Normal Testosterone Levels by Age (With Filipino Data)

You have your result back from the lab, and it says something like "Testosterone, total: 11.2 nmol/L" or "385 ng/dL" or even "3.85 ng/mL". Is that normal? The honest answer is: it depends on the unit, your lab's reference range, the time of day you were tested, your weight and your symptoms. This page gives you the numbers you need to make sense of it, including a reference study done in Filipino men.

The units: ng/dL, nmol/L and ng/mL

Philippine labs do not all report testosterone the same way. You will see three units:

• nmol/L (nanomoles per litre), used by many hospital labs and most international guidelines outside the US
• ng/dL (nanograms per decilitre), used by US guidelines and most online articles
• ng/mL (nanograms per millilitre), used by some local labs: multiply by 100 to get ng/dL

The conversion factor between the first two is 28.84:

• ng/dL ÷ 28.84 = nmol/L
• nmol/L × 28.84 = ng/dL

ng/dL	nmol/L	ng/mL	What it means
200	6.9	2.0	Clearly low
264	9.2	2.6	Lower limit of the harmonized range
300	10.4	3.0	AUA cut-off for low testosterone
350	12.1	3.5	Borderline zone in many guidelines
400	13.9	4.0	Normal
500	17.3	5.0	Normal
600	20.8	6.0	Normal
800	27.7	8.0	Normal
916	31.8	9.2	Upper limit of the harmonized range

The quickest way to convert your own number is our converter:

Free toolUnit converterSwitch lab results between ng/dL and nmol/L, the two units Philippine labs use.→

What counts as normal: the harmonized range

For years, every lab used its own range, and the same blood sample could be "low" at one lab and "normal" at another. In 2017, Travison and colleagues tackled this by measuring testosterone from four large cohorts in the US and Europe with a single, standardised method. In healthy, non-obese men aged 19 to 39, the middle 95 percent of results fell between:

264 and 916 ng/dL (about 9.2 to 31.8 nmol/L)

The Endocrine Society's 2018 guideline uses 264 ng/dL as the lower limit of normal for adult men. The American Urological Association uses 300 ng/dL as a practical cut-off. Both agree that a single number never makes a diagnosis: it takes symptoms plus two separate early-morning results below the range.

Testosterone levels by age

Testosterone peaks in the late teens and twenties and then declines slowly. Large studies, including the European Male Ageing Study, put the average fall at roughly 1 percent a year from about age 40. Free testosterone falls a bit faster, because SHBG (the protein that binds testosterone) rises with age.

Here is what that looks like in practice:

Age	What typically happens
19 to 39	Peak years. The harmonized range of 264 to 916 ng/dL comes from this group.
40 to 49	Small average decline. Weight gain, poor sleep and stress have more effect than age.
50 to 59	Further gradual fall. SHBG rises, so free testosterone drops more than total.
60 to 69	More men drift into the low zone, mostly those with obesity or chronic illness.
70 and over	Average levels are lower again, but many healthy men still test in the normal range.

Two points matter here. First, major guidelines do not use separate "normal for age" cut-offs. A 60-year-old whose level is below the adult range, with symptoms, is assessed the same way as a 35-year-old. Second, low testosterone is not simply "normal for your age". In EMAS, true late-onset hypogonadism (symptoms plus low levels) affected only about 2 percent of men aged 40 to 79, and it was far more linked to weight and health than to the number of birthdays. Our andropause guide covers this in detail.

The Filipino data: the UP Manila reference study

Most published reference ranges come from American and European men. That raises a fair question: are they right for Filipinos?

A reference interval study from the University of the Philippines Manila measured total testosterone in healthy Filipino men aged 21 to 40. It reported a reference interval of:

7.33 to 53.01 nmol/L (about 211 to 1,529 ng/dL)

That is noticeably wider than the harmonized range, both lower at the bottom and much higher at the top. There are several possible reasons, and none of them mean Filipino men "need" less or more testosterone:

• Different lab methods. Immunoassays used in many hospital labs read differently from the mass spectrometry method behind the harmonized range.
• Different selection of men. Who counts as "healthy" (weight, sleep, time of sampling, fasting) changes the result.
• Smaller sample size, which tends to widen the range at the extremes.

We are citing this study by title only while we confirm the full publication details, and we suggest treating it as a useful local reference rather than a replacement for your lab's own range. What it does show is that ranges really do vary, which leads to the most important rule on this page.

Why your lab's own range matters most

Every lab report prints a reference range next to your result. That range was set for that lab's equipment and method. Hi-Precision, Healthway, Medicard and hospital labs may each print slightly different numbers, and a result just under one lab's range might sit just inside another's.

