Testosterone Levels by Age: Normal Ranges for Men From Their 20s to Their 70s

A testosterone levels by age chart is only as good as the study behind it, and most charts online never name one. The table on this page comes from a single paper: Travison and colleagues’ 2017 harmonized reference ranges, built from 9,054 men in four cohort studies in the United States and Europe, with each cohort’s results cross-calibrated against the CDC’s reference laboratory. It shows what healthy men without obesity measured at each age from 19 to 79. It cannot tell you whether your own number is a problem, because that call takes symptoms and repeat labs. No chart makes it.

Testosterone levels by age chart from one study

The numbers below are Table 4 of Travison et al., “Harmonized Reference Ranges for Circulating Testosterone Levels in Men of Four Cohort Studies in the United States and Europe”, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2017. The four cohorts were the Framingham Heart Study, the European Male Aging Study, the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study and a Belgian sibling study. Testosterone was measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and the values are the paper’s model-based estimates for men with a BMI under 30, which the authors call nonobese. All figures are total testosterone in ng/dL.

Source: Travison TG et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2017;102(4):1161-1173, Table 4, model-based estimates for nonobese men (BMI under 30). Total testosterone, ng/dL.

How to read the percentiles

The median is the middle man. Half of the men in that age band measured higher and half measured lower. The 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles fence off the middle 95 percent, which is the usual way a lab builds its printed range, so the left-hand column is the one most people mean when they ask what is normal. If only 2.5 percent of healthy men aged 19 to 39 fall below 267 ng/dL, a result under that line is unusual for a man that age.

Unusual is not the same as sick.

One gap is worth flagging. The paper does not split men in their 20s from men in their 30s; its youngest band runs from 19 to 39. A separate analysis of national NHANES data by Zhu and colleagues, summarized in AUA News in 2022, found a mean of 466 ng/dL across men aged 20 to 44, and the middle third of men ran 409 to 558 ng/dL at ages 20 to 24 and 352 to 478 ng/dL at ages 35 to 39. Those authors argued that younger men should be judged against age-specific cutoffs. The table above stays with Travison so that every one of these normal testosterone levels by age comes from the same method. The paper also has an 80 to 99 row, with a 2.5th percentile of 157 ng/dL.

Does testosterone drop with age?

Yes, though the drop is slower and more lopsided than most charts suggest. Mayo Clinic puts it at about 1 percent a year after age 40, and says most older men still sit inside the standard range, with only about 10 to 25 percent having levels thought to be low.

The Massachusetts Male Aging Study followed 1,156 men who were 40 to 70 at the start and retested them 7 to 10 years later. Within the same men, total testosterone fell 1.6 percent a year and bioavailable testosterone fell 2 to 3 percent a year. Looking across ages at one point in time, the total fell 0.8 percent per year of age, free testosterone fell about 2 percent a year, and SHBG, the protein that binds testosterone in the blood, rose 1.6 percent a year. That last number is why free testosterone falls faster than total.

Now look back at the table. After 40, the median barely moves (481, then 477 for three decades), and the 97.5th percentile stays between 926 and 929. The movement is at the bottom, where the 2.5th percentile slides from 267 to 218. So the typical healthy man in his 60s is close to the typical healthy man in his 40s, while the low tail of the population stretches further down as men age. A man in his 60s who tests at 250 ng/dL is sitting right around the 5th percentile for his age, which is lower than about 95 of every 100 healthy peers. Age alone does not explain that result, and it deserves a real look.

What is a normal testosterone range for men?

There are three numbers you will run into, and they do not agree at the edges.

The first is the harmonized range from the same Travison paper: 264 to 916 ng/dL for healthy men without obesity aged 19 to 39, which works out to roughly 9.2 to 33 nmol/L if your lab reports in those units. The Endocrine Society’s 2018 guideline (Bhasin et al.) cites this range and recommends using it in labs certified by the CDC’s Hormone Standardization Program. The second is the American Urological Association guideline, which calls a total testosterone below 300 ng/dL “a reasonable cut-off.” The third, and the one on your report, is whatever range your own lab prints.

For normal testosterone levels in men of any age, those three give a floor somewhere between the mid 200s and 300 ng/dL, and a ceiling a little above 900. The honest answer is that the floor is a zone. It is not a line.

What is a good testosterone level at 40, 50 or 60?

“Good” is not a lab category, so the closest real answer is the median. In the Travison data the median is 481 ng/dL for men in their 40s and 477 ng/dL for men in their 50s and 60s. A man of 50 at 350 ng/dL is below the median but well above the 5th percentile for his decade (256 ng/dL). Whether 350 is good for him depends on how he feels and whether a second morning test agrees.

Why your lab report may not match this chart

The same blood sample can be flagged at one lab and pass at another. A 2016 Journal of Urology survey of 120 hospital-associated laboratories in 47 states found lower limits anywhere from 160 to 300 ng/dL and upper limits from 726 to 1,130 ng/dL. The authors found few ranges that reflected the local population, and they faulted analyzer makers for passing along ranges built on small, poorly described groups of men.

Assays are part of it. Travison and colleagues note that the four cohorts used different assays with different calibrators; before harmonization, mean testosterone for men aged 40 to 49 was 501, 551 and 618 ng/dL in three of the cohorts, and after harmonization it was 487, 494 and 471. Same men. Different chemistry.

