Average grip strength by age is one of the most useful ways to interpret a hand-dynamometer reading. The charts below use US NIH Toolbox reference values so you can compare your number to the mean and percentiles for your age and sex, in both pounds and kilograms.
Average grip strength by age chart
The figures below are mean dominant-hand grip strength from Wang et al., published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy in 2018. They come from the US National Institutes of Health Toolbox normative project, which tested 1,232 community-dwelling adults aged 18 to 85 using a calibrated Jamar dynamometer in the standard seated position. Pounds are shown first, since that is how most US readouts report grip.
| Age | Men (lb) | Men (kg) | Women (lb) | Women (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–24 | 103.6 | 47.0 | 61.9 | 28.1 |
| 25–29 | 109.6 | 49.7 | 65.3 | 29.6 |
| 30–34 | 102.5 | 46.5 | 63.7 | 28.9 |
| 35–39 | 103.8 | 47.1 | 64.4 | 29.2 |
| 40–44 | 103.0 | 46.7 | 65.9 | 29.9 |
| 45–49 | 94.4 | 42.8 | 63.5 | 28.8 |
| 50–54 | 97.0 | 44.0 | 62.2 | 28.2 |
| 55–59 | 89.7 | 40.7 | 55.3 | 25.1 |
| 60–64 | 84.7 | 38.4 | 52.0 | 23.6 |
| 65–69 | 81.1 | 36.8 | 48.7 | 22.1 |
| 70–74 | 76.5 | 34.7 | 47.4 | 21.5 |
| 75–79 | 72.1 | 32.7 | 43.2 | 19.6 |
| 80–85 | 61.9 | 28.1 | 43.9 | 19.9 |
Mean dominant-hand grip strength by age and sex. Source: Wang et al., JOSPT 2018 (US NIH Toolbox reference values).
Find your age row and your sex, and compare. The nondominant hand typically measures a little lower, so if you tested your weaker side, expect a smaller number.
Percentiles: where does your number rank?
An average tells you the middle of the pack, but it does not tell you whether you are near the top or the bottom. The percentile tables below answer that. Find your age band, then see which column your number falls closest to. Sitting at the 75th percentile means you are stronger than roughly three quarters of people your age and sex.
| Age | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–24 | 79.8 | 91.3 | 105.4 | 112.9 | 127.6 |
| 25–29 | 74.3 | 95.5 | 108.7 | 131.0 | 145.9 |
| 30–34 | 68.8 | 80.2 | 101.6 | 124.3 | 139.1 |
| 35–39 | 66.8 | 87.5 | 110.5 | 119.7 | 134.0 |
| 40–44 | 75.6 | 88.0 | 101.2 | 119.9 | 139.1 |
| 45–49 | 68.6 | 78.9 | 89.7 | 106.3 | 130.5 |
| 50–54 | 67.0 | 86.0 | 98.8 | 115.3 | 125.0 |
| 55–59 | 62.2 | 71.4 | 85.3 | 105.4 | 124.1 |
| 60–64 | 51.4 | 67.0 | 88.8 | 99.0 | 115.7 |
| 65–69 | 39.2 | 69.4 | 80.7 | 101.0 | 110.5 |
| 70–74 | 36.8 | 64.6 | 80.0 | 90.8 | 100.5 |
| 75–79 | 40.6 | 57.1 | 73.9 | 80.7 | 95.9 |
| 80–85 | 34.4 | 47.4 | 65.0 | 76.3 | 84.2 |
Men's dominant-hand grip strength percentiles, in pounds. Source: Wang et al., JOSPT 2018, Appendix A.
