Calcium Score by Age: Chart of Median and Percentile Scores

A coronary artery calcium score chart by age and sex, with the median, 75th and 90th percentile scores from the MESA study, and what your percentile means for treatment.

Published

October 3, 2026

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11 min read

Medically reviewed by

Rhonda Collins, FNP-C

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Most women under 65 and most men under 55 have a coronary artery calcium (CAC) score of 0. In the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), the median score for white women stays at 0 through age 65, and the median for white men is 28 at age 60 and 145 at age 70 (MESA CAC calculator, read October 2, 2026). Because calcium builds up with age, your percentile for your age and sex tells you more than the raw number. A score at the 75th percentile or above means you have more calcified plaque than at least three out of four people like you.

A CAC scan, also called a calcium score test or heart scan, is a short, noncontrast CT scan that measures calcified plaque in the arteries that feed your heart. The result is reported as an Agatston score. For what each score range means, see our calcium score test guide.

Calcium score by age chart

The tables below show the calcium score at the 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles at each age, plus the chance of having any calcium at all. All values come from the MESA CAC calculator, read on October 2, 2026. The calculator is built on the MESA reference distribution of 6,110 adults free of clinical cardiovascular disease and treated diabetes (McClelland et al., Circulation, 2006).

The calculator has no combined figure for all races, so these tables use its white reference group. Scores for Black, Chinese and Hispanic adults are lower at most ages and are covered in the race and ethnicity section below.

Calcium score percentiles by age for women (MESA, white women). Median is the 50th percentile score, and any calcium is the chance of a score above 0.

Source: MESA CAC calculator, white female, read October 2, 2026.

Calcium score percentiles by age for men (MESA, white men). Median is the 50th percentile score, and any calcium is the chance of a score above 0.

Source: MESA CAC calculator, white male, read October 2, 2026.

A 0 in a percentile column means at least that share of people your age have no calcium. When the 75th percentile is 0, any score above 0 puts you above the 75th percentile.

Calcium score at age 40

At 40, most people have a calcium score of 0. MESA starts at age 45, so the figures for age 40 come from a different study: a pooled analysis of 19,725 Black and white adults aged 30 to 45 from the CARDIA study, the CAC Consortium and the Walter Reed Cohort (Javaid et al., JACC, 2022). Part of that group was referred for a scan by a doctor, so it is not directly comparable to MESA, and its numbers are not mixed into the tables above.

In that study, at age 40:

• White women: the 75th and 90th percentile scores were both 0, and the 95th percentile was 4.
• White men: the 75th percentile was 0, the 90th was 18 and the 95th was 53.
• Black women: the 90th percentile was 0 and the 95th was 5.
• Black men: the 90th percentile was 5 and the 95th was 26.

Across ages 30 to 45, 26% of white men, 16% of Black men, 10% of white women and 7% of Black women had any calcium. Any calcium placed every woman in that age range above the 90th percentile (Javaid et al., 2022).

Calcium score at age 50

At 50, the median calcium score is still 0 for both women and men in MESA. About 16% of white women and 41% of white men have any calcium. The 75th percentile is 0 for white women and 22 for white men, and the 90th percentile is 8 for women and 110 for men (MESA CAC calculator, read October 2, 2026).

So at 50, a woman with any measurable calcium is above the 75th percentile. A man with a score above 22 is above it too.

Calcium score at age 60

The average calcium score for a 60-year-old, measured as the median, is 0 for white women and 28 for white men in MESA. About 36% of white women and 68% of white men aged 60 have any calcium. The 75th percentile is 16 for women and 155 for men, and the 90th percentile is 102 for women and 452 for men (MESA CAC calculator, read October 2, 2026).

That gap is why sex matters so much in a percentile. A 60-year-old woman with a score of 102 is at the 90th percentile, while the same score in a 60-year-old man falls between his median and 75th percentile.

Calcium score at age 70

The median calcium score at 70 is 13 for white women and 145 for white men in MESA. About 59% of white women and 83% of white men aged 70 have some calcium. The 75th percentile is 119 for women and 540 for men, and the 90th percentile is 391 for women and 1,345 for men (MESA CAC calculator, read October 2, 2026).

By 70, a score of 0 is a minority result for men: only about 17% of white men in MESA have no calcium at that age.

Calcium score at age 80

At 80, calcium is the norm. In MESA, about 87% of white women and 96% of white men have some, and the median score is 106 for women and 385 for men. The 75th percentile is 370 for women and 1,200 for men, and the 90th percentile is 921 for women and 2,933 for men (MESA CAC calculator, read October 2, 2026).

MESA covers ages 45 to 84, so there are no MESA percentiles for people older than 84. At age 84, the medians are 159 for white women and 542 for white men.

What does a calcium score percentile mean?

A calcium score percentile tells you what share of people your age and sex (and, in MESA, race or ethnicity) have a lower score than you. If you are at the 80th percentile, your score is higher than about 80 out of 100 comparable people without known heart disease. MESA found that men have more calcium than women, that calcium rises steadily with age, and that levels differ by race and ethnicity (McClelland et al., 2006).

The percentile and the raw score answer different questions:

• The raw score measures how much calcified plaque you have now. Higher scores mean more plaque and a greater risk of heart attack and stroke (University of Illinois guideline summary).
• The percentile shows how early that plaque is building compared with your peers. The same score means more at 45 than at 75, because far fewer 45-year-olds have any calcium.

