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Triglycerides by age and sex

What’s typical for triglycerides at every adult age, from a U.S. government health survey of 9,115 people, next to the usual ranges labs print.

NHANES 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 20239,115 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

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

Women aged 40–49, 723 people: median 97, middle half 71 to 135, middle 90% 52 to 254 mg/dL. Usual range up to 149.

Median (half are lower)
97 mg/dL
Middle half of people
71 to 135
Middle 90% of people
52 to 254
Usual range a lab prints
up to 149

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 Triglycerides varies with age in the U.S.Shaded: middle 90% and middle 50% of people. Line: the median. mg/dL. 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 mg/dL. A dash means too few people were measured for the survey to publish that number.

Women

Triglycerides percentiles for U.S. women by age, in mg/dL, NHANES 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 2023
AgePeople2.5th5th10th25thMedian75th90th95th97.5th
18–297643640455675102139168228
30–397064044516386130179212244
40–497234852567197135193254308
50–5982944516181114158213246283
60–6998649556583113154204249291
70–7951448576887109147199228275
80+262–566378110154195220–
All adults4,7844248547097138191229270

Men

Triglycerides percentiles for U.S. men by age, in mg/dL, NHANES 2015–2016, 2017–March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021–August 2023
AgePeople2.5th5th10th25thMedian75th90th95th97.5th
18–297453742476387129187232272
30–3958544495877114163248309403
40–4962846536282115176263324407
50–5967451586485117181274344436
60–6990352556480112153210247295
70–7954644526178107149202275317
80+250–546278102138182232–
All adults4,33144495776108158228294365

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.
  • Fasting subsample (morning session, fasted 8 to under 24 hours).

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 range at every age

The reference range labs print, for each age group. Ranges differ a little between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against.

Use the left and right arrow keys to step through the age groups. Every range is also in the table below.

Usual range of Triglycerides by age, in mg/dL
WhoUsual range
2–9up to 74 mg/dL
10–19up to 89 mg/dL
20+up to 149 mg/dL

Sources: NHLBI / Pediatrics, Quest Diagnostics (via Fullscript), Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Extended Catalog copy), Labcorp, ARUP Laboratories, NHLBI / National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine)