Pull-ups · Keefer et al. 2020 · updated October 2026
How Many Pull-Ups Should You Be Able to Do?
Male active-duty US Marines aged 21 to 25 averaged 18 dead-hang pull-ups in their fitness-test records from 2017 to 2018 (19,678 men; Keefer et al. 2020). That group is men only. We found no measured average for women, or for adults in general, so this page does not give one.
The average, one stroke per rep
18
Men
No women were in this group.
Bright strokes: the average.
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Keefer et al. 2020 · average
Level with the average
The average among male active-duty US Marines aged 21 to 25 in 2017 to 2018 was 18 reps, with a standard deviation of 5 reps (Keefer et al. 2020, Table 2, printed p.1748). The source published an average, not percentiles, so this is as fine as the comparison goes. Trained, regularly tested service members, not men in general. No women were in the sample.
By age and sex
What measured groups did
Each figure is one published number for one named group, with its source and page. These sources do not let us reproduce their tables, so we cite single figures only.
Average · 2017 to 2018
18 reps
Male active-duty US Marines aged 21 to 25
One value is the strict dead-hang pull-ups in one set. 19,678 people. Standard deviation 5 reps. Trained, regularly tested service members, not men in general. No women were in the sample.
Source: Keefer et al. 2020, International Journal of Exercise Science 13(4), Table 2, printed p.1748. Cited as a single figure; the source's table is not reproduced here.
Median · 1985
0 reps
US girls aged 6 to 17
One value is the pull-ups from a full hang, overhand grip. The median at every single age from 6 to 17. Historical: collected in 1985.
Source: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; University of Michigan, 1986), Appendix D, Table 2, printed p.69 (ERIC PDF p.73). Cited as a single figure; the source's table is not reproduced here.
Median · 1985
2 reps
US boys aged 12
One value is the pull-ups from a full hang, overhand grip. Historical: collected in 1985.
Source: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; University of Michigan, 1986), Appendix D, Table 2, printed p.69 (ERIC PDF p.73). Cited as a single figure; the source's table is not reproduced here.
Median · 1985
5 reps
US boys aged 14
One value is the pull-ups from a full hang, overhand grip. Historical: collected in 1985.
Source: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; University of Michigan, 1986), Appendix D, Table 2, printed p.69 (ERIC PDF p.73). Cited as a single figure; the source's table is not reproduced here.
Median · 1985
8 reps
US boys aged 17
One value is the pull-ups from a full hang, overhand grip. The survey prints this column as '17 and over' (school students). Historical: collected in 1985.
Source: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; University of Michigan, 1986), Appendix D, Table 2, printed p.69 (ERIC PDF p.73). Cited as a single figure; the source's table is not reproduced here.
An average is not a rank. Where a source published only an average for an age group (Keefer et al. 2020), the tool says whether you are above or below it and nothing finer. Everyone else gets the nearest measured group instead of a guess.
The 1985 figures are historical. That year's survey is the last national US school survey with pull-up percentiles; it shows what students did then, and students today may differ. We cite a few of its medians rather than its table, and the tool does not compare children with them.
We never average two sources. Each one tested different people, in different years, with different rules, so each is shown on its own with all of that written beside it. Where they disagree, you see both. The numbers at the top of this page are single figures cited from one source (Keefer et al. 2020), not a copy of its table.
How the test is done
The protocol behind the numbers
As the sources behind these numbers ran it
- 1
Start
Hang from the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing away), arms and legs fully extended and feet off the floor. The 1985 US school survey started every pull-up this way, and the Marine Corps test also starts from a dead hang.
- 2
Top
Pull until your chin is over the bar, then lower back to a full hang. A partial pull-up does not count.
- 3
Pace
No swinging, snapping, knee raises or kicking; the Marine Corps test also bans kipping. Neither source sets a cadence or a time limit: you do as many as you can in one go.
- 4
Stop rule
The score is the number of complete pull-ups in one attempt. The 1985 survey allowed one trial, unless a student clearly had not had a fair chance.
"Pull-up" covers several different tests, and the rules decide the count more than the name does. Every figure on this page comes with its source's rules; these are the ones that matter most.
Strict or kipping. A strict rep starts from a dead hang with straight arms and ends with the chin over the bar, with no swing. A kipping rep swings the hips to carry the body up, which makes each rep easier, so the count goes up. Both sources here count strict reps.
