Methodology
How the model works, and what it can't do.
The report is a transparent model, not a black box. Here is exactly what happens to the four numbers you give us, and where the model reaches the edge of what the research supports.
The inputs
Four values: height, weight in pounds, annual income in US dollars, and age. Nothing else, and nothing is stored beyond generating your report.
Step 1 · Height percentile
US adult men have a mean height of about 5'9" (69 inches) with a standard deviation near 2.9 inches. We map your height to a percentile using the normal distribution. This part is not modeled attractiveness, it is simply how tall you are relative to other men.
Step 2 · The height desirability curve
We translate height into relative dating-market response using a curve calibrated to the published spread: taller men (around 6'3" to 6'4") receive roughly 65% more first-contact messages than men around 5'5" to 5'6"; a 6' man draws close to twice the response of a sub-5'9" man; men under 5'9" see markedly fewer matches. The curve is steep through the 5'6" to 6'2" range and flattens above, matching where the research says the returns taper. We anchor to those published ratios rather than inventing precision the data doesn't support.
Step 3 · Income to effective height
This is the actionable core. Hitsch, Hortacşu and Ariely's 2010 study found that income and height substituted for each other in women's responses at roughly $40,000 per inch (their figure: a 5'6" man needed about $226,000 more than a 5'11.5" man). That study ran on mid-2000s dating-site data, before swipe apps, so we treat the ratio as directional rather than a current market price. We convert your income above a reference point into "effective inches" and add them to your height, capped at a sensible range so the model does not overreach at the extremes.
Step 4 · BMI band
We compute your BMI from height and weight. Male physical attractiveness peaks in the BMI 23 to 27 band, around 25. Inside the band there is no penalty (a small bonus near 25); outside it, a penalty scaled by distance, steeper above the band than below. We then report the exact weight change to reach BMI 24. For many men this is the fastest available lever.
Step 5 · Estimated position
Combining the effective-height score with the BMI adjustment gives an estimated dating-market percentile among men. Age is used lightly, mainly to frame your income against age peers, since the men's market tends to hold or rise from the thirties into the forties.
What the model does not capture
- Confidence, humor, conversation, and social skill, which the research consistently finds matter and which no four-number model can see.
- Face, style, grooming, and presentation.
- Your local market, your goals, and what you are actually looking for.
- Long-term relationship outcomes. The cited response data is about first contact, not compatibility or commitment.
In other words, the model measures a slice of the market's initial filter, and it says plainly that it is only a slice. The value is that the slice it measures is the one you can move with money and fitness, and it tells you by how much.