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What is the average deadlift by age and weight?

By Stelvo Team · · 7 min read · How we source this

Short answer: among the 202,788 men who have competed in raw powerlifting since 2020, the median best deadlift is 485 lb (220 kg), 2.5 times bodyweight; for 96,948 women it is 292 lb (132.5 kg), 1.9 times bodyweight. People who log their lifts on Strength Level average 340 lb (men) and 200 lb (women). At the median it is the heaviest of the three lifts, and the one where women come closest to men — the median woman pulls 60% of what the median man does.

What is the average deadlift for men?

About 2.5 times bodyweight among men who compete. We computed it from the OpenPowerlifting archive of sanctioned meet results (bulk data, public domain, snapshot of 26 September 2026): raw lifters, sanctioned meets dated 2020 or later, disqualifications excluded, each lifter's best successful deadlift, grouped by the IPF weight class of the bodyweight they weighed in at (International Powerlifting Federation technical rules). "Average" is the median, the lifter in the middle.

Men's weight class Median deadlift Top 25% Top 10% Median × bodyweight Lifters
up to 59 kg (130 lb) 310 lb 386 lb 441 lb 2.56 7,373
59–66 kg (130–146 lb) 397 lb 452 lb 502 lb 2.82 11,888
66–74 kg (146–163 lb) 441 lb 491 lb 540 lb 2.77 27,008
74–83 kg (163–183 lb) 474 lb 529 lb 575 lb 2.69 42,851
83–93 kg (183–205 lb) 502 lb 557 lb 606 lb 2.56 42,457
93–105 kg (205–231 lb) 529 lb 584 lb 639 lb 2.40 35,443
105–120 kg (231–265 lb) 546 lb 612 lb 672 lb 2.21 21,698
over 120 kg (265 lb) 557 lb 629 lb 700 lb 1.89 14,070
All men 485 lb 551 lb 617 lb 2.51 202,788

The deadlift grows least with bodyweight of the three lifts: the heaviest class's median is only 18% above the 74–83 kg class's, against 28% on the squat and 35% on the bench.

What is the average deadlift for women?

About 2 times bodyweight among women who compete, with the median woman at 292 lb.

Women's weight class Median deadlift Top 25% Top 10% Median × bodyweight Lifters
up to 47 kg (104 lb) 209 lb 254 lb 292 lb 2.13 3,041
47–52 kg (104–115 lb) 248 lb 287 lb 325 lb 2.23 6,514
52–57 kg (115–126 lb) 270 lb 309 lb 347 lb 2.20 10,586
57–63 kg (126–139 lb) 281 lb 320 lb 358 lb 2.11 15,877
63–69 kg (139–152 lb) 298 lb 336 lb 375 lb 2.02 17,646
69–76 kg (152–168 lb) 309 lb 353 lb 393 lb 1.91 15,577
76–84 kg (168–185 lb) 314 lb 358 lb 402 lb 1.76 10,958
over 84 kg (185 lb) 320 lb 365 lb 413 lb 1.46 16,749
All women 292 lb 336 lb 380 lb 1.92 96,948

At 60% of the men's median, the women's deadlift is closer to the men's than the squat (58%) or the bench (48%). Laboratory measurements show the same pattern — women about 66% as strong as men in the lower body and 52% in the upper body (Miller et al., European Journal of Applied Physiology, 1993).

What is the average deadlift by age?

It climbs through the teens, peaks in the 30s for men and the 20s for women, and declines from the 40s. Each lifter's best deadlift at that age, any bodyweight:

Age Men: median Men: top 10% Women: median Women: top 10%
13 265 lb 364 lb 204 lb 276 lb
14 320 lb 435 lb 226 lb 302 lb
15 380 lb 485 lb 243 lb 320 lb
16 419 lb 518 lb 265 lb 336 lb
17 446 lb 551 lb 276 lb 353 lb
18 470 lb 573 lb 287 lb 364 lb
19 491 lb 601 lb 298 lb 375 lb
20–29 518 lb 639 lb 311 lb 397 lb
30–39 529 lb 661 lb 309 lb 402 lb
40–49 500 lb 623 lb 298 lb 380 lb
50–59 452 lb 573 lb 270 lb 358 lb
60–69 402 lb 518 lb 243 lb 320 lb
70 and over 331 lb 441 lb 205 lb 281 lb

At least 560 lifters in every cell. Age groups ignore bodyweight; teenagers are lighter.

What counts as a completed deadlift?

Standing all the way up. Under the IPF rules, "on completion of the lift the knees shall be locked in a straight position", and a lift fails for "failure to stand erect with the shoulders back" or for resting the bar on the thighs on the way up (IPF Technical Rulebook, 2026).

How does that compare with ordinary gym-goers?

Lower. Strength Level, which builds its standards from 6.4 million deadlift results logged by its users, puts the average at 340 lb for men and 200 lb for women, and its "intermediate" level for a 180 lb man — stronger than half its users — at 348 lb (Strength Level, deadlift standards). And most adults don't lift at all: only 31.0% of US adults do muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days a week (CDC/NCHS, 2022).

How much should I deadlift compared with my squat and bench?

A little more than your squat and well over one and a half times your bench. The median male competitor deadlifts 1.14 times his median squat and 1.76 times his median bench (485 lb against 424 lb and 276 lb); the median woman 1.19 times her squat and 2.21 times her bench (292 lb against 245 lb and 132 lb). The tables for the other two lifts are in what is the average squat by age and weight? and what is the average bench press by age and weight?, and the strength percentile calculator ranks your own numbers by weight class and age.

How Stelvo handles this

Stelvo sets your starting deadlift from your age, sex and training history and suggests each session's weight from what you lifted last time, in small steps. Tell the coach about a back that complains and it remembers, and plans around it.

FAQ

Is a 405 deadlift good?

For a man, yes: it is above Strength Level's average of 340 lb and its 180 lb intermediate level of 348 lb. Among competitors it beats the median of the two lightest classes (310 lb and 397 lb) and is below it from 66 kg (146 lb) up.

What is the average deadlift for a 16-year-old?

Among boys who compete, the median best deadlift at 16 is 419 lb; among girls, 265 lb. Teenagers who don't train lift far less.

Does deadlift strength drop with age?

Yes, from the 40s. The median competitor's deadlift falls from 529 lb in his 30s to 452 lb in his 50s and 331 lb past 70; women's from 309 lb to 270 lb and 205 lb.

Sources

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