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Blood Test Tracker

Platelets by age and sex

What’s typical for platelets at every adult age, from a U.S. government health survey of 19,764 people, next to the usual ranges labs print.

NHANES 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 202319,764 adultsAI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review

What’s typical at one age

Pick a sex and an age to see the spread among U.S. adults like that, and type a result to see where it falls.

U.S. women aged 40–49

1,568 people in NHANES, 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 2023.

Women aged 40–49, 1,568 people: median 266, middle half 225 to 309, middle 90% 180 to 389 ×10³/µL. Usual range 150 to 450.

Median (half are lower)
266 ×10³/µL
Middle half of people
225 to 309
Middle 90% of people
180 to 389
Usual range a lab prints
150 to 450

Shaded: the middle 90% and middle half of people. Dark line: the median. The bracket above: the usual range.

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Across adult life

NHANES describes the US civilian, non-institutionalized population, not a 'healthy' reference group. People with disease, on medication, fasting or not (except fasting-subsample markers), smokers and so on are all included. A percentile says where a value sits among Americans of that sex and age, not whether it is normal.

How Platelets varies with age in the U.S.Shaded: middle 90% and middle 50% of people. Line: the median. ×10³/µL. Point at any age, or focus the chart and use the arrow keys, to read both sexes in words.

Use the left and right arrow keys to read each age. Shift moves five years.

Reference data derived from CDC/NCHS National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), cycles 2015-2016, 2017-March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021-August 2023. Analysis by bloodtesttracker.com; not endorsed by CDC, NCHS or HHS.

Every percentile

Download this table (CSV)

The 25th percentile means a quarter of people in that group had a lower result. In ×10³/µL. A dash means too few people were measured for the survey to publish that number.

Women

Platelets percentiles for U.S. women by age, in ×10³/µL, NHANES 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 2023
AgePeople2.5th5th10th25thMedian75th90th95th97.5th
18–291,742162176196229264307351382418
30–391,549165174195227262315367395421
40–491,568162180195225266309357389434
50–591,693148170187219257299342373403
60–692,004148161179212244288335360401
70–791,150148162174202237279324351375
80+610129140155189223261301330363
All adults10,316151167185218255300345379414

Men

Platelets percentiles for U.S. men by age, in ×10³/µL, NHANES 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 2023
AgePeople2.5th5th10th25thMedian75th90th95th97.5th
18–291,695157169183204234268308336357
30–391,337150163182207237273309341378
40–491,347144158171201233267302327355
50–591,463124143167195225260296326348
60–691,866127143157186220255295326370
70–791,160118136152177207249293315362
80+580115122141167195239272301332
All adults9,448134150168195228263301328361

About these numbers

  • NHANES describes the US civilian, non-institutionalized population, not a 'healthy' reference group. People with disease, on medication, fasting or not (except fasting-subsample markers), smokers and so on are all included. A percentile says where a value sits among Americans of that sex and age, not whether it is normal.
  • Assays differ between labs and between NHANES cycles. Values from a commercial lab can sit a few percent higher or lower than NHANES for the same blood. Earlier cycles were bridged to the 2021-2023 method with NCHS equations where NCHS recommends it.
  • Age 80 and over is top-coded at 80 in public NHANES files, so the 80+ cell mixes everyone 80 and older.
  • 2021-2023 (cycle L) had a 25.7% exam response rate and no race/income oversampling; NCHS advises caution when combining it with earlier cycles.

Reference data derived from CDC/NCHS National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), cycles 2015-2016, 2017-March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021-August 2023. Analysis by bloodtesttracker.com; not endorsed by CDC, NCHS or HHS.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015-2016, 2017-March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021-August 2023. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/

How we use survey data

The usual adult range

Labs print one adult range for platelets, whatever your age.

  • Adults150–450 ×10³/µL

Every range and its source