How Many Bones in the Human Body?

An adult human body has 206 bones. Babies are born with about 270, but many of these are made of soft cartilage that gradually hardens and fuses together as you grow. Most of this fusion happens between birth and age 25.

Your skeleton makes up about 15% of your total body weight. The heaviest bone is the femur (thigh bone), which can support up to 30 times your body weight. The smallest bone is the stapes, located in your middle ear, which is about the size of a grain of rice (roughly 3 millimeters long). Despite its tiny size, the stapes plays a critical role in transmitting sound vibrations.

Bones are not the dry, lifeless structures that museum displays might suggest. They are living tissue with their own blood supply and nerve endings. Your skeleton is constantly being remodeled: specialized cells called osteoclasts break down old bone, while osteoblasts build new bone. Your entire skeleton is replaced roughly every 10 years through this process.

Bones by body region

• Skull: 22 bones (8 cranial + 14 facial)
• Spine: 26 vertebrae (7 cervical + 12 thoracic + 5 lumbar + 1 sacrum + 1 coccyx)
• Rib cage: 25 bones (24 ribs + 1 sternum)
• Arms and shoulders: 64 bones (32 per side)
• Pelvis: 4 bones
• Legs and hips: 62 bones (31 per side)
• Hyoid: 1 bone (in the throat, the only bone not connected to another bone)
• Ear ossicles: 6 bones (3 per ear)

Surprising bone facts

More than half your bones are in your hands and feet. Each hand has 27 bones (54 total), and each foot has 26 bones (52 total). Combined, that is 106 out of 206, or over 51% of all your bones. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective: hands and feet need to be highly flexible and precise.

The hyoid bone in your throat is unique because it is the only bone in the body that does not articulate (connect) with any other bone. It is held in place entirely by muscles and ligaments. It supports the tongue and plays a role in swallowing and speech.

Bone health

Bone density peaks around age 30 and gradually declines after that. This is why osteoporosis (a condition where bones become weak and brittle) is more common in older adults, especially women after menopause. About 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, and another 44 million have low bone density.

The best ways to maintain bone health are weight-bearing exercise (walking, running, lifting weights), adequate calcium intake (1,000 to 1,200 mg per day for adults), and sufficient vitamin D (which helps your body absorb calcium). Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption both accelerate bone loss.