0.015% per hour since your first drink, because your liver steadily clears alcohol over time. The result is your estimated BAC right now.

Reading the result

The status box compares your estimate with the 0.08% legal driving limit used across the United States, and the time-until-sober figure shows roughly how long it would take to reach zero at the average clearance rate. Remember that many places set lower limits for commercial or young drivers, that impairment begins well below 0.08%, and that this is only an estimate. When you are planning food and drink more broadly, the TDEE Calculator and Water Intake Calculator cover the calorie and hydration side.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is blood alcohol content (BAC) and how is it measured?
Blood alcohol content, or BAC, is the percentage of alcohol in your bloodstream. A reading of 0.08% means 0.08 grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. In practice it is measured with a breathalyser, which estimates blood alcohol from the air in your lungs, or with a blood test. This calculator does not measure anything — it estimates a likely BAC from what you enter using the Widmark formula, so treat it as a rough guide rather than a reading.
How is BAC calculated in this tool?
It uses the Widmark formula. The grams of alcohol you drank (about 14 grams per US standard drink) are divided by your body weight in grams multiplied by a distribution factor — around 0.68 for men and 0.55 for women — then turned into a percentage. It then subtracts roughly 0.015 percent for every hour since your first drink to allow for alcohol your body has already cleared. Your sex, weight, number of drinks and elapsed time therefore all change the result.
What counts as one standard drink?
In the United States one standard drink contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol. That is roughly a 12 ounce regular beer at 5 percent, a 5 ounce glass of wine at 12 percent, or a 1.5 ounce shot of 40 percent spirits. Stronger beers, large wine pours and cocktails with multiple shots count as more than one drink, so estimate generously — undercounting drinks makes the BAC estimate look lower than it really is.
How long does it take for alcohol to leave your system?
Your body clears alcohol at a fairly steady rate of about 0.015 percent BAC per hour, and there is no reliable way to speed it up — coffee, cold showers and food do not sober you up faster. That means a BAC of 0.08 percent takes roughly five hours to fall back to zero. The time until sober shown here is based on that average rate, but the real figure varies from person to person.
Why is this only an estimate?
Real blood alcohol depends on things this tool cannot see — whether you have eaten, your medications, your metabolism, hydration, health conditions and the true strength of each drink. Two people who drink exactly the same can reach very different BAC levels. Because of that, this number can be well off in either direction and must never be used to decide whether it is safe to drive or operate machinery. If you have been drinking, do not drive.