Full range. Stopping short of straight arms at the bottom makes every rep easier. A test that counts strict reps does not count a rep that starts from bent elbows.
Grip. Palms facing away is a pull-up. Palms facing you is a chin-up. The 1985 school survey counted overhand pull-ups only, so a chin-up count can't be read against it.
Pace and rests. Some tests let you pause in the hang between reps; others end the set the moment you stop moving. Neither source behind this page sets a cadence or a time limit: you do as many as you can in one go.
For form cues and common mistakes, see our pull-up guide.
Claims and measurements
What people say, against what was measured
- "Most men can't do a single pull-up."
- No study found
- We found no measured, representative sample of adult men that answers this. Figures that circulate, such as 'only about 5%' of people being able to do a pull-up (Early to Rise, 2012), name no survey or test. The measured groups are narrower: male US Marines aged 21 to 25 averaged 18 pull-ups in 2017 to 2018 records.
- "Ten pull-ups is a good standard for a man."
- No study found
- No adult percentile table exists to place ten. For comparison, among US boys aged 17 and over in the 1985 school survey the median was 8, and male US Marines aged 21 to 25 averaged 18 in 2017 to 2018 records.
- "The Presidential fitness chart shows the average girl can do one pull-up."
- Does not hold up
- In the 1985 US school survey the median girl did 0 pull-ups at every age from 6 to 17. The President's Challenge award chart replaced that 0 with a one-pull-up standard to encourage girls, so the chart shows a target, not what girls did.
- "A consecutive pull-up world record means no pauses."
- Does not hold up
- Guinness World Records allows up to 15 seconds between pull-ups in its most-consecutive category, with the body staying straight. Kenta Adachi's record of 1,224, set on 10 November 2024, was done under that rule, so it is not the same test as continuous reps.
Questions people ask
Pull-ups: questions, answered
How many pull-ups should a 14 year old do?
There is no recent US norm. The last national US school survey with pull-up percentiles, in 1985, found a median of 5 pull-ups for 14-year-old boys and 0 for girls. That survey counted strict pull-ups from a full hang with an overhand grip. These are what students did then, not targets your child has to hit.
Population: US public-school students aged 14 in the 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey.
Sources: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, University of Michigan) (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1986)
How many pull-ups is average for a 12-year-old?
In the 1985 US school survey, the median 12-year-old boy did 2 pull-ups and the median girl 0. The survey counted pull-ups from a full hang with an overhand grip, chin over the bar, no kicking, so a kipping or chin-up count isn't comparable. These are what students did then, not targets.
Population: US public-school students aged 12 in the 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey.
Sources: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, University of Michigan) (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1986)
How many pull-ups do the Marines require?
The last Marine pull-up table we could check against the primary document is the December 2016 Marine Corps Bulletin 6100: men aged 21 to 25 needed 5 pull-ups for the minimum score and 23 for the maximum; women of that age needed 1 and 9. That bulletin was cancelled in January 2018 and the current tables may differ. From 2026, combat-arms Marines must reach 210 points on the male age-normed scale.
Population: requirements set by the US Marine Corps, not what Marines can do.
Sources: Marine Corps announces updated physical fitness standards (DVIDS) (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, 2025) · Marine Corps Bulletin 6100: Marine Corps Physical Fitness and Combat Fitness Tests (15 December 2016; cancelled January 2018) (Headquarters, US Marine Corps (copy hosted by Notre Dame NROTC), 2016)
What counts as a strict pull-up?
In the 1985 US school survey a pull-up counted only if the student started from a full hang with an overhand grip, pulled the chin over the bar and lowered back to a full hang, without swinging, snapping, raising the knees or kicking. The Marine Corps test also starts from a dead hang and bans kipping. Reps done another way can't be read against these tables.
Sources: A comparison of United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test and Combat Fitness Test results (Keefer et al., International Journal of Exercise Science) (International Journal of Exercise Science, 2020) · 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, University of Michigan) (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1986)
Can I use the CDC's youth modified pull-up numbers as pull-up norms?
No. The 2012 National Youth Fitness Survey used a modified pull-up: children lay on their backs under a low horizontal bar, gripped it overhand and pulled up with their heels on the floor (Ervin et al. 2014). That is a different test from hanging pull-ups, so its results never appear on this page.