| Age | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–24 | 38.8 | 49.4 | 62.6 | 74.5 | 83.8 |
| 25–29 | 44.5 | 56.0 | 65.3 | 74.1 | 87.5 |
| 30–34 | 45.2 | 52.7 | 65.7 | 72.8 | 81.8 |
| 35–39 | 44.1 | 54.0 | 66.8 | 72.8 | 83.8 |
| 40–44 | 50.3 | 58.4 | 67.0 | 74.5 | 82.5 |
| 45–49 | 39.0 | 55.6 | 63.3 | 75.8 | 82.9 |
| 50–54 | 43.4 | 54.2 | 62.2 | 72.1 | 77.6 |
| 55–59 | 37.3 | 45.6 | 53.1 | 66.6 | 71.0 |
| 60–64 | 35.1 | 42.3 | 53.8 | 61.9 | 70.1 |
| 65–69 | 25.8 | 42.5 | 48.9 | 55.1 | 68.8 |
| 70–74 | 33.5 | 43.0 | 49.6 | 52.7 | 60.6 |
| 75–79 | 27.8 | 34.6 | 40.1 | 49.4 | 61.3 |
| 80–85 | 32.0 | 36.6 | 43.0 | 48.1 | 59.5 |
Women's dominant-hand grip strength percentiles, in pounds. Source: Wang et al., JOSPT 2018, Appendix A.
A worked example makes this concrete. A man who squeezes 110 pounds is almost exactly average at 25 to 39. The same 110 pounds at 45 to 49 puts him between the 75th and 90th percentile, and at 65 to 69 it would beat the 90th. The number did not change; the context did. Different Health reports grip strength in pounds for both hands as part of its strength and power testing, then reads it against age-group percentiles so you get the ranking rather than a bare figure.
What the data says about age
The common claim is that grip strength starts dropping every year once you pass 30. The US reference data does not show that. Men average 49.7 kg at 25 to 29 and 46.7 kg at 40 to 44, a difference small enough to be unremarkable. Women average 29.6 kg at 25 to 29 and 29.9 kg at 40 to 44, which is to say no decline at all across those years.
Grip strength for adults aged 18 to 24 was not statistically different from adults aged 25 to 59, but was significantly greater than that of adults aged 60 and older.
— Wang et al., Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2018
The practical reading is that grip strength holds up through midlife and then declines meaningfully from around 60. Men lose roughly 25 pounds of average grip between their early fifties and their early seventies. For women, the drop is proportionally similar and starts to show around the mid-fifties.
One honest caveat: this is cross-sectional data, meaning it compares different people at different ages rather than following the same person over decades. Individual trajectories vary, and the number of participants in each age band ranged from 17 to 109, so single bands carry some noise. The overall shape is what matters, not any single row.
What counts as weak grip strength
The revised European consensus on sarcopenia, known as EWGSOP2, uses grip strength below 27 kg (about 60 pounds) in men and below 16 kg (about 35 pounds) in women as a screening cut-point for probable sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle strength. Those thresholds are a signal that muscle mass and physical performance deserve a closer look, not a diagnosis on their own. This is educational information rather than personal medical advice, and a clinician should interpret any result in context.
The direction of travel matters as much as the threshold. A number sitting well below the median for your age and sex, or trending down year over year, is worth acting on whether or not it has crossed a formal cut-point. Grip reflects overall muscle capacity, which is also why it is read alongside skeletal muscle mass rather than in isolation.
Why grip strength predicts longevity
A hand squeeze predicts lifespan because it reflects far more than forearm strength. It tracks total-body muscle strength and physical function, both of which decline with age and illness. The landmark evidence is the PURE study, which followed nearly 140,000 adults across 17 countries and found each 5-kilogram reduction in grip strength was associated with about a 16 percent higher risk of death, a stronger predictor than systolic blood pressure.
That does not mean training your grip alone extends life. Grip strength is a marker, not a lever. It is powerful because it captures muscle mass, strength, and function in one cheap measurement, and those are what actually relate to healthy aging. It is also why grip is a standard part of the assessment at a longevity clinic.
How to measure yours accurately
The reference values above assume a specific protocol, and deviating from it changes your number. In the NIH Toolbox study, participants sat upright with the arm at the side, elbow bent to 90 degrees, forearm neutral, using a Jamar dynamometer with the handle in the second position. They performed one practice squeeze and one maximal effort of three to four seconds per hand.
