Blood pressure category (AHA/ACC) for a systolic/diastolic reading, from normal to stage 2 and severe hypertension, with pulse pressure and MAP.
118/76 mmHg is “Normal” under the AHA/ACC categories (2017, kept in 2025), set by both numbers.
Normal < 120, elevated 120–129, stage 1 130–139, stage 2 ≥ 140, severe > 180.
Normal < 80, stage 1 80–89, stage 2 ≥ 90, severe > 120.
The AHA/ACC guideline places a reading that falls in two categories in the higher one: Normal.
A reading is placed in the AHA/ACC adult categories, set in 2017 and kept unchanged by the 2025 guideline: normal is below 120/80 mmHg, elevated is 120–129 systolic with diastolic below 80, stage 1 hypertension is 130–139 or 80–89, and stage 2 is 140 or higher or 90 or higher. When the two numbers fall in different categories, the higher one applies. Pulse pressure (systolic minus diastolic) and mean arterial pressure (diastolic plus a third of the pulse pressure) are shown too.
People use it to read a home or clinic measurement. The default 118/76 mmHg is normal, with a pulse pressure of 42 and a mean arterial pressure of 90 mmHg; 130/80 would already count as stage 1 hypertension.
The categories describe average blood pressure from repeated, properly taken readings, so one reading cannot diagnose hypertension. Above 180 systolic or 120 diastolic the 2025 guideline calls it severe hypertension, and a hypertensive emergency when there are signs of acute organ damage.
Checked against: ACC/AHA 2017 Table 6: <120 and <80 is normal; MAP 76 + 42/3 = 90 (Python fractions)
Checked against: ACC/AHA 2017 Table 6: 130–139 or 80–89 is stage 1; MAP 80 + 50/3 = 96.67 (Python fractions)
Checked against: ACC/AHA 2017 Table 6: SBP 120 is elevated, DBP 80 is stage 1; readings in two categories take the higher one
Checked against: ACC/AHA 2017 Table 6: DBP ≥ 90 is stage 2, which outranks elevated SBP
Below 120 systolic and below 80 diastolic mmHg, in the AHA/ACC classification used by both the 2017 and 2025 US guidelines. A systolic of 120 to 129 with diastolic under 80 is elevated, and 130/80 or higher is hypertension. The cut-offs apply to the average of repeated readings in adults, because any single measurement can run higher or lower than usual.
Stage 1 is a systolic of 130–139 mmHg or a diastolic of 80–89; stage 2 is a systolic of 140 or more or a diastolic of 90 or more. When the numbers disagree the higher category applies, so 128/92 is stage 2. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline kept these thresholds and a general treatment goal below 130/80, and uses the PREVENT risk equations with a 7.5 % 10-year risk threshold when weighing medication for stage 1.
Above 180 systolic and/or 120 diastolic mmHg. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline calls this severe hypertension when there is no sign of acute organ damage, replacing the older term hypertensive urgency, and a hypertensive emergency when there is, which needs monitored hospital treatment. A reading this high together with chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, or changes in vision or speech is treated as an emergency.
Pulse pressure is systolic minus diastolic: 118/76 gives 42 mmHg. Mean arterial pressure, the average pressure across one heartbeat, is commonly estimated as diastolic plus one third of the pulse pressure, which gives 90 mmHg for 118/76. The one-third weighting reflects the heart spending about two thirds of each beat in diastole at resting heart rates, so the estimate is less exact at fast rates.
With a validated upper-arm device and a cuff of the right size, after a few minutes of quiet rest, seated with back and arm supported, the arm at heart level and no talking. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline bases diagnosis on averaged readings taken this way, not on a single measurement, so several readings on different days give the value the categories are meant for.
Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 7 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “118/76” is checked against ACC/AHA 2017 Table 6: <120 and <80 is normal; MAP 76 + 42/3 = 90 (Python fractions).
Jones DW, Ferdinand KC, Taler SJ et al. 2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation and management of high blood pressure in adults. Hypertension 2025;82(10):e212–e316; Whelton PK et al. 2017 ACC/AHA guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults. Hypertension 2018;71:e13–e115, Table 6 and §11.2; NHS — Low blood pressure (hypotension): below 90/60 mmHg.
For information only, not medical advice. These formulas describe populations, not you; talk to a clinician before acting on a result.
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