What’s the Average Weight of an Office Chair? (7 Examples) 

When selecting the perfect office chair, most people pay more attention to the weight capacity of the chair rather than the chair’s weight itself. Both are important, as the weight of your chair usually dictates its weight capacity and can influence its usability. What is the average office chair weight?

A standard office chair weighs 20 to 40 pounds on average. Larger chairs formulated for bigger users (usually labeled as big and tall) are naturally going to be heavier at 40 to 60 pounds and up. 

If you want to learn more about office chair weights, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will go in-depth and talk further about the average weight of an office chair, including 7 real examples. I’ll also discuss the factors that determine how much an office chair weighs, so keep reading! 

How Much Does an Office Chair Weigh on Average?

When your office chair arrives, it will either be pre-assembled (score!) or in pieces (bummer). As you lift up the big box on your front porch, how heavy is it going to be?

That depends on the type of office chair you ordered. A standard office chair may weigh as little as 20 pounds and upwards of 35, sometimes even 40 pounds or more. 

Office chairs that are designed to support more weight will be larger and feature heavier-duty construction. These chairs will start at 40 pounds and can weigh 60 pounds and up. 

A little later, I’ll talk more about the factors that determine how much an office chair weighs, so be sure to check that out. 

7 Real Examples of Office Chair Weights

As promised, I want to now look through 7 of the most renowned office chairs, from Herman Miller to HAG and Secretlab, and examine how much each one weighs. 

Herman Miller Aeron – 40 to 43 Pounds

Is there a more beloved office chair than the Herman Miller Aeron? That’s almost a rhetorical question at this point, as the Aeron is one of if not the most popular office chair of all time. 

This chair, which is permanently hosted in a museum, features a breathable 8Z Pellicle mesh backing, 2.5-inch carpet casters, polyurethane foam arm pads, and a die-cast aluminum frame. 

With these features as well as PostureFit SL lumbar support pads, Harmonic Tilt recline, and more adjustments still, the Aeron is lightweight.

Available in three sizes, the Size A Aeron (small) weighs 40 pounds, the Size B (medium) weighs 41 pounds, and the Size C (large) is 43 pounds. Those are some very marginal differences in weight between the three chair sizes. 

IKEA Markus – 47.8 Pounds

The IKEA Markus is a mid-priced office chair that features a mesh backrest for airflow, polypropylene plastic components, polyurethane foam, and molded eucalyptus plywood to support the seat.

The five-star base is aluminum with safety casters. The Markus also features a slew of adjustments via knobs and levers, allowing you to set and lock the tilt and use the included lumbar support. 

This chair is somehow still heavier than the Aeron at 47.8 pounds. 

Steelcase Gesture – 78 Pounds

For a high-quality office chair, you can’t go wrong with the Steelcase Gesture. This ergonomically minded chair features 3D LiveBack technology, which is a contoured plastic backing that shapes and moves with your spine.

Unlike the other chairs I’ve listed, the Gesture is covered in pure polyester rather than mesh fabric. 

Between that, the heavy five-star base, the carpet-friendly casters, and the range of adjustable features (recline lock, height adjustment, tension adjustment, 4D arms), this chair is a lot heavier than usual.

When I say a lot, I mean it. The Gesture weighs 78 pounds! 

Herman Miller Sayl – 54 Pounds 

Let’s circle back around and look at another Herman Miller chair now. The Sayl is one of the more affordable Herman Miller offerings due to its simplicity. 

The chair features a ventilated elastomer back made of primarily recycled materials. 

With no fabric, you might assume the Sayl wouldn’t weigh that much, but it does. It’s a hefty 54 pounds, which is on the heavier side of the average weight range for office chairs. 

I would say that’s probably due to the five-star base, the Harmonic Tilt and other adjustments, and the moveable arms. 

HAG Capisco – 30.5 Pounds 

What if you take away more of an office chair’s size? For example, the HAG Capisco–a favorite office chair of this blog–has no armrests. Its backrest also boasts a streamlined and skinny shape that reduces the bulk.

The chair is upholstered with options such as vinyl, polyester, or leather. The Capisco also includes adjustment levers such as to set the chair height, back tilt, back height, and seat depth.

Even still, the Capisco remains quite lightweight at only 30.5 pounds. 

Amazon Basics Big & Tall Executive Office Chair – 58 Pounds 

How about a big and tall office chair as an example? The Amazon Basics Big & Tall executive office chair is covered in black bonded leather. It swivels, has flexible armrests, and plenty of adjustments, including a pneumatic seat height mechanism.

The five-star base features hooded caster wheels as well. Plus, this chair is tall and can hold 500 pounds, so the chair itself has to be weighty. Indeed, the Amazon Basics office chair clocks in 58 pounds. 

Secretlab NeueChair – 64 Pounds 

Secretlab is best known for its gaming chairs, but the brand has dipped its toes into office chairs as well such as the NeueChair. 

The NeueChair features an ADC12 aluminum base; one version of the chair has industrial plating. 

