Grip Strength Calculator: Percentile by Age and Sex (kg, lb)

Key facts

In 12 British studies of 49,964 people, median grip strength peaked at 51 kg for men (ages 29 to 39) and 31 kg for women (26 to 42), then fell from midlife on.
The median best-hand grip at 40 is 50 kg for men and 31 kg for women in the UK norms, and 50.7 kg and 31.5 kg in US adults (NHANES 2011–2014).
The European sarcopenia guideline (EWGSOP2, 2019) counts a grip under 27 kg in men or 16 kg in women as low muscle strength.
Among 9,583 US adults followed for a median 6.75 years, the weakest 20% had 2.20 times (men) and 2.52 times (women) the risk of dying of everyone else, after adjusting for age, lifestyle and existing illness.

Dodds et al., PLoS ONE 2014; CDC NHANES 2011–2014; Cruz-Jentoft et al., Age Ageing 2019; Chai et al., Sci Rep 2024.

Age

Grip strength

The best of three squeezes with each hand on a hand dynamometer.

NormsUK, Dodds et al. 2014

Compare with

Dodds et al. 2014: 12 British studies, 49,964 people, ages 5 to 90.

ExampleA man of 40, best squeeze 48 kg

41stpercentile

Stronger than about 41 in 100 men aged 40, on UK norms. The median is 50 kg.

Middle half (25th to 75th)
10th to 90th
Median

10th to 90th, men 40: 38–63 kg
EWGSOP2 low-strength line, 27 kg: 21 kg above it
Same as the median at age: 50

General information from published research, not a diagnosis or medical advice. Talk to a doctor before changing medication or treatment. A low grip is a reason to talk to a doctor, not a diagnosis; one reading on one day can be off. Sources Terms

Grip strength by age: the norm tablesBest of both hands, in kg, UK norms

Table 2 of Dodds et al. 2014, from centile curves fitted to 60,803 grip measurements in 12 British studies. Your row is highlighted.

Men, UK norms (kg)
Age	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
5	6	7	8	9	10
10	12	15	17	20	22
15	21	25	29	33	38
20	30	35	40	46	52
25	36	41	48	55	61
30	38	44	51	58	64
35	39	45	51	58	64
40	38	44	50	57	63
45	36	42	49	56	61
50	35	41	48	54	60
55	34	40	47	53	59
60	33	39	45	51	56
65	31	37	43	48	53
70	29	34	39	44	49
75	26	31	35	41	45
80	23	27	32	37	42
85	19	24	29	33	38
90	16	20	25	29	33

Women, UK norms (kg)
Age	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
5	6	7	8	9	10
10	12	14	16	19	21
15	17	20	24	27	30
20	21	24	28	32	36
25	23	26	30	35	38
30	24	27	31	35	39
35	23	27	31	35	39
40	23	27	31	35	39
45	22	26	30	34	38
50	21	25	29	33	37
55	19	23	28	32	35
60	18	22	27	31	34
65	17	21	25	29	33
70	16	20	24	27	31
75	14	18	21	25	28
80	13	16	19	23	26
85	11	14	17	20	23
90	9	11	14	17	20

Where the numbers come fromDodds et al. 2014, NHANES 2011–2014, EWGSOP2

UK norms. Dodds RM, Syddall HE, Cooper R, et al. Grip strength across the life course: normative data from twelve British studies. PLoS ONE 2014;9(12):e113637. 60,803 measurements from 49,964 people aged 4 to 90+, best of both hands (most studies took six squeezes), mostly on Jamar or Smedley dynamometers. The authors fitted centile curves (the LMS method in GAMLSS) and found that the type of dynamometer and sitting or standing changed them by less than 10%. Their Table 2 is reproduced under the article’s Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.

US norms. Our own calculation from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2012 and 2013–2014 (public domain): 10,654 people aged 17 to 80+ who did the grip test with both hands (three squeezes each, mostly standing, on a Takei digital dynamometer). Each person’s grip is the best of six squeezes; percentiles are weighted by the exam weights so they stand for the US population, using everyone within 3 years of each age. The script that builds them from the CDC files is in the site’s repository (scripts/build-nhanes-grip.mjs).

