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Resting heart rate by age and sex

Short answer

In U.S. national data, the median resting pulse for adults aged 20–39 is 69 bpm for men and 74 bpm for women; the middle half sits between 61 and 76 bpm for men and between 66 and 82 bpm for women. Your resting heart rate is best read against your own trend, but the chart below shows where a single reading falls among people your age.

Last reviewed 12 October 20262 published sourcesNot medical advice

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Check your resting heart rate

Enter a resting reading in beats per minute, taken after a few quiet minutes sitting down.

Age

years

Sex

FemaleMale

Resting heart rate

bpm

Your reading

68 bpm

Median, women 20–39

74 bpm

Middle half (25th–75th)

66–82 bpm

A resting pulse of 68 bpm sits about the 31st percentile (between the 25th and 50th) for women aged 20–39 in the NHANES reference group. A lower percentile means a slower resting heart rate than most people that age.

Resting heart rate chart by age and sex

These are resting pulse percentiles from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999–2008 (Ostchega et al., 2011 (NCHS)). Pulse was taken after the person had sat quietly for about four minutes, and the reference group excluded anyone with a medical condition or medication known to affect it. The 50th percentile is the median: half of people that age had a lower resting pulse and half had a higher one.

Women: resting pulse percentiles (beats per minute)
Age	5th	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th	95th
12–15	60	63	70	79	87	94	99
16–19	58	62	69	77	85	94	99
20–39	57	60	66	74	82	89	95
40–59	56	59	64	71	79	86	92
60–79	56	59	64	70	78	86	92
80+	56	59	64	71	77	85	93

Men: resting pulse percentiles (beats per minute)
Age	5th	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th	95th
12–15	57	60	66	74	83	91	97
16–19	52	56	61	69	78	87	92
20–39	52	55	61	69	76	84	89
40–59	52	55	61	68	77	85	90
60–79	50	54	60	67	75	84	91
80+	51	54	61	68	78	86	94

Source: National Health Statistics Reports No. 41, Tables 2 and 3 (NHANES 1999–2008).

What the numbers mean

Resting heart rate falls through childhood and levels off in adulthood: the national mean is about 72 bpm for adults, with women averaging a few beats higher than men at most ages (Ostchega et al., 2011 (NCHS)). The traditional clinical definitions are under 60 bpm for a slow heart rate (bradycardia) and over 100 bpm for a fast one (tachycardia), yet 15.2% of adult men in the reference group sat under 60. A low number on its own is common, especially in people who train.

Why your Apple Watch number may be lower

The table above is a seated clinic-style pulse. Apple Watch estimates your resting heart rate as your lowest heart rate during periods of rest through the day, and may revise earlier estimates as the day goes on (Apple HealthKit: restingHeartRate). That usually reads lower than a seated pulse, so compare your watch with itself over weeks rather than with one row of a table. A sustained rise of several beats above your own normal is often more informative than where you sit on the chart.

Curious how this fits with your other heart signals? See heart rate recovery and VO2 max by age.

Your trend says more than one reading

Reps turns the resting heart rate your Apple Watch records into a trend you can read, so a slow drift up or down is easy to spot.

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Common questions

What is a normal resting heart rate by age?

In NHANES 1999–2008 data, median resting pulse was 69 bpm for men and 74 bpm for women aged 20–39, 68 and 71 bpm at 40–59, and 67 and 70 bpm at 60–79. The 5th to 95th percentile range for adults spans roughly 50 to 95 bpm, so a wide range of values is common in healthy people.

Is a resting heart rate under 60 bad?

Not necessarily. Under 60 bpm is the traditional clinical definition of bradycardia, yet in the same national survey 15.2% of adult men in the reference group (people without a condition or medication affecting pulse) had a resting pulse under 60. Fit people often sit lower. A low reading with dizziness, fainting or breathlessness is a reason to see a clinician.

Why is my Apple Watch resting heart rate different from this chart?

The NHANES figures are a pulse taken after about four minutes of seated rest. Apple Watch estimates your lowest heart rate during periods of rest across the day, so it can read lower than a seated clinic pulse. Compare your watch with itself over time rather than with a single table value.

Sources

Figures on this page were checked against these publications on 12 October 2026.

Ostchega Y, Porter KS, Hughes J, Dillon CF, Nwankwo T. Resting pulse rate reference data for children, adolescents, and adults: United States, 1999–2008. National Health Statistics Reports, No. 41. National Center for Health Statistics; 2011. www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr041.pdf
Apple. restingHeartRate. HealthKit developer documentation. developer.apple.com/documentation/healthkit/hkquantitytypeidentifier/restingheartrate

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