diff --git a/src/freebsd.c b/src/freebsd.c
index 736b3948..8d13962d 100644
--- a/src/freebsd.c
+++ b/src/freebsd.c
@@ -724,9 +724,9 @@ int comparecpu(const void *a, const void *b)
 
 int comparemem(const void *a, const void *b)
 {
-	if (((const struct process *)a)->totalmem > ((const struct process *)b)->totalmem) {
+	if (((const struct process *)a)->rss > ((const struct process *)b)->rss) {
 		return -1;
-	} else if (((const struct process *)a)->totalmem < ((const struct process *)b)->totalmem) {
+	} else if (((const struct process *)a)->rss < ((const struct process *)b)->rss) {
 		return 1;
 	} else {
 		return 0;
@@ -756,8 +756,6 @@ proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 			processes[j].pid = p[i].ki_pid;
 			processes[j].name = strndup(p[i].ki_comm, text_buffer_size);
 			processes[j].amount = 100.0 * p[i].ki_pctcpu / FSCALE;
-			processes[j].totalmem = (float) (p[i].ki_rssize /
-				(float) total_pages) * 100.0;
 			processes[j].vsize = p[i].ki_size;
 			processes[j].rss = (p[i].ki_rssize * getpagesize());
 			j++;
@@ -771,7 +769,6 @@ proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 		tmp = malloc(sizeof(struct process));
 		tmp->pid = processes[i].pid;
 		tmp->amount = processes[i].amount;
-		tmp->totalmem = processes[i].totalmem;
 		tmp->name = strndup(processes[i].name, text_buffer_size);
 		tmp->rss = processes[i].rss;
 		tmp->vsize = processes[i].vsize;
@@ -791,7 +788,6 @@ proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 		tmp = malloc(sizeof(struct process));
 		tmp->pid = processes[i].pid;
 		tmp->amount = processes[i].amount;
-		tmp->totalmem = processes[i].totalmem;
 		tmp->name = strndup(processes[i].name, text_buffer_size);
 		tmp->rss = processes[i].rss;
 		tmp->vsize = processes[i].vsize;
@@ -807,8 +803,8 @@ proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 #if defined(FREEBSD_DEBUG)
 	printf("=====\nmem\n");
 	for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
-		printf("%d: %s(%d) %.2f %ld %ld\n", i, mem[i]->name,
-				mem[i]->pid, mem[i]->totalmem, mem[i]->vsize, mem[i]->rss);
+		printf("%d: %s(%d) %ld %ld\n", i, mem[i]->name,
+				mem[i]->pid, mem[i]->vsize, mem[i]->rss);
 	}
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/openbsd.c b/src/openbsd.c
index b6fba3d0..e2f6cc20 100644
--- a/src/openbsd.c
+++ b/src/openbsd.c
@@ -738,11 +738,11 @@ int comparecpu(const void *a, const void *b)
 
 int comparemem(const void *a, const void *b)
 {
-	if (((struct process *) a)->totalmem > ((struct process *) b)->totalmem) {
+	if (((struct process *) a)->rss > ((struct process *) b)->rss) {
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (((struct process *) a)->totalmem < ((struct process *) b)->totalmem) {
+	if (((struct process *) a)->rss < ((struct process *) b)->rss) {
 		return 1;
 	}
 
@@ -783,8 +783,6 @@ inline void proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 			processes[j].pid = p[i].p_pid;
 			processes[j].name = strndup(p[i].p_comm, text_buffer_size);
 			processes[j].amount = 100.0 * p[i].p_pctcpu / FSCALE;
-			processes[j].totalmem = (float) (p[i].p_vm_rssize /
-					(float) total_pages) * 100.0;
 			j++;
 		}
 	}
@@ -796,7 +794,6 @@ inline void proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 		tmp = malloc(sizeof(struct process));
 		tmp->pid = processes[i].pid;
 		tmp->amount = processes[i].amount;
-		tmp->totalmem = processes[i].totalmem;
 		tmp->name = strndup(processes[i].name, text_buffer_size);
 
 		ttmp = mem[i];
@@ -814,7 +811,6 @@ inline void proc_find_top(struct process **cpu, struct process **mem)
 		tmp = malloc(sizeof(struct process));
 		tmp->pid = processes[i].pid;
 		tmp->amount = processes[i].amount;
-		tmp->totalmem = processes[i].totalmem;
 		tmp->name = strndup(processes[i].name, text_buffer_size);
 
 		ttmp = cpu[i];
diff --git a/src/top.c b/src/top.c
index 76236ead..ff5fa000 100644
--- a/src/top.c
+++ b/src/top.c
@@ -199,7 +199,6 @@ static struct process *new_process(int p)
  * Anyone hoping to port wmtop should look here first. */
 static int process_parse_stat(struct process *process)
 {
-	struct information *cur = &info;
 	char line[BUFFER_LEN] = { 0 }, filename[BUFFER_LEN], procname[BUFFER_LEN];
 	int ps;
 	unsigned long user_time = 0;
@@ -280,12 +279,7 @@ static int process_parse_stat(struct process *process)
 	process->name = strndup(procname, text_buffer_size);
 	process->rss *= getpagesize();
 
-	if (!cur->memmax) {
-		update_total_processes();
-	}
-
 	process->total_cpu_time = process->user_time + process->kernel_time;
-	process->totalmem = (float) (((float) process->rss / cur->memmax) / 10);
 	if (process->previous_user_time == ULONG_MAX) {
 		process->previous_user_time = process->user_time;
 	}
@@ -625,9 +619,9 @@ static int compare_cpu(struct process *a, struct process *b)
 /* mem comparison function for insert_sp_element */
 static int compare_mem(struct process *a, struct process *b)
 {
-	if (a->totalmem < b->totalmem) {
+	if (a->rss < b->rss) {
 		return 1;
-	} else if (a->totalmem > b->totalmem) {
+	} else if (a->rss > b->rss) {
 		return -1;
 	} else {
 		return 0;
@@ -978,8 +972,10 @@ void print_top(struct text_object *obj, char *p, int top_name_width)
 						needed[td->num]->pid);
 				break;
 			case TOP_MEM:
+				/* Calculate a percentage of residential mem from total mem available.
+				 * Since rss is bytes and memmax kilobytes, dividing by 10 suffices here. */
 				snprintf(p, 7, "%6.2f",
-						needed[td->num]->totalmem);
+						(float) ((float)needed[td->num]->rss / cur->memmax) / 10);
 				break;
 			case TOP_TIME:
 				timeval = format_time(
diff --git a/src/top.h b/src/top.h
index e5773d1f..ae05f0a2 100644
--- a/src/top.h
+++ b/src/top.h
@@ -123,7 +123,6 @@ struct process {
 	unsigned int time_stamp;
 	unsigned int counted;
 	unsigned int changed;
-	float totalmem;
 };
 
 struct sorted_process {