Your percentile. The five centiles at your age are read off straight lines between the table’s ages. Your grip is placed on a straight line between the two centiles either side of it on the normal scale (the 10th to 90th centiles sit at z = −1.28, −0.67, 0, 0.67 and 1.28), and the normal distribution turns that z into a percentile. Under the 10th or over the 90th the outer line is continued, so those percentiles are estimates.

The dashed line. EWGSOP2, the European consensus on sarcopenia (Cruz-Jentoft et al., Age and Ageing 2019), uses under 27 kg for men and under 16 kg for women as low strength, from Dodds’ values 2.5 standard deviations below the young-adult peak. It is meant for adults, mostly older ones, and is a reason for a closer look, not a diagnosis.

Hands. With each hand entered, the page uses the stronger one and shows how far apart they are. Collins et al. (IJERPH 2020) counted a difference of more than 10% as asymmetry; in their study of older Americans, asymmetry on its own was not linked with functional limitations, while weakness was.

VO2 max calculatorCardio fitness for your age and sex, on the same kind of percentile scale.Biological age calculatorPut your grip beside your other health numbers.Workout planA 4, 8 or 12-week strength plan for the equipment you have.

How to measure

The Southampton protocol, which most studies behind the UK norms used.

1Sit in a chair with arms, feet flat on the floor.
2Bend your elbow to about 90 degrees and rest your forearm on the chair arm, wrist just over the end, thumb up.
3Squeeze as hard as you can for a few seconds, then relax.
4Three squeezes with each hand, alternating hands, starting with the right.
5Keep the best of all six. That is the number to enter.

Protocol as summarised by Sousa-Santos and Amaral, BMC Geriatrics 2017 (from Roberts et al., Age and Ageing 2011); elbow angle as in the American Society of Hand Therapists’ protocol. The US survey tested standing; the UK authors found position changed the norms by less than 10%.

Method6 sourcesChecked against 8 worked examplesUpdated Oct 2026

How this works

Method

Your best squeeze is compared with the 10th to 90th centiles for your sex and age: UK norms from Table 2 of Dodds et al. 2014, or US norms we computed from the CDC’s NHANES 2011–2014 grip test (best of six squeezes, survey-weighted). Centiles between table ages lie on straight lines; your kg is placed between the two centiles either side on the normal scale and turned into a percentile (beyond the 10th or 90th, an estimate). The EWGSOP2 line, under 27 kg for men and 16 kg for women, is a reference, not a diagnosis.

Sources

Grip strength across the life course: normative data from twelve British studies (Dodds et al.) (PLoS ONE, 2014)
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2014: Muscle Strength (grip test) and Demographics data (CDC National Center for Health Statistics)
Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis (EWGSOP2, Cruz-Jentoft et al.) (Age and Ageing, 2019)
Comparison of grip strength measurements for predicting all-cause mortality among adults aged 20+ years from the NHANES 2011–2014 (Chai et al.) (Scientific Reports, 2024)
Handgrip strength asymmetry and weakness are differentially associated with functional limitations in older Americans (Collins et al.) (Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2020)
Differences in handgrip strength protocols to identify sarcopenia and frailty: a systematic review (Sousa-Santos and Amaral) (BMC Geriatrics, 2017)

How it’s tested

8 worked examples for this page are checked by automated tests before every release: given the inputs, the tool must show the expected answer.

Limits

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Changes

25 Oct 2026 First published.

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What your percentile means

A percentile compares you with people of your sex and age, not with everyone. At the 41st, for example, you are stronger than about 41 in 100 of them and weaker than about 59. Grip strength rises through childhood, peaks between about 26 and 42, holds through midlife and then falls, so the same reading can be low at 30 and high at 75. The chart in the answer shows where you sit on that curve.

