Calculator
Non-HDL cholesterol calculator
One subtraction, no assumptions, and no fasting requirement. The calculator below works out LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol from the same three numbers, so you can see both.
Lipid panel
Your three numbers
Copy them straight off the report. Nothing is sent anywhere — the arithmetic runs in this page.
Units on your report
Every cholesterol-carrying particle added together.
The protective fraction. Reports often write it HDL-C.
The one the equation leans on hardest. Needs a fasting sample.
Add risk context (optional)
Sex
HDL cholesterol is the only measurement here with different cut-points by sex: below 40 mg/dL (1.03 mmol/L) is low in men, below 50 mg/dL (1.29 mmol/L) in women.
Cardiovascular risk
Adds the LDL-C treatment goal for that risk category. It never changes the calculation.
Your results
LDL cholesterol · Friedewald
—mg/dL
Fill in all three values to see a result.
Everything else in the panel
The same numbers, worked through and converted, so you can hand the page to anyone who reads the other unit.
| Measurement | mg/dL | mmol/L | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-HDL cholesterol | — | — | — |
| VLDL cholesterol | — | — | Estimated from triglycerides |
| Total cholesterol | — | — | — |
| HDL cholesterol | — | — | — |
| Triglycerides | — | — | — |
Ratios and indices
Reported for completeness. These have no single agreed cut-point, so no category is shown for them.
- Total cholesterol / HDL cholesterol
- —
- LDL cholesterol / HDL cholesterol
- —
- Triglycerides / HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)
- —
- Atherogenic index of plasmalog₁₀(TG / HDL-C), both in mmol/L
- ——
Treatment goal for that risk category
—
Targets are population-level guidance from the 2019 ESC/EAS dyslipidaemia guidelines; the 2018 AHA/ACC guideline sets statin intensity by risk group instead of a numeric LDL-C target. Your own target is a clinical decision — this page cannot make it.
Show your work
LDL-C = TC − HDL-C − TG / 5
The equation as published in 1972, with the divisor for the unit you chose.
Category cut-points: National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel; Grundy SM, Stone NJ, Bailey AL, et al. Full citations at the foot of this page.
What non-HDL cholesterol actually measures
Total cholesterol is the cholesterol content of every lipoprotein in the sample. HDL cholesterol is the content of the particles that carry cholesterol back to the liver. Subtract one from the other and what remains is the cholesterol in every particle that is not HDL — LDL, VLDL, intermediate-density lipoproteins and remnant particles. That is why the number is called non-HDL rather than anything more specific: it deliberately refuses to guess which particle is carrying what.
That refusal is its strength. The Friedewald equation has to assume a fixed relationship between triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol, and that assumption fails at high triglyceride levels. Non-HDL cholesterol makes no such assumption, so it stays accurate at any triglyceride concentration, and it needs no fasting sample.
How to set a target. Guidelines treat non-HDL cholesterol as a secondary target, set about 30 mg/dL (0.8 mmol/L) above the LDL cholesterol goal. For a very-high-risk patient with an LDL goal below 55 mg/dL (1.4 mmol/L), the matching non-HDL goal is below 85 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L). The table on thechart page lists both for every risk category.
Non-HDL cholesterol categories
Cut-points in the same style as the LDL chart. The guideline recommendation is to read non-HDL cholesterol as the LDL goal plus 30 mg/dL.
| Category | mg/dL | mmol/L | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optimal | Under 130 | Under 3.36 | Roughly the LDL goal plus 30 mg/dL. |
| Near optimal / above optimal | 130–159 | 3.36–4.13 | Acceptable at low and moderate risk. |
| Borderline high | 160–189 | 4.14–4.90 | Worth discussing if risk factors are present. |
| High | 190–219 | 4.91–5.68 | Common when triglycerides are raised. |
| Very high | 220 and over | 5.69 and over | Often reflects triglycerides as much as LDL cholesterol. |
When to prefer it over calculated LDL
Triglycerides above 400 mg/dL (4.5 mmol/L), where the Friedewald equation is not valid.
A non-fasting sample, where triglycerides are unpredictable and calculated LDL is unreliable.
Diabetes or metabolic syndrome, where remnant particles carry a meaningful share of the cholesterol.
Monitoring treatment, where a single subtraction is less fragile than a three-term estimate.
For reference, the LDL goals these non-HDL targets are derived from: Very high risk below 55 mg/dL, High risk below 70 mg/dL, Moderate risk below 100 mg/dL, Low risk below 116 mg/dL.
The rest of the panel
Four measurements, four pages: the composite that stays valid when triglycerides are high, the conversion factors, the full category chart, and the equation itself.
- mg/dL to mmol/L converterConvert total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides between mg/dL and mmol/L, using the separate factors each analyte actually needs.
- LDL cholesterol chartEvery LDL-C category from optimal to very high, in mg/dL and mmol/L side by side, with the treatment goals that sit underneath them.
- The Friedewald equationThe 1972 formula, why the divisor is 5 in mg/dL and 2.2 in mmol/L, and the exact triglyceride level at which it stops being trustworthy.
References
- 1.National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel. Third Report of the NCEP Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III), final report. Circulation. 2002;106(25):3143-3421. PubMed (opens in a new tab)
- 2.Mach F, Baigent C, Catapano AL, et al. 2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias: lipid modification to reduce cardiovascular risk. Eur Heart J. 2020;41(1):111-188. PubMed (opens in a new tab)
- 3.Friedewald WT, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS. Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma, without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem. 1972;18(6):499-502. PubMed (opens in a new tab)
Content last reviewed 16 September 2026.Every cut-point and formula on this page is taken from the sources above.