Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) Calculator

About this calculator

Mean arterial pressure (MAP) is the average pressure pushing blood through your arteries across one cardiac cycle: MAP = (systolic + 2 × diastolic) ÷ 3. A reading of 120/80 mmHg gives (120 + 160) ÷ 3 = 93.33 mmHg, inside the normal range of 70–100 mmHg. Diastole is weighted twice because the heart spends roughly two-thirds of each cycle in it, which is why MAP is not the midpoint of your two numbers. Enter your systolic (top) and diastolic (bottom) numbers in mmHg to see your MAP, pulse pressure, and category.

How to read your results

The headline is your blood-pressure category, shown on a green-to-red gauge that runs Normal → Elevated → Stage 1 → Stage 2 → Crisis. The category is decided by the higher of your two numbers: because the Stage 1, Stage 2, and Crisis bands use an OR rule, a normal-looking systolic with a raised diastolic (or vice versa) still lands in the higher band. That is why 120/80 reads as Stage 1, not Normal — the diastolic 80 sits in the 80–89 Stage 1 range. Mean arterial pressure and pulse pressure are shown as secondary metrics: a MAP of 70–100 mmHg is the usual normal range, and a pulse pressure near 40 mmHg is typical. Pulse pressure is simply the gap between your two numbers, and this calculator reads it as narrowed below 25% of your systolic value and as wide at 60 mmHg or more. A Crisis result (above 180/120) triggers an emergency-care banner.

How it's calculated

Mean arterial pressure is the time-weighted average pressure across one cardiac cycle — not the midpoint of the two numbers. This calculator computes MAP = (SBP + 2 × DBP) / 3, rounded to two decimal places. The form written as DBP + ⅓ × (SBP − DBP) is the same formula rearranged, not a competing estimate: the two are algebraically identical and always agree. Diastole carries double weight because, at a normal resting heart rate, systole occupies about one-third and diastole about two-thirds of each cardiac cycle. That ratio is the formula’s main limitation, because it shifts as the heart speeds up. One study measured the systolic fraction rising from 0.35 at rest to 0.47 at 180–190 beats per minute, found measured MAP consistently greater than the standard formula’s estimate at every heart rate above resting, and concluded the standard equation should not be applied during exercise — so above resting heart rate the fixed one-third weighting reads low. At high heart rates MAP drifts toward the plain arithmetic average of systolic and diastolic pressure, because the pressure pulse narrows. The drift is gradual rather than sudden: a published heart-rate-corrected version, MAP = DBP + [0.33 + 0.0012 × HR] × PP, only reaches the halfway coefficient of 0.5 at roughly 140 beats per minute, well above routine tachycardia. It is also best evidenced centrally — the largest peripheral study, 632 intensive-care patients with radial or femoral catheters, found a fixed 0.33 coefficient gave accurate and precise estimates at those sites. Pulse pressure is SBP − DBP; it is normally about 40 mmHg. This calculator flags 60 mmHg or more as wide, the threshold the European hypertension guidelines apply to older people as a marker of hypertension-mediated organ damage, and reads a pulse pressure below 25% of the systolic value as narrowed, following the StatPearls physiology reference — a rule of thumb rather than a validated cut-off. The MAP zone is read as below the floor under 60 mmHg (StatPearls states that perfusing vital organs requires maintaining a minimum MAP of 60 mmHg and that dropping below it for an extended period risks ischemia and infarction — that reference’s stated floor, not a precisely established physiologic constant), low at 60–69 mmHg (a MAP below 65 mmHg is one of several criteria used to define hypotension, a critical-care yardstick that does not make a healthy person at 64 mmHg shocked), normal at 70–100 mmHg (the range StatPearls gives, with the same source stressing that MAP goals belong in the context of an individual’s baseline hemodynamic function and that people with untreated hypertension should have higher goals), and high above 100 mmHg. Separately from those zones, for adults with septic shock the Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2026 guideline recommends an initial MAP target of 65 mmHg rather than a higher target — a starting target and never a ceiling, since the guideline notes that holding MAP at exactly 65 mmHg is not feasible in practice and a reasonable range within about 5 mmHg should be used — and newly suggests an initial range of 60–65 mmHg for patients aged 65 or older. Blood-pressure categories follow the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, evaluated from the highest band down so the higher category always wins on split readings: Crisis when SBP > 180 or DBP > 120; Stage 2 when SBP ≥ 140 or DBP ≥ 90; Stage 1 when SBP is 130–139 or DBP is 80–89; Elevated when SBP is 120–129 and DBP < 80; otherwise Normal. The ESC 2024 toggle instead defines Elevated as 120–139/70–89 mmHg and Hypertension as ≥ 140/90 mmHg.