So:

1. Compare your result with the range on your own report, not with a number from the internet.
2. Use the same lab for repeat tests when you can, so results are comparable over time.
3. Check the unit before comparing. "3.5" in ng/mL is 350 ng/dL, which is a very different thing from 3.5 nmol/L.
4. Check the time of the test. An afternoon result can be 20 percent or more below a morning result in younger men. Guidelines ask for an early-morning fasting sample, usually before 10 am.
5. Do not test when you are sick. Dengue, flu, a hospital stay or a week of very little sleep can lower the result for weeks.

Our testosterone test guide explains the timing rules in full, including what night-shift workers should do.

Free testosterone: the part your body uses

Most testosterone in the blood is bound to proteins. Roughly:

• About 40 to 60 percent is tightly bound to SHBG and is not available to tissues
• Most of the rest is loosely bound to albumin and partly available
• About 2 percent is free

Free testosterone (and the loosely bound part, together called bioavailable testosterone) is what tissues can actually use. That is why total testosterone can mislead in some men:

• High SHBG (older age, liver disease, an overactive thyroid, some medicines) can make total testosterone look normal while free testosterone is low.
• Low SHBG (obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance) can make total testosterone look low while free testosterone is closer to normal.

Free testosterone ranges vary a lot between labs and methods. For reference, EMAS used a free testosterone below 220 pmol/L (about 64 pg/mL) as part of its definition of late-onset hypogonadism.

Measured versus calculated free testosterone

A measured free testosterone test is expensive in the Philippines: Medicard lists it at ₱12,600 for non-members. Many experts also distrust the cheaper direct immunoassay methods for free testosterone, because they can be inaccurate.

The widely used alternative is to calculate free testosterone from total testosterone, SHBG and albumin, using the Vermeulen formula. A 1999 study by Vermeulen and colleagues showed that this calculation tracks the reference method (equilibrium dialysis) closely. The Endocrine Society accepts calculated free testosterone. You can run the calculation yourself with your lab results:

Free toolFree testosterone calculatorCalculated free T from total T, SHBG and albumin using the Vermeulen equation.→

Bring both your results and the calculated value to your doctor. The calculator is a guide, not a diagnosis.

What a low result means, and what to do

If your total testosterone is below your lab's range:

1. Do not panic, and do not start anything. One result is not a diagnosis.
2. Repeat it on a different day, early morning, fasting, when you are well.
3. Ask for the follow-up tests if it is low again: LH, FSH, prolactin, and SHBG or free testosterone.
4. Look at the causes that are easy to miss: excess weight, short sleep, diabetes, alcohol, opioid pain medicines.

Our pillar guide to low testosterone walks through causes and treatment, and testosterone test prices compares what each lab charges.

What a high result means

A naturally high level in a healthy man, with no symptoms, is usually just your normal. A result far above the range in a man not on treatment can point to:

• Supplements that contain undeclared hormones
• Anabolic steroid or testosterone use without supervision
• Rarely, a hormone-producing tumour

In men on prescribed TRT, doctors aim to keep levels within the normal range, not above it, and they adjust treatment if results run high. If you are in that situation, the timing of the blood test relative to your last treatment matters, so follow your doctor's instructions on when to test.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

What is a normal testosterone level for a man?+

The harmonized range used by the Endocrine Society is 264 to 916 ng/dL (about 9.2 to 31.8 nmol/L) for healthy, non-obese men aged 19 to 39. Your own lab's printed range is the one your doctor will use, and it can differ.

How do I convert testosterone from ng/dL to nmol/L?+

Divide ng/dL by 28.84 to get nmol/L, or multiply nmol/L by 28.84 to get ng/dL. If your lab reports ng/mL, multiply by 100 to get ng/dL.

Is there a normal testosterone range for Filipino men?+

A University of the Philippines Manila reference study in Filipino men aged 21 to 40 reported an interval of 7.33 to 53.01 nmol/L for total testosterone. That is wider than the international harmonized range, and individual Philippine labs set their own ranges.

Do testosterone levels drop with age?+

Yes, slowly, by roughly 1 percent a year on average from about age 40, with free testosterone falling a little faster. Most men stay in the normal range. Weight, sleep and illness have a bigger effect than age alone.

What is a normal free testosterone level?+

Free testosterone is a small fraction of total testosterone, usually around 2 percent. Ranges depend heavily on the lab and method. The European Male Ageing Study used below 220 pmol/L (about 64 pg/mL) as low.

Is a high testosterone level a problem?+

A naturally high result in a healthy man is usually not a concern. Levels well above the range in someone not on treatment can point to supplements containing hormones, anabolic steroid use or, rarely, a tumour, so a doctor should look at it.