We utilize accurate experimental data available in the literature to yield bounds on the polarizabilities of the ground and first-excited states of atomic Yb. For the
6s21S0 ground state, we find the polarizability $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ to be constrained to $134.4<\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\le}144.2$ in atomic units while for the
6s6p3P0o excited state, we find $280.1<\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\le}289.9$. The uncertainty in each of these values is 1.0. These constraints provide a valuable check for ab initio and semiempirical methods used to compute polarizabilities and other related properties in Yb.