Worked example

A reading of 120/80 mmHg, classified with the ACC/AHA 2017 guideline.

MAP = (120 + 2 × 80) / 3 = 280 / 3 = 93.33 mmHg, which is within the 70–100 normal range. Pulse pressure = 120 − 80 = 40 mmHg (normal). The blood-pressure category is Hypertension Stage 1, not Normal, because the diastolic value of 80 falls in the Stage 1 band (80–89) and the OR rule selects the higher category.

Frequently asked questions

What is mean arterial pressure (MAP)?

Mean arterial pressure is the average pressure pushing blood through your arteries over one complete heartbeat, and it is the number clinicians use to judge whether your organs are being adequately perfused. It is not the midpoint of your reading: because the heart spends about two-thirds of each cycle in diastole, MAP = (systolic + 2 × diastolic) ÷ 3. For 120/80 mmHg that is (120 + 160) ÷ 3 = 93.33 mmHg. A MAP of 70–100 mmHg is normal, and below 60 mmHg organ perfusion is generally considered inadequate.

What is a normal mean arterial pressure?

The StatPearls physiology reference gives a normal MAP range of 70 to 100 mmHg. Treat that as a rough reference rather than a hard rule: a textbook-normal 120/80 reading works out to 93.33 mmHg, and the same source stresses that MAP goals should be set within the context of an individual patient’s baseline hemodynamic function, with higher goals for people with untreated hypertension. Two lower numbers get quoted a lot, and they are different kinds of number. StatPearls states that perfusing vital organs requires maintaining a minimum MAP of 60 mmHg, and that dropping below it for an extended period risks ischemia and infarction. Separately, 65 mmHg is a resuscitation target used in critical care: for adults with septic shock the Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2026 guideline recommends an initial MAP target of 65 mmHg rather than aiming higher, and newly suggests an initial range of 60–65 mmHg for patients aged 65 or older. That is a starting target for a patient being actively resuscitated — never a ceiling, and not a goal for a healthy adult. Someone healthy whose MAP works out to 64 mmHg is not in shock. Your clinician sets the targets that apply to you.

Why does this calculator label 120/80 as Stage 1 instead of Normal?

Under the 2017 ACC/AHA blood-pressure categories, a diastolic reading of 80 already sits in the Stage 1 band, which runs 80–89 mmHg. The systolic and diastolic numbers are combined with an OR rule and the higher category wins, so 120/80 is classified as Hypertension Stage 1. A single reading like this is not a diagnosis — hypertension is confirmed across multiple readings on different days.

How do you calculate the MAP of BP?

Double the diastolic number, add the systolic number, then divide by three: MAP = (SBP + 2 × DBP) / 3. The version often written as DBP + ⅓ × (SBP − DBP) is not an alternative that might give a different answer — it is the same formula rearranged, and the two are algebraically identical. What it estimates is the time-weighted average pressure across one cardiac cycle, not the average of your two numbers, which is why it lands below their midpoint. Diastole is weighted twice because, at a normal resting heart rate, systole takes up about one-third of each cardiac cycle and diastole about two-thirds. That assumption is the formula’s main limitation: as heart rate rises, systole claims a bigger share, so the fixed one-third weighting reads low.

What is the MAP if BP is 120/80?

For a reading of 120/80 mmHg, MAP = (120 + 2 × 80) / 3 = 280 / 3 = 93.33 mmHg. The pulse pressure is 120 − 80 = 40 mmHg, the typical value. A MAP of 93.33 mmHg sits comfortably inside the 70–100 mmHg normal range. Note that the reading itself is still classified as Hypertension Stage 1 under the 2017 ACC/AHA categories, because the diastolic 80 falls in the 80–89 band — a normal MAP does not guarantee a normal blood-pressure category.

