Do You Level Up: Average Testosterone Levels in Men

The commercials usually pop up during a football game or other program that men could be watching. They tout treatments for low testosterone, which might cause low libido, erectile dysfunction and other health concerns. But before you consider anything, you should ask, “What is a normal testosterone level?”

Falling Factors

Testosterone is a hormone produced in your testicles. Your body’s production of testosterone typically starts to decline in your 40s, 50s or 60s, according to the Mayo Clinic’s Mayo Medical Laboratories. In addition to the normal aging process, Harvard Men’s Health Watch says other factors can make your testosterone levels decrease more quickly:

• Medications, particularly corticosteroid drugs and hormones that treat prostate cancer
• Chemotherapy or radiation treatment
• Injury or infection
• Chronic illness
• Alcoholism
• Obesity
• Stress

Men’s Health magazine notes that for most men, having a testosterone level below 300 nanongrams per deciliter (ng/dL) is viewed as low, but there are different ranges depending on what laboratory performs the test. The magazine cited a Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study that analyzed the blood samples of more than 9,000 men to determine what normal testosterone levels should be. For men between the ages of 19 and 39 who aren’t overweight, the researchers found that levels between 264 and 916 ng/dL were considered “normal.”

Talk to your doctor about getting checked if you’re concerned about health problems that you think might be caused by low testosterone.