Non-HDL Cholesterol optimal range and reference range

Compiled by Alina Radu, founder of Sera, from the published sources below · Last reviewed November 9, 2026

Sera's bands for Non-HDL Cholesterol:

Optimal 0 – 130 mg/dL (0 – 3.4 mmol/L); sufficient 0 – 160 mg/dL (0 – 4.1 mmol/L); out of range above 160 mg/dL.

Evidence grade: Established clinical threshold. A band edge that corresponds to a recognised diagnostic, risk or treatment threshold from a major clinical guideline or public-health body.

All units

Unit	Optimal	Sufficient	Out of range
mg/dL	0 – 130	0 – 160	above 160
mmol/L	0 – 3.4	0 – 4.1	above 4.1

Bounded on the high side only — a low result is not treated as out of range. No evidence-based lower bound; current guidelines set non-HDL goals as low as 85 mg/dL for people at very high risk.

What the evidence says

The optimal band ends at 130 mg/dL and the acceptable band at 160, the first two tiers of the American Heart Association's scoring. The NHS figure of below 4 mmol/L sits just under Sera's 4.1. Guideline goals are lower for people at raised cardiovascular risk, down to 85 mg/dL, so read the band as a review aid, not a treatment target. A low non-HDL is not flagged.

Sources

Cholesterol Levels: What You Need to Know — MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine, 2026 · Government / public-health guidanceHealthy adult levels: total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dL, non-HDL less than 130, LDL less than 100, and HDL of 60 or more as best. HDL is low below 40 mg/dL in men and below 50 in women.
Life's Essential 8: Updating and Enhancing the American Heart Association's Construct of Cardiovascular Health — American Heart Association — Circulation, 2022 · Professional societyScores non-HDL cholesterol below 130 mg/dL as ideal, with 130 to 159 as the next tier and 160 or more below that. The two edges Sera's non-HDL bands end on.
Cholesterol levels — National Health Service (UK), 2026 · Government / public-health guidanceHealthy adult levels in mmol/L: total cholesterol below 5, non-HDL below 4, and HDL above 1.0 for men or above 1.2 for women.
Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia — American College of Cardiology / American Heart Association, 2026 · Clinical guidelineLDL goals set by cardiovascular risk: below 100 mg/dL at borderline or intermediate risk, below 70 at high risk, and below 55 with non-HDL below 85 at very high risk. Replaces the 2018 cholesterol guideline, and is the reason Sera's LDL band is a review aid and not a treatment goal.

What Non-HDL Cholesterol measures

Your total cholesterol minus HDL, which captures all the cholesterol types that can clog arteries.

Often a better predictor of heart risk than LDL alone because it includes VLDL and other harmful particles. Sera bands it against functional targets rather than diagnostic cut-offs, and the conventional target depends on your overall risk.

Related heart health markers

See Non-HDL Cholesterol in the full list of biomarker ranges

This page is a reference for practitioners, not medical advice. Sera's bands are practitioner targets for structured review, not diagnostic thresholds, and Sera does not diagnose or recommend treatment. Read a result alongside the interval printed by the issuing laboratory and the client's history and symptoms. Range set: Sera Production, version 1.0, last reviewed November 9, 2026.