Hearing range by age: what's normal and how to test it

What is the normal human hearing range?

The range usually quoted for human hearing is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Hz (hertz) is the number of sound wave cycles per second: low numbers are deep bass, high numbers are thin, hissy tones.

Few adults hear the full 20 kHz. The low end stays fairly steady through life at around 20 Hz, but the high end usually drops with age. Young people can often hear up to 17 to 20 kHz, while many adults top out somewhere between 10 and 15 kHz. You can find your own limits with the hearing range test in a couple of minutes.

Top of the range usually quoted for human hearing

20 kHz

The mosquito tone many adults can't hear

≈17 kHz

Highest tone a 44.1 kHz output can play (half its sample rate)

22.05 kHz

Typical upper limit by age

These are widely quoted rough figures for the highest tone people can hear. They are general guidance only. Individual hearing varies a lot, and plenty of people sit outside their age band in either direction.

The same table appears on the hearing test page, so you can compare your result straight away.

Why does high-frequency hearing decline with age?

The inner ear turns sound into nerve signals using tiny hair cells. The cells that pick up the highest frequencies are generally the first to wear out, which is why the top of your range is usually the first part to go. This gradual loss with age is common and often goes unnoticed, because most speech sits well below 8 kHz.

Age isn't the only factor. Long exposure to loud noise, such as concerts, power tools or headphones played loud for hours, can also reduce what you hear. If you want a sense of how loud your surroundings are, see the decibel levels chart.

What is the mosquito tone?

The mosquito tone is a high-pitched sound, usually around 17 kHz, that many teenagers can hear and many adults can't. It got its name from its thin, whining sound, and it's been used as a ringtone that older people supposedly can't hear.

Whether you hear it depends on your ears and on your equipment. Many laptop speakers and cheap earbuds can't play 17 kHz cleanly, so not hearing it on one device doesn't prove much. The highest tone test sweeps right through this range, so it covers the mosquito tone and goes further.

For a quick spot check, play the fixed tones below. Keep the volume low and work upwards in pitch.

How to run the hearing test safely

High tones can seem silent and then suddenly become loud, so the most important step is to start quiet. Never raise the volume to chase a tone you can't hear.

1. Turn your system volume down, then put on headphones. Headphones give a more consistent result than speakers.
2. Open the hearing range test. Leave the Volume slider low, which is the default, and adjust it only until a tone is quiet but clear.
3. Pick Highest tone and press Start. The tone rises from 8 kHz. Press "I can't hear it any more" the moment it disappears.
4. Pick Lowest tone and press Start. The tone rises from 20 Hz. Press "I can hear it now" as soon as you hear it.
5. Repeat each test two or three times. Your best results show under Highest heard and Lowest heard.
6. Compare your highest result with the age table on the page.

If the tone ever feels uncomfortable, press Stop and turn the volume down. A result that says "(end)" means the tone reached the top of its range before you pressed the button.

Why your headphones and sample rate limit the result

The test measures your ears, your headphones or speakers and your volume all together. A low result can come from any of them.

• Headphones and speakers: many stop producing sound well before 20 kHz, and small laptop or phone speakers can't play deep bass near 20 Hz. Check what your setup can play with the sound test, which has a frequency sweep.
• Sample rate: a browser can't play anything above half its output sample rate. At 44.1 kHz that limit is about 22 kHz, and the test shows your output rate and its maximum at the top of the page. The tone stops a little short of that limit.
• Volume: very high tones need more volume to be heard at all, so a quiet setting gives a lower result. That's a fair trade for safety.
• One ear: if one side of your headphones is weaker, the result reflects your better ear. Use the left right audio test to check both channels work.

If one earcup sounds quieter or silent, see headphones only playing in one ear before blaming your hearing.

Is an online hearing test accurate?

It's a useful rough guide, not a measurement of your hearing. It uses pure tones at a volume you choose, through equipment it can't calibrate. A clinical hearing test is done with calibrated equipment, checks each ear separately at set levels and covers more than the upper and lower limits.

Use the result to compare yourself over time on the same headphones at the same volume, or to see whether a pair of headphones reaches the high frequencies. Don't use it to decide whether your hearing is normal.

When to see a professional

This is not a medical hearing test and it can't tell you whether you have hearing loss. If you're worried about your hearing, see an audiologist or a doctor. That's especially worth doing if you notice ringing in your ears, sound seems muffled, you struggle to follow conversations, or the hearing in one ear seems different from the other.

Next, check your audio setup

If your result looks lower than expected, rule out your equipment first.

• Sweep the frequency range of your speakers or headphones with the sound test.
• Confirm both sides play correctly with the left right audio test.
• Measure how loud your surroundings are with the decibel meter.