Two things follow from that. First, comparing a reading taken standing, with a different device, or with a best-of-three protocol against this table introduces error. Second, consistency with yourself beats precision against a population norm, so retest the same way every time. Building grip comes down to training strength broadly, since the test reflects overall muscle capacity: regular resistance work, movements that load the hands like carries and deadlifts, and enough protein, with gains arriving over weeks to months.
Key Takeaways
- Peak averages: about 110 lb (49.7 kg) for men at 25–29 and 66 lb (29.9 kg) for women at 40–44, per US NIH Toolbox data.
- Flatter than you think: grip strength is statistically unchanged from 18 to 59, and only drops significantly from 60 onward.
- Percentile beats the raw number: 110 lb is average for a man at 30 and well above average at 65.
- Weak is defined: EWGSOP2 screens at under 27 kg (60 lb) for men and 16 kg (35 lb) for women.
- It predicts mortality: each 5 kg drop was linked to about 16% higher risk of death in the PURE study of ~140,000 adults.
- Protocol matters: the norms assume a seated Jamar test at the second handle position, so test the same way each time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is average grip strength?
Using US reference data from the NIH Toolbox project, average dominant-hand grip strength peaks at about 109.6 pounds (49.7 kg) for men aged 25 to 29 and about 65.9 pounds (29.9 kg) for women aged 40 to 44. Averages fall to roughly 62 pounds (28.1 kg) for men and 44 pounds (19.9 kg) for women by ages 80 to 85. Your result depends on the device and testing position, so compare against your own baseline where possible.
What is average grip strength by age?
For men, dominant-hand averages run roughly 104 pounds at 18-24, 110 at 25-29, 103 at 40-44, 90 at 55-59, 81 at 65-69, and 62 at 80-85. For women, roughly 62 pounds at 18-24, 65 at 25-29, 66 at 40-44, 55 at 55-59, 49 at 65-69, and 44 at 80-85. These come from the Wang et al. 2018 US reference values published in JOSPT.
Is a grip strength of 110 pounds good?
For a man, 110 pounds sits right around the 50th percentile at ages 25 to 39, and moves well above average from the mid-40s onward, landing between the 75th and 90th percentile at 45-49. For a woman, 110 pounds would be far above the 90th percentile at any age. Percentile matters more than the raw number, because a good score is always relative to your age and sex.
What is average grip strength for men?
Across all adult ages, men's dominant-hand grip strength averages roughly 41 kg (about 91 pounds) in the US NIH Toolbox sample, but the age-specific figure is more useful. It peaks near 110 pounds (49.7 kg) at ages 25 to 29 and holds close to 100 pounds through the early 50s before declining. Compare yourself to your own age band rather than a single overall figure.
What is considered weak grip strength?
The revised European consensus on sarcopenia (EWGSOP2) uses grip strength below 27 kg (about 60 pounds) in men and below 16 kg (about 35 pounds) in women as a screening cut-point for probable sarcopenia. That threshold signals that muscle mass and physical performance deserve a closer look; it is not a diagnosis on its own. This is educational information, not personal medical advice.
Does grip strength decline with age?
Less early than most people assume. In the US reference data, grip strength among adults aged 18 to 24 was not statistically different from adults aged 25 to 59, but was significantly higher than adults aged 60 and over. The meaningful decline shows up after about 60 rather than as a steady drop from 30 onward.
References
- Wang Y-C, Bohannon RW, Li X, Sindhu B, Kapellusch J. Hand-Grip Strength: Normative Reference Values and Equations for Individuals 18 to 85 Years of Age Residing in the United States. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2018;48(9):685–693. (Table 1 and Appendix A; US NIH Toolbox normative sample, n = 1,232.)
- Leong DP, Teo KK, Rangarajan S, et al. Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. The Lancet. 2015;386(9990):266–273.
- Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Bahat G, Bauer J, et al. Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis (EWGSOP2). Age and Ageing. 2019;48(1):16–31.