Grip strength and long-term health

Grip strength takes a minute to measure, which is one reason it is used so widely, in research and in the European sarcopenia guideline. In a 2024 study of 9,583 US adults from NHANES 2011–2014, followed for a median 6.75 years, the weakest 20% for their sex and BMI had 2.20 times (95% CI 1.71–2.83) the risk of dying in men and 2.52 times (1.83–3.46) in women, compared with everyone else, after adjusting for age, lifestyle and chronic illness (Chai et al., Scientific Reports).

That describes groups, not you: a low grip can be a sign of illness or inactivity rather than a cause, and one reading on one day can be off by a few kilograms. Measure it the same way each time and watch the trend.

UK or US norms?

The UK norms cover the whole life course, ages 5 to 90, from 12 British studies; they are the norms the European sarcopenia guideline built its cut-offs on. The US norms come from a national survey of adults 20 to 80 and over, measured standing on a digital dynamometer. From 25 to 70 the two medians agree within 2 kg; at 20, and from 75 on, the US ones are higher (for men at 20, 46.6 kg against 40). Pick the one closest to where you live, or to how you were measured.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average grip strength for a man?

In the UK norms (Dodds et al. 2014, best of both hands) the median man grips 40 kg at 20, 51 kg at 30 to 35, 50 kg at 40, 48 kg at 50, 45 kg at 60, 39 kg at 70 and 32 kg at 80. In US men (NHANES 2011–2014) the median is 46.6 kg at 20, 50.7 kg at 40, 44.9 kg at 60 and 33.8 kg at 80 and over. In pounds, 50 kg is about 110 lb.

What is the average grip strength for a woman?

In the UK norms the median woman grips 28 kg at 20, 31 kg from 30 to 40, 29 kg at 50, 27 kg at 60, 24 kg at 70 and 19 kg at 80. In US women (NHANES 2011–2014) it is 30.4 kg at 20, 31.5 kg at 40, 28.1 kg at 60 and 20.1 kg at 80 and over. 31 kg is about 68 lb.

What is a good grip strength for my age?

There is no single "good" number: grip strength changes a lot with age and differs between men and women. A useful reading is your percentile. Around the 50th is typical for your age and sex, the 75th or higher is stronger than three in four people your age, and under the 10th is weaker than nine in ten.

What grip strength is considered weak?

The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2, 2019) uses under 27 kg for men and under 16 kg for women as low muscle strength. Those values are 2.5 standard deviations below the young-adult peak in the British norms this page uses. Some US studies use 26 kg for men. Low strength makes sarcopenia "probable" in that guideline; a doctor confirms it by measuring muscle, so a low reading here is a reason to ask, not a diagnosis.

How do I measure grip strength?

With a hand dynamometer. Sit in a chair with arms, feet flat, elbow bent to about 90 degrees and your forearm resting on the chair arm, wrist just over its end with the thumb up. Squeeze as hard as you can for a few seconds, three times with each hand, alternating hands, and keep the best of all six. That is the Southampton protocol most of the British studies behind these norms followed.

Does grip strength predict how long you live?

It is linked with it in many studies. In US adults from NHANES 2011–2014, the weakest 20% for their sex and BMI had 2.20 times (men) and 2.52 times (women) the risk of dying over a median 6.75 years, after adjusting for age, lifestyle and existing illness. That is an association in a group, not a forecast for one person: weak grip often reflects illness or inactivity that also affect health.

Why are the UK and US numbers different?

They come from different people, years and equipment. The UK norms pool 12 British studies (1990 to 2012), mostly Jamar or Smedley dynamometers, seated or standing. The US norms are from the 2011–2014 NHANES survey, on a Takei digital dynamometer, standing. From 25 to 70 the two medians agree within 2 kg; at 20, and from 75 on, the US medians are higher. Use the one closest to you, or the one your dynamometer and position match.

Can I use a spring gripper or a grip trainer?

Not for this. Norms like these come from calibrated dynamometers that read the force of one squeeze in kilograms or pounds. A spring gripper tells you whether you closed it, not how hard you squeezed, so its rating can’t be compared with a percentile chart.