Resting Heart Rate: NHANES Published Percentiles
FitnessNorms reproduces the adult male and female estimates in Tables 2 and 3 of NCHS Report 41. The displayed P5, P25, P50, P75, and P95 values are published survey estimates, not values derived by FitnessNorms.
- Sample: the adult table contains 14,200 examined participants: 7,348 males and 6,852 females. The full report's normative sample, including children and adolescents, contains 35,302 participants.
- Age groups: 20-39, 40-59, 60-79, and 80+ are retained exactly. No decade values are interpolated from these broad groups.
- Measurement: after the participant had been seated quietly for approximately 4 minutes, a trained physician palpated the radial pulse and counted beats for 30 seconds.
- Weighting: estimates use the NHANES examination weights and survey design described in the report.
| Age group | Male n | Female n |
|---|---|---|
| 20-39 | 3,445 | 3,061 |
| 40-59 | 2,559 | 2,409 |
| 60-79 | 1,147 | 1,163 |
| 80+ | 197 | 219 |
The trend chart places the four broad age groups at ages 30, 50, 70, and 85 as display anchors. These coordinates are not weighted mean ages and must not be interpreted as measurements specifically at those exact ages.
The normative sample excluded participants with known cardiovascular conditions, medications that could affect pulse, pregnancy, irregular pulse, abnormal thyroid results, or probable infection under the report's criteria. This makes the table useful as a reference distribution, but not representative of every adult seen in practice. The source data were collected in 1999-2008 and should not be treated as a current clinical threshold. Full source details are on the reference page.