Timing matters too. MedlinePlus says blood for a testosterone test is usually drawn between 7 and 10 in the morning, when levels tend to be highest. A 2024 study by Novaes and colleagues in the Journal of Sexual Medicine compared morning and afternoon draws in 506 men with a median age of 65. For most men the two were close, but 24 percent dropped by more than 100 ng/dL in the afternoon, and men under 30 showed the largest afternoon drops.

Weight is the last piece. The chart above covers men with a BMI under 30, and Travison’s team reports that testosterone was higher in nonobese healthy men than in all men. A man with obesity who compares himself to this table is comparing himself to a leaner group. The paper’s own limitations also apply: its cohorts were mostly white men in the US and Europe, and each man gave a single morning sample.

What is a dangerously low testosterone level?

No major guideline names one. The AUA guideline sets out a sequence instead. A diagnosis of low testosterone should be made only after two total testosterone measurements on separate occasions, both taken early in the morning, and testosterone deficiency is diagnosed only when a low level comes with symptoms or signs. Once a low level is confirmed, the guideline says clinicians should measure luteinizing hormone (LH), and should check prolactin when LH is low or low-normal. Those tests help show whether the cause sits in the testes or higher up in the pituitary.

So a very low number is a reason to look for a cause, and to do it soon. One question has no settled answer: should a man of 75 be held to the same 300 ng/dL line as a man of 30, when the Travison percentiles drift down with age and the AUA cutoff does not?

Why a chart cannot diagnose you

A reference table describes a population, and you are one man with one morning result. Mayo Clinic notes that many men with low levels have no symptoms, and that experts suggest testing older men only when symptoms are present and repeating the test when it comes back low. Put those together with the AUA’s rule that a diagnosis needs two early-morning results plus symptoms, and the conclusion is plain: a single number compared to a chart like this one should not start treatment, and it should not rule treatment out either.

Testosterone also rarely tells the whole story on its own. Proactive Choice’s guide to hormone panel testing explains how markers such as SHBG, thyroid and metabolic labs change the reading of a testosterone result, and our walkthrough on how to test testosterone levels covers draw timing, fasting and repeat tests.

At Proactive Choice, Dr. Drew Collins, ND, follows the approach the clinic describes on its treatment page: a fasting, early-morning total testosterone test, repeated on a second morning, with treatment considered only when results are consistently low and symptoms fit. If you have a result and want it read in that context, the Bend testosterone clinic page explains how the process works. You can also book a free 10-minute call with Dr. Collins at +1 (858) 333-5196.

Frequently asked questions

What is a normal testosterone level?

For adult men, the harmonized range from Travison et al. (2017) is 264 to 916 ng/dL in healthy men without obesity aged 19 to 39, and the Endocrine Society’s 2018 guideline cites that range. The American Urological Association uses a total testosterone below 300 ng/dL as its cutoff for low. Your own lab’s printed range can differ from both, so read your result against the range on your report.

What is a normal testosterone level for a 50-year-old man?

In the Travison 2017 data for men aged 50 to 59 with a BMI under 30, the median total testosterone is 477 ng/dL. The 2.5th percentile is 219 ng/dL and the 97.5th percentile is 929 ng/dL, so the middle 95 percent of healthy men that age fall between those two numbers. A result near the bottom of that span is worth repeating on a second morning.

How much does testosterone drop each year?

Mayo Clinic says testosterone generally falls about 1 percent a year after age 40. The Massachusetts Male Aging Study, which retested the same men 7 to 10 years apart, found total testosterone fell 1.6 percent a year and bioavailable testosterone fell 2 to 3 percent a year. Free testosterone falls faster than total because SHBG, the binding protein, rises with age.

Is a testosterone level of 300 ng/dL low?

It sits right at the AUA’s cutoff, which defines low as below 300 ng/dL. In the Travison data, 300 ng/dL is just under the 5th percentile for men aged 19 to 39 (304 ng/dL) and above the 5th percentile for every older decade. On its own, one result near 300 does not diagnose anything. The AUA calls for two early-morning tests plus symptoms or signs.

Can I compare my result to an online testosterone chart?

Only loosely. A 2016 survey of 120 US labs found lower limits ranging from 160 to 300 ng/dL, so the same result can be flagged at one lab and not another. Check that the chart uses the same units as your report (ng/dL or nmol/L), that your blood was drawn in the morning, and that the chart names its source. Then take both to a clinician.

Sources

• Travison TG et al. Harmonized Reference Ranges for Circulating Testosterone Levels in Men of Four Cohort Studies in the United States and Europe. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017;102(4):1161-1173.
• American Urological Association. Evaluation and Management of Testosterone Deficiency guideline.
• Bhasin S et al. Testosterone Therapy in Men With Hypogonadism: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline (2018), summary slides.
• Mayo Clinic. Male menopause: Myth or reality?
• Feldman HA et al. Age trends in the level of serum testosterone and other hormones in middle-aged men: longitudinal results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;87(2):589-598.
• ADLM CLN Stat. Testosterone Reference Ranges Vary Widely in US Laboratories (2016).
• MedlinePlus. Testosterone Levels Test.
• Zhu A et al. JU Insight: What Is a Normal Testosterone Level for Young Men? AUA News, December 2022.
• ISSM. Daily Testosterone Variation in Men With Symptoms of Testosterone Deficiency (Novaes LF et al., J Sex Med 2024).

Medically reviewed content from Proactive Choice. This article is for education and is not a diagnosis. Talk with a licensed clinician about your own labs and symptoms.

Want to talk this through for your own health? Book a visit with Dr. Drew Collins, ND at 601 NW Harmon Blvd in Bend, or call (858) 333-5196.