The fabric used is NeueMesh, which is a mix of DuPont yarn and polyester fibers. This office chair includes ControlShift hand levers, lumbar support levers, Class IV hydraulics, and PU casters.

These features add up to make the NeueChair a burly 64 pounds. 

The Factors That Influence How Much an Office Chair Weighs 

From 40 pounds to 70+ pounds, the 7 office chairs I examined in the last section certainly do run the gamut when it comes to how much an office chair can weigh. 

If you’re curious why that is, it comes down to a series of factors. Let’s take a closer look. 

Intended Userbase

All office chairs have a weight limit. Depending on that weight limit, the chair manufacturer has a userbase in mind. 

If the weight limit is 200 pounds, then there’s no need for the manufacturer to pull out all the stops to make the chair ultra-reinforced. It’s supporting an average amount of weight, so following standard construction processes should be fine.

Compare that to a chair like the Amazon Basics Big & Tall executive chair, which is designed for bigger users. A chair like that is naturally going to be heavier than a Herman Miller Sayl or a small Herman Miller Aeron.

Of course, exceptions exist, such as the Secretlab NeueChair or the Steelcase Gesture. These chairs aren’t heavy for the sake of being heavy, though. I’ll talk momentarily about which factors affect their respective weights.

Chair Width and Height

I didn’t go into the specs for each of the 7 chairs I discussed in the last section. If I had though, it would have been abundantly clear that an office chair that’s wider and/or taller than average is going to weigh more than a chair that’s not as sizable.

The manufacturer has to use more materials to make the chair, which will, of course, drive up the weight of the chair as a whole. 

Materials Used

Speaking of materials, this is where the real line in the sand gets drawn. The Steelcase Gesture is made with polyester upholstery and is one of the only fabric-upholstered chairs I talked about. It’s also oddly heavier than those chairs.

The Secretlab NeueChair features a heavy-duty aluminum base, which explains why it’s so hefty.

Every choice in materials that a chair manufacturer makes will influence the chair’s overall price and what number will pop up on the scale. 

Although aluminum is usually among the most lightweight types of metal, that depends on whether it’s reinforced. 

An office chair that’s made with a stainless steel skeleton will almost always weigh more than an aluminum-framed chair even if the two chairs shared other features like upholstery, shape, and size.

Plastic is a light material, and it’s cheap too, hence why it’s an appealing material choice for chair manufacturers. 

Higher-quality plastic may weigh marginally more than lower-cost stuff. Plus, the more plastic an office chair uses, the heavier it can become. That in in part explain why the Steelcase Gesture is such a heavyweight of a chair. 

Mesh is a very light upholstery material, as evidenced by the fact that most of the mesh-backed office chairs from the last section were not very heavy. 

Finally, you have to consider what’s in the seat itself. 

Yes, the answer is foam, but that’s vague. If it’s thin, cheap foam, then it might as well weigh nothing. Denser memory foam is going to be heavier but make for a much more comfortable sitting experience, including over the long term. That’s why manufacturers use it. 

Number of Levers and Mechanisms

The reason I took time to discuss features like tilt, recline, 3D arms, and hydraulic lifts is that these additions are not weightless. 

The more levers, knobs, and mechanisms an office chair has, whether it’s for lumbar support or anything else, the more the chair as a whole may weigh. 

Does the Weight of Your Office Chair Matter?

Finally, I want to address a question that I’m sure is on your mind. Does it truly matter how heavy or lightweight your office chair is? 

Yes, it does, for several reasons.

You want to be able to have a free range of motion in your office chair, including rolling. If your chair is too heavy for you, then rolling it along the floor will feel more like dragging it. 

You’re expending a lot of effort just to move your chair, which will make you not want to do it. At that point, your office chair might as well not even have casters at all.

Plus, in struggling to move your chair, you could hurt yourself. The point of an office chair is for ergonomic support, not more pain!

Okay, you’re saying. But what if you have a heavier chair that you just don’t move? Well, as I mentioned in the paragraphs above, that defeats the point of casters.

Not being able to move your office chair also makes it impossible to clean. You should check your caster wheels and clean out the hair, dirt, dust, and other gunk that gets trapped in there. You only have to do this maybe once or twice a year, but it still has to be done.

It’s also a good idea to lubricate dried chair components, usually levers and mechanisms, especially if your chair squeaks when you use it. If you can’t even lift your chair to flip it over, then how are you supposed to do any of that?

A chair that’s too lightweight can be risky as well. You’ll recall that a chair’s weight influences how much weight it can hold. If your chair is too light for you, then it might not be designed to hold your weight.

At any time when using the chair, whether adjusting it, rolling it, or even sitting still, your chair could break or collapse. That’s a risk I wouldn’t want to take! 

To buy an office chair that’s the proper size for you, stick within your weight limit.

Conclusion  

The average weight of an office chair is at least 30 pounds but can be more than 70 pounds. The upholstery or lack thereof, type of metal (stainless steel versus aluminum), range of adjustments, chair size, and weight limit all impact how much a chair will weigh.

That’s why I recommend paying attention to this information as you shop around for your next office chair. I hope this guide comes in handy!