What is the average vertical jump for your age and sex?

Average Vertical Jump by Age

Vertical jump height follows a clear arc across the lifespan. It rises through adolescence as leg power develops, peaks in the early-to-mid 20s, and declines with age as fast-twitch muscle fibers and tendon stiffness diminish. Values below reflect typical untrained-to-recreationally-active adults, with "good" meaning roughly the 75th percentile and better.

The drop from the 20-29 band to the 60+ band is roughly 45%, and it is one of the steeper age declines of any common fitness metric. That steepness is a power signature: explosive movements depend on fast-twitch fibers and tendon stiffness, both of which erode faster than pure strength.

Average Vertical Jump by Athlete Level

Training status changes the picture dramatically. The averages below are drawn from published testing of recreational, collegiate, and elite athletes, and they show a clear ladder from untrained to elite. Note how much wider the gap is between athlete levels than between adjacent age bands.

The NBA Combine average max vertical of roughly 28-34 inches is a useful upper anchor: it represents the top fraction of a percent of the population, so most people should compare themselves to the age tables above rather than to professional athletes.

The NBA Combine Numbers in Context

Every year the NBA Combine publishes its prospect testing, and the vertical jump figures draw outsized attention. The average max vertical for combine invitees sits around 28-34 inches, with the best athletes of each class routinely exceeding 40 inches. Those numbers are real, but they describe a heavily filtered group: these are among the most explosive athletes alive, selected precisely because their bodies produce elite jump power.

Standing vertical (without an approach step) runs lower, typically 26-30 inches for the same group, which highlights how much of a running jump comes from approach speed. The difference between standing and running vertical is itself a training signal: a wide gap means the athlete is fast but lacks raw leg force, while a narrow gap means the reverse. If you are a recreational athlete, use the combine numbers as inspiration and the age tables above as your actual benchmark.

It is worth repeating how rare the combine population is. Around 60-90 players are invited each year out of millions of adult basketball players worldwide, and their testing numbers describe a very narrow slice of humanity. A 30-inch jump, which would be exceptional for any general-population adult, is merely average for this group. There is no failure in comparing yourself to your own age band instead.

Why Jump Height Peaks in Your Early 20s

Vertical jump is a power metric, and power peaks before raw strength does. Fast-twitch muscle fibers reach their peak proportion and cross-sectional area in the early 20s, tendon stiffness is at its best, and the neuromuscular system produces force with maximal speed. The jump uses all of those at once, which is why the average curve tops out earlier than the squat or bench press curves.

There is a second reason the decline looks steeper than strength decline: power requires both force and speed, and the speed component falls first. Leg strength can hold steady into the 40s while jump height drops, simply because the muscle produces its force more slowly. That is why power training, not just heavy strength work, is the specific fix for a fading jump.

How Age Changes the Jump

The rough rule is a 10-15% decline per decade after 30 in untrained people, which compounds into the roughly 45% drop by age 60+ shown in the table. The decline is not linear, though. It accelerates after 60 as muscle loss and joint stiffness compound, and it slows in people who keep training. A 60-year-old who has squatted and jumped for decades is not comparable to a sedentary 60-year-old.

Two age-specific notes matter. First, the teen years are the biggest opportunity window: jump height rises fastest from 14 to 20 as strength and coordination develop, which is why youth programs focus on jumping. Second, post-30 declines are modifiable. The 10-15% per decade figure applies to people who do nothing; consistent strength and plyometric work consistently beats that curve.

If you test at 60+, do not read the table as a verdict. The "good" column for the 60+ band is 15 inches for men, and plenty of active older adults exceed it. The point of the age bands is to keep you honest about the baseline, not to cap what training can produce.

General Population vs Athletes: Two Different Curves

The single most common error when reading vertical jump averages is comparing a general-population number to an athlete number. A 20-inch jump is average for a 30-year-old man, but it would be a poor result for a college basketball walk-on. The athlete ladder exists because sports select for jumping: basketball, volleyball, and track athletes are not random samples, they are people whose jumps earned them a roster spot.

That selection means the athlete columns should be read as goals with context, not as fail states. If your jump matches the age-band average, you are a normal, healthy adult with a normal power profile. If you want to jump like an athlete, the gap between your number and the athlete number is the size of the training project in front of you.

Improving Your Vertical Jump

Jump training splits into two halves that need each other: force and speed. Heavy squats, deadlifts, and hip thrusts build the raw force your legs can express, while plyometrics teach you to express that force quickly. Training only one half produces disappointing results, which is why the best programs pair a strength day with a power day.

• Strength work: squats and hip thrusts 2x per week in the 3-6 rep range.
• Plyometrics: box jumps, squat jumps, and depth jumps 1-2x per week.
• Takeoff technique: full hip extension and a coordinated arm swing add 2-3 inches with no added strength.
• Power-to-weight: a leaner body expresses the same leg force as more jump height.
• Track it: use the vertical jump calculator to monitor progress against age norms.

Most untrained adults add 3-6 inches within 8-12 weeks of consistent work, with beginners at the high end of that range. After that, gains slow to 1-2 inches per training block, which is normal and expected.

Measuring Your Jump the Right Way

Consistent measurement matters more than perfect measurement. The standard field test is a jump-and-reach: mark your standing reach against a wall with chalk on your fingertips, jump from a countermovement stance, and touch the wall at the top of the jump. The difference between the two marks is your vertical. Repeat three times with 60 seconds between attempts and record the best.

1. Stand sideways to a wall, feet flat, and mark your standing reach height.
2. Warm up with light jumps, then perform a countermovement jump with a full arm swing.
3. Touch the wall at the highest point of the jump and mark it.
4. Subtract standing reach from jump reach to get your vertical in inches.
5. Rest 60 seconds between the three attempts and use the best of three.

Take the measurement at the same time of day and after a similar warm-up, because jump height fluctuates with fatigue. A 1-2 inch swing between test days is normal noise, not a training change.