What is a bad MAP score for blood pressure?

There is no single bad number, and the figures that get quoted are not all the same kind of number. StatPearls states that perfusing vital organs requires maintaining a minimum MAP of 60 mmHg, and that dropping below it for an extended period risks ischemia and infarction — that is the reference’s stated floor, phrased around a sustained drop rather than a single reading. A MAP below 65 mmHg is separately listed as one of several criteria for hypotension, but that yardstick comes from critical care, so it does not translate directly to a healthy person at rest: someone whose MAP works out to 64 mmHg is not thereby in shock. At the other end, anything above 100 mmHg sits outside the range StatPearls gives as normal. MAP is not how hypertension is diagnosed — that is done from the systolic and diastolic numbers — and one reading is never a diagnosis. An abnormal result alongside symptoms such as chest pain, confusion, or fainting warrants urgent medical assessment.

What is pulse pressure, and what do widened and narrowed mean?

Pulse pressure is the difference between your two numbers: PP = SBP − DBP. Normal pulse pressure is approximately 40 mmHg, which is exactly what the textbook 120/80 reading gives. This calculator flags 60 mmHg or more as wide, the threshold the European hypertension guidelines apply to older people, where a pulse pressure at or above 60 mmHg counts as a marker of hypertension-mediated organ damage; in one cohort of people with essential hypertension, those at or above that cut-off carried a materially higher rate of cardiovascular events. A widened pulse pressure generally reflects stiffer large arteries and becomes more common with age — it is a risk marker worth raising with a clinician, not a diagnosis by itself. In the other direction, the StatPearls physiology reference describes a pulse pressure below 25% of the systolic value as inappropriately low or narrowed; that is a rule of thumb rather than a validated cut-off, and at 120 systolic it works out to 30 mmHg.

What is the difference between the ACC/AHA and ESC guidelines?

The US ACC/AHA 2017 guideline diagnoses hypertension at 130/80 mmHg and uses five bands (Normal, Elevated, Stage 1, Stage 2, Crisis). The European ESC 2024 guideline defines an Elevated band of 120–139/70–89 mmHg and diagnoses hypertension at 140/90 mmHg. The same reading can carry a different label: 135/85 is Stage 1 in the US but Elevated under ESC. Use the toggle to switch between them.

Is this calculator a medical diagnosis?

No. It is an informational estimate only. Blood pressure should be measured by a trained professional, with the correct cuff size and technique, and confirmed across several readings before any diagnosis. If you see a Crisis result (above 180/120 mmHg) with symptoms such as chest pain or trouble speaking, seek emergency care immediately. Always consult a qualified clinician about your blood pressure.

Sources

• Understanding Blood Pressure Readings — American Heart Association
• Physiology, Mean Arterial Pressure - StatPearls — National Center for Biotechnology Information
• Cerebral Perfusion Pressure - StatPearls — National Center for Biotechnology Information
• Physiology, Pulse Pressure - StatPearls — National Center for Biotechnology Information
• Hypotension - StatPearls — National Center for Biotechnology Information
• Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2026 — PubMed (2026)
• Cardiovascular Monitoring: Physiological and Technical Considerations — National Center for Biotechnology Information
• CV Physiology | Mean Arterial Pressure — CV Physiology
• A comparison of the indirect estimate of mean arterial pressure calculated by the conventional equation and calculated to compensate for a change in heart rate — PubMed (2000)
• Validation of a new formula for mean arterial pressure calculation: the new formula is superior to the standard formula — PubMed (2004)
• Value and Variability of Pulse Shape Indicator for Estimating Mean Arterial Pressure in the Radial and Femoral Arteries — National Center for Biotechnology Information (2024)
• Higher pulse pressure and risk for cardiovascular events in patients with essential hypertension: The Campania Salute Network — PubMed (2018)
• Hypertension-mediated organ damage and established cardiovascular disease in patients with hypertension: the China Hypertension Survey — National Center for Biotechnology Information (2022)
• What Is Pulse Pressure? — Cleveland Clinic (2021)

Reviewed by the YouCalc Team · Last reviewed August 2, 2026