The normal range for total testosterone levels in men is approximately 300 ng/dL to 1050 ng/dL. There is no absolute consensus among different medical organizations for the exact cutoff for low testosterone. In general, the cutoff ranges from high 200s to low-to-mid 300s ng/dL. This range is over a broad age range and there is no “normal” testosterone level based on age that men can look to as a reference.

The official recommendations of the major professional organizations are:

Organization Suggest Total Testosterone Level for Treatment
The Endocrine Society 2010 guidelines suggest 300 ng/dL as a common threshold for symptoms in many men, but state that “the threshold testosterone level below which symptoms of androgen deficiency and adverse health outcomes occur and testosterone administration improves outcomes in the general population is not known”.
American Organization of Clinical Endocrinologists 2002 guidelines suggest men with symptomatic hypogonadism and a total testosterone level of less than 200 ng/dL may be potential candidates for therapy.
European Association of Urology < 350 ng/dL
Japanese Urological Association 2008 guidelines suggest that total testosterone be ignored and diagnoses be made purely from free testosterone.
As mentioned above, your free testosterone level is as important, if not more important, as the total testosterone level. The normal range for free testosterone in men is 5 ng/dL to 21 ng/dL. It should be noted that labs use different assays and methodologies to measure free testosterone levels. A free testosterone (direct) test will yield values outside of the above range if you try to convert the values. In this case, use the reference range for free testosterone provided by the lab. Compare your lab results directly to the lab provided range to assess where you stand. For example, AnyLabTestNow provides a free (direct ) range of 35 to 155 pg/mL (3.5 to 15.5 ng/dL).

Two important points should be noted regarding the normal range for testosterone. First, the normal range for testosterone is quite large. One man can have nearly three to four times the testosterone as another man and both men can be considered “normal”. The size of the change in testosterone levels over a lifetime can be just as important as the actual clinical value for the development of low T symptoms. While low T is generally defined as total testosterone below 300 ng/dL, men with levels above this cutoff value may still experience symptoms of low T because they experience big individual declines over their lifetime. Some men start to experience the symptoms of low testosterone at merely low-normal levels; anecdotal reports include some men suffering symptoms of low testosterone at levels as high as 450 ng/dL.

Second, testosterone levels naturally decline. Total testosterone levels decline nearly 30% between the ages of 25 and 75. Free testosterone levels decline nearly 50% between the ages of 25 and 75. But, the normal range is applied to both a 25-year-old and a 75-year-old man. There is no clinically “normal” testosterone level based on age that men can look to as a reference. Some studies do measure average total and free testosterone with age, so that you can compare your levels with the average study levels. Elite Men’s Guide Normal Testosterone Levels article provides more detail on testosterone levels.

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