Normal heart rate by age

Resting heart rate is highest in babies and falls through childhood, levelling off in the teenage years. Below are the reference values from three sources, side by side, from birth to old age.

Children: centiles from birth to 18

A 2011 systematic review in The Lancet pooled 69 studies with heart rate data for 143,346 children and produced the centile chart below[1]. Heart rate was a median of 127 beats per minute at birth, peaked around 145 at about one month, and was down to about 113 by age two. The 1st to 99th centile columns show how wide the healthy spread is at every age.

Age	1th	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	99th
Birth	90	107	116	127	138	148	164
0–3 months	107	123	133	143	154	164	181
3–6 months	104	120	129	140	150	159	175
6–9 months	98	114	123	134	143	152	168
9–12 months	93	109	118	128	137	145	161
12–18 months	88	103	112	123	132	140	156
18–24 months	82	98	106	116	126	135	149
2–3 years	76	92	100	110	119	128	142
3–4 years	70	86	94	104	113	123	136
4–6 years	65	81	89	98	108	117	131
6–8 years	59	74	82	91	101	111	123
8–12 years	52	67	75	84	93	103	115
12–15 years	47	62	69	78	87	96	108
15–18 years	43	58	65	73	83	92	104

Beats per minute. Fleming et al. 2011, Web Table 5.

United States survey data

NHANES measured seated resting pulse in a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents from 1999 to 2008, excluding people with conditions or medicines that affect the pulse[2]. Values for babies and young children were counted with a stethoscope at the chest; from age five, at the wrist.

Age	Females 5th–95th	Female median	Males 5th–95th	Male median
Under 1 year	104–156	127	102–155	125
1 year	95–139	117	95–137	114
2–3 years	88–125	107	85–124	104
4–5 years	76–117	95	74–112	92
6–8 years	69–106	87	66–105	83
9–11 years	66–103	83	61–97	78
12–15 years	60–99	79	57–97	74
16–19 years	58–99	77	52–92	69
20–39 years	57–95	74	52–89	69
40–59 years	56–92	71	52–90	68
60–79 years	56–92	70	50–91	67
80 years and over	56–93	71	51–94	68

NHANES figures are public-domain data from the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC); citing them does not imply endorsement by CDC, NCHS or the U.S. government.

Simple ranges by age group

MedlinePlus, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, gives these broad resting ranges[3]:

Age group	Resting heart rate (bpm)
Newborn (0–1 month)	70–190
Infant (1–11 months)	80–160
1–2 years	80–130
3–4 years	80–120
5–6 years	75–115
7–9 years	70–110
10 years and older, adults, seniors	60–100
Well-trained athletes	40–60

For adults, the American Heart Association uses the same 60 to 100 bpm range and notes that active people may rest as low as 40[4][5].

Why the sources disagree

Look closely and the numbers don’t match. For newborns, MedlinePlus says 70 to 190, while the Lancet review’s 1st to 99th centiles at birth run from 90 to 164. The reasons are ordinary ones: different groups of children, awake versus asleep, different ways of counting, and different choices about where to draw the line. Broad ranges are meant as quick rules of thumb; centile tables describe the actual spread in the data they came from.

For adults, the broad 60–100 range covers the middle of the NHANES distribution, yet in that survey about 15% of men and 7% of women had a resting pulse under 60[2]. A broad range is a rule of thumb, not a boundary between healthy and unhealthy.

Using these numbers

To compare your own resting rate with people of your age and sex, use the resting heart rate reference. To measure it, rest quietly for 10 minutes first[3], then use the camera reader or the tap counter. For a child, ask your pediatrician which range they use; a reading taken while a child is crying or running around is not a resting value.

The AHA advises calling 911 if a heart rate is suddenly very high or very low for that person, especially with chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting[4].

Questions people ask

What is a normal heart rate for a child?

It depends heavily on age. A typical resting rate is around 110 at two to three years, 91 at six to eight and 78 at 12 to 15, with a wide healthy spread around each value[1].

What is a normal heart rate for a newborn?

In the Lancet review the median at birth was 127, with the 1st–99th centiles from 90 to 164[1]. MedlinePlus gives a broad 70–190 for the first month[3].

At what age does heart rate reach adult levels?

Around the mid-to-late teens. In NHANES, median resting pulse at 16–19 was 69 for males and 77 for females, close to adult values[2].

Does heart rate keep falling in old age?

Not much. In NHANES, adult medians stayed between the high 60s and mid 70s from the 20s through the 80s[2].

Under what conditions were these measured?

NHANES measured people seated and awake after a few minutes of rest. The Lancet review pooled many studies; its paper, linked below, describes their methods.

Sources

Fleming S, Thompson M, Stevens R, et al. Normal ranges of heart rate and respiratory rate in children from birth to 18 years of age: a systematic review of observational studies. Lancet 2011;377(9770):1011–1018 (Web Table 5). PMC3789232. Checked 2026-10-09.
Ostchega Y, Porter KS, Hughes J, Dillon CF, Nwankwo T. Resting pulse rate reference data for children, adolescents, and adults: United States, 1999–2008. National Health Statistics Reports no. 41. National Center for Health Statistics, 2011 (Tables 1–3). cdc.gov. Checked 2026-10-09.
MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine). Pulse (review date Jan 1, 2025). medlineplus.gov. Checked 2026-10-09.
American Heart Association. All About Heart Rate (Pulse) (last reviewed May 13, 2024). heart.org. Checked 2026-10-09.
American Heart Association. Target Heart Rates Chart (last reviewed Aug 12, 2024). heart.org. Checked 2026-10-09.