Normal Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Ranges by Age: Pediatric and Adult Reference

Vital Sign Reference Tables for Clinical Use

Values represent awake, resting measurements. Use appropriate cuff size (bladder width 40% arm circumference, length 80–100%). Confirm abnormal readings with repeat measurement.

Pediatric Heart Rate (beats/min)

Age	Awake Range	Sleeping Range
Neonate (0–1 mo)	100–205	90–160
Infant (1–12 mo)	100–190	90–160
Toddler (1–2 yr)	98–140	80–120
Preschool (3–5 yr)	80–120	65–100
School-age (6–11 yr)	75–118	58–90
Adolescent (12–15 yr)	60–100	50–90

Pediatric Blood Pressure (mm Hg) – 50th–90th Percentile for Height

Simplified: Systolic / Diastolic

Age	Male	Female
1 yr	98/54	98/54
3 yr	100/59	100/59
6 yr	102/62	101/62
10 yr	106/65	107/66
13 yr	110/67	110/67
16 yr	118/70	114/69
≥18 yr (Adult)	<120/<80	<120/<80

Adult Classification (ACC/AHA 2017)

Category	Systolic	Diastolic
Normal	<120	<80
Elevated	120–129	<80
Stage 1 HTN	130–139	80–89
Stage 2 HTN	≥140	≥90

Adult Resting Heart Rate

• Normal: 60–100 bpm
• Athletes: 40–60 bpm
• Tachycardia: >100 bpm (investigate cause)
• Bradycardia: <60 bpm (if symptomatic or non-athlete)

Clinical Pearls

• BP: Right arm preferred; average 2 readings 1 min apart.
• HR: Count 30 sec ×2 if regular; 60 sec if irregular.
• Always interpret in context: medications, pain, anxiety, thyroid, volume status.