What number is considered high cholesterol?

Last Updated 6/26/2025

Disease

It depends. There are a couple of different measurements when it comes to high cholesterol.

Having high cholesterol means that you have one or more of the following:

LDL of 160 or higher (low-density lipoprotein, the bad kind of cholesterol)
HDL of less than 40 (high-density lipoprotein, the good kind of cholesterol)
Triglycerides of 200 or higher
Total cholesterol of 240 or higher

If your cholesterol is high, there are a few different numbers that could apply.

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Authors

Lisa Souza, M.L.I.S.

Weill Cornell Medicine

Sanjai Sinha, M.D.

Weill Cornell Medicine

Ariel Barasch, B.S.

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What number is considered high cholesterol?

LDL 160 or higher, HDL below 40, triglycerides 200 or higher, or total cholesterol 240 or higher

This is correct!

LDL below 100, HDL 60 or higher, triglycerides below 150, or cholesterol below 200

This is incorrect. These numbers are ideal cholesterol levels. Having high cholesterol means you have one or more of the following: LDL 160 or higher, HDL below 40, triglycerides 200 or higher, or total cholesterol 240 or higher.

I don’t know

This is incorrect. Severely high cholesterol is LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL.

I don't know

Having high cholesterol means you have one or more of the following: LDL 160 or higher, HDL below 40, triglycerides 200 or higher, or total cholesterol 240 or higher.

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