Sources: Strength and body weight in US children and adolescents (Ervin et al., Pediatrics) (Pediatrics, 2014)
How many pull-ups can the average man do?
We found no measured average for adult men in general. Two measured groups give a sense of range: male active-duty US Marines aged 21 to 25 averaged 18 in 2017 to 2018 records (19,678 men), and 95 physically active men tested at the University of Palermo averaged 13.9 with a closed grip. Both are selected groups, not men in general.
Population: male US Marines aged 21 to 25 (Keefer et al. 2020); physically active men at the University of Palermo (Di Bartolo et al. 2023).
Sources: The influence of closed or open grip type during a pull-up test to exhaustion (Di Bartolo et al.) (ResearchGate (abstract), 2023) · A comparison of United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test and Combat Fitness Test results (Keefer et al., International Journal of Exercise Science) (International Journal of Exercise Science, 2020)
How many pull-ups can the average woman do?
We found no measured average for adult women. The largest US youth survey with pull-up percentiles, in 1985, recorded a median of 0 for girls at every age from 6 to 17. Adult data for women come from small or selected groups, so this page doesn't print an adult average for women.
Population: US public-school girls aged 6 to 17 in the 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey.
Sources: 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, University of Michigan) (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1986)
How rare are ten strict pull-ups?
No representative adult figure exists. Among US boys aged 17 and over in the 1985 school survey, the median was 8, so ten was above the middle of that group. Male US Marines aged 21 to 25, a trained group, averaged 18 in 2017 to 2018 records.
Population: US boys aged 17 and over in the 1985 school survey; male US Marines aged 21 to 25.
Sources: A comparison of United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test and Combat Fitness Test results (Keefer et al., International Journal of Exercise Science) (International Journal of Exercise Science, 2020) · 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, University of Michigan) (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1986)
How we calculate
Where these numbers come from
Updated October 2026. We show the method so you can judge it.
Cited figures. Some sources do not let us reproduce their tables. From those we quote a few single figures, each with the group it describes and the table and page it comes from, exactly as published.
Percentiles, not levels. Stronger scores lifts on its own six-level scale. There is no such scale for pull-ups, so this page never gives you a level. It says whether you are above or below a named group's average where the source published only an average.
Your result. Where a source published only an average, we say whether you are above or below it, and nothing finer. Where no measured group matches your age and sex, the tool says so and shows the nearest groups.
Never averaged. Two sources measure different people with different rules. Averaging them would describe nobody, so each is shown on its own, and each answer in the tool names its source.
Sources
- The influence of closed or open grip type during a pull-up test to exhaustion (Di Bartolo et al.)ResearchGate (abstract)2023-11Pull-up counts in 95 physically active men.
- Strength and body weight in US children and adolescents (Ervin et al., Pediatrics)Pediatrics2014-09What the NNYFS modified pull-up is.
- Do More Pull-Ups (Early to Rise)Early to Rise2012-10-09An example of an unsourced '5% can do a pull-up' figure.
- Japanese man smashed most consecutive pull-ups record with over 650 (Guinness World Records news)Guinness World Records2023-09The 15-second rule in the consecutive pull-up category.
- Most consecutive pull ups (Guinness World Records)Guinness World RecordsThe current consecutive pull-up record.
- A comparison of United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test and Combat Fitness Test results (Keefer et al., International Journal of Exercise Science)International Journal of Exercise Science2020Pull-up mean of male active-duty Marines aged 21 to 25.
- The President's Challenge: Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program (1997)President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports1997Why the award chart's girls' pull-up standard is 1, not the measured 0.
- 1985 National School Population Fitness Survey (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, University of Michigan)President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports1986Four US school pull-up medians from 1985, cited as single figures, and the pull-up protocol.
- Marine Corps announces updated physical fitness standards (DVIDS)Defense Visual Information Distribution Service2025-12-182026 combat-arms PFT rule (210 points on the male age-normed scale of MCO 6100.13A).
- Marine Corps Bulletin 6100: Marine Corps Physical Fitness and Combat Fitness Tests (15 December 2016; cancelled January 2018)Headquarters, US Marine Corps (copy hosted by Notre Dame NROTC)2016-12-15Marine pull-up pass marks as issued in December 2016.
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Average among male active-duty US Marines aged 21 to 25: 18 reps.