Calcium score percentiles in the 2026 cholesterol guideline

The 2026 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia uses both the score and the percentile. For adults at borderline or intermediate 10-year risk with any calcium, it recommends starting cholesterol-lowering therapy, “particularly if the CAC score is ≥100 AU or ≥75th percentile” (University of Illinois drug information summary of the guideline; guideline record on PubMed). In other words, a score at or above the 75th percentile for your age and sex is grouped with a score of 100 or more, even when the raw number is lower.

The same guideline recommends selective CAC scanning for men over 40 and women over 45 at borderline or intermediate risk (ACC journal scan).

Using the MESA tables above, the 75th percentile line sits at these scores:

• White women: 0 at 50, 16 at 60 and 119 at 70.
• White men: 22 at 50, 155 at 60 and 540 at 70.

That means a 60-year-old white woman with a score of 20 has crossed the 75th percentile line even though her score is well under 100. A 70-year-old white man with a score of 100 is the other way around: he is below his median of 145, but his score is already in the 100 or more group. The 90th percentile has no separate threshold in the guideline wording quoted above. It shows plaque building even earlier than in most of your peers.

Race and ethnicity in the MESA calcium score percentiles

MESA compares your score with people of the same race or ethnicity as well as the same age and sex. For women, white participants had the highest percentiles and Hispanic women generally had the lowest. For men, white participants consistently had the highest percentiles and Hispanic men the second highest (McClelland et al., 2006).

75th percentile calcium score by race and ethnicity (MESA)

Source: MESA CAC calculator, read October 2, 2026.

The practical effect is that the same score can land in a different percentile depending on which reference group is used. A 60-year-old Black man with a score of 100 is above his MESA 75th percentile of 40. A 60-year-old white man with the same score is below his 75th percentile of 155. MESA only includes four groups, so people of other backgrounds are compared with the closest available group.

Find your own calcium score percentile with the MESA calculator

To find your exact percentile, enter your age, sex, race or ethnicity and your Agatston score into the free MESA CAC calculator. It works for ages 45 to 84 and returns the estimated percentile for your score, the scores at the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles, and the chance that someone like you has any calcium. Many scan reports already include a percentile, so check which reference group your report used.

For ages 30 to 45, the CAC Consortium researchers built a similar online calculator for Black and white adults (Javaid et al., 2022).

What to do after you know your calcium score percentile

Your percentile is one input, alongside your raw score, your blood lipids and your other risk factors. A few next steps follow from the result:

• Understand your score range. Our calcium score test guide explains what a score of 0, 1 to 99, 100 to 399 and 400 or more means, and how often to rescan.
• Check ApoB. Apolipoprotein B counts the cholesterol-carrying particles that build plaque. The 2026 guideline uses it selectively to assess remaining risk in some people who have already reached their LDL cholesterol goals (ACC journal scan).
• Check Lp(a) once. Lipoprotein(a) is an inherited risk factor a standard lipid panel does not measure. The 2026 guideline recommends measuring it at least once in adulthood (ACC journal scan).
• Note where you sit against the guideline. A result at the 75th percentile or above, or a score of 100 or more, is the group the 2026 guideline singles out for cholesterol-lowering treatment when 10-year risk is borderline or intermediate.

If you have chest pain, shortness of breath or other heart symptoms, see a doctor rather than booking a screening scan.

Getting a calcium score scan through Mito

You can order a Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Scan through Mito without a referral. It is for adults aged 40 to 75 with at least one heart risk factor and no known heart disease or heart symptoms. A short eligibility check before checkout tells you if it fits. You then choose a partner imaging center near you.

The report includes your total calcium score, your percentile for age and sex, and a score for each coronary artery. Results usually arrive within 24 hours on your Mito dashboard, next to your blood tests. If your score is above 0, the testing center contacts you and sends your results to the primary care doctor you named when you booked (Mito CAC scan page). For what a scan costs with and without insurance, see our calcium score test cost guide.

Frequently asked questions

What does the 95th percentile mean on a calcium score report?

It means your score is higher than about 95 out of 100 people of the same age and sex (and, in the MESA calculator, race or ethnicity) who have no known heart disease. It says plaque is building much earlier than in most of your peers, so it carries more weight than the same raw score in an older person.

What is a good calcium score for my age?

A score of 0 is the best result at any age. Above 0, a percentile below the 75th for your age and sex is more reassuring than one above it, because the 2026 ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guideline groups a score at the 75th percentile or higher with scores of 100 or more.

Why does the chart show the median instead of the average calcium score?

Calcium scores are heavily skewed. Most younger people score 0 and a few score in the hundreds or thousands, so an average would be pulled up by a small number of high scores. The median, the 50th percentile, is the score of the person in the middle, which is what most people mean by an average score for their age.

Can a low calcium score still be a high percentile?

Yes. In the MESA calculator, a score of 38 puts a 55-year-old white woman at the 90th percentile, while a score of 145 is only the median for a 70-year-old white man. The younger you are, the fewer of your peers have any calcium, so a small score ranks higher.

Will my percentile change if I get scanned again?

It can. The comparison group changes as you age, and calcium scores in the general population rise with age, so the same score falls to a lower percentile over time. A score that rises faster than your peers' scores pushes your percentile up.

Is the percentile on my scan report the same as the MESA calculator?

Not always. The MESA calculator compares you by age, sex and race or ethnicity, while a report may use a different reference group or compare you by age and sex only. If the number on your report differs from the MESA calculator, check which reference the report names.