The short answer: hCG ranges by week are wide and they overlap. At 5 completed weeks since your last period, the middle 90% of results in Roche's reference data run from 217 to 7,138 mIU/mL. One value cannot confirm or rule out a problem; the rise over 48 hours, measured at the same laboratory, tells you much more.
What are normal hCG levels by week?
hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is the hormone the placenta makes in pregnancy, and a blood test reports it in mIU/mL, which is the same number as IU/L. It rises steeply in the first weeks, peaks at around 9 to 10 weeks and then falls to a lower level for the rest of pregnancy. The published range for each week is wide. In the reference data Roche publishes for its Elecsys test, the middle 90% of results at 5 completed weeks since the last period run from 217 to 7,138 mIU/mL, and at 6 weeks from 158 to 31,795. Neighbouring weeks overlap so much that one value can fit several of them. Ranges also differ between laboratory tests and with how the weeks were dated, so the range printed on your own report is the one to use. What carries the information is how much the level rises over 48 hours at the same laboratory, and then what an ultrasound shows.
hCG levels by week and day: how to find your row
The chart counts weeks the way notes and lab forms do: completed weeks since the first day of your last period, plus days. A result taken at 5+3 belongs in the 5+0 – 5+6 row, which is week 6 of pregnancy. The days do not move you into another row. Both sources group results by whole weeks, and we found none that publishes a separate range for each day.
If a scan has moved your dates, use the scan's dates. Dating from a period assumes ovulation on day 14 of a 28-day cycle, and ACOG notes that this cannot allow for cycles of other lengths or for ovulation that comes early or late. In the first weeks the ranges change quickly from one week to the next, so a few days make a real difference.
Why the range on your own lab report is the one that counts
Laboratories use different hCG tests, and the tests do not give the same number for the same blood. Roche says so in its own instructions: results from different test methods cannot be compared directly, and each laboratory should check whether the published values suit its own patients and, if necessary, set its own reference ranges. The reference range printed next to your result was set for the test your laboratory runs.
The two sources on this page show the size of the difference. At 12 completed weeks, Roche's range runs from 27,832 to 210,612 mIU/mL. The Generation R Study, which used a Siemens test and dated every pregnancy by ultrasound, published 22,846 to 114,774 for 12 weeks by scan (Roche gives the middle 90% of results, Generation R the middle 95%). A result of 150,000 would sit inside the first range and above the second.
How the weeks are counted moves the range too. When Generation R counted from the last period instead of the scan, the lower limit at 12 weeks fell from 22,846 to 12,193. The same study found lower hCG in women who smoked and in those with a higher BMI, and higher hCG in women with more nausea and vomiting; the number of previous births, ethnicity and the baby's sex made a difference as well.
hCG from 9 to 25 weeks: a larger study
Roche's early rows rest on 13 to 43 women each. The Generation R Study in Rotterdam measured hCG in 8,195 pregnant women, with blood taken at a median of 14.4 weeks, and published a range for each week from 9+0 to 25+6. Its figures are total hCG measured on a Siemens Immulite 2000 XPi analyser, with the week dated by ultrasound, and each range covers the middle 95% of women. IVF and twin pregnancies are left out, as the study left them out of its reference ranges.
| Weeks by scan | Median | 2.5th–97.5th percentile | Pregnancy week | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9+0 – 9+6 | 75,494 | 24,310 – 125,882 | Week 10 | 50 |
| 10+0 – 10+6 | 74,655 | 24,370 – 137,697 | Week 11 | 106 |
| 11+0 – 11+6 | 62,493 | 23,669 – 129,242 | Week 12 | 255 |
| 12+0 – 12+6 | 56,004 | 22,846 – 114,774 | Week 13 | 790 |
| 13+0 – 13+6 | 52,367 | 23,272 – 109,990 | Week 14 | 1,418 |
| 14+0 – 14+6 | 47,267 | 20,494 – 105,369 | Week 15 | 1,069 |
| 15+0 – 15+6 | 37,303 | 14,262 – 82,506 | Week 16 | 800 |
| 16+0 – 16+6 | 29,614 | 11,159 – 80,656 | Week 17 | 594 |
| 17+0 – 17+6 | 24,426 | 8,294 – 69,447 | Week 18 | 455 |
| 18+0 – 18+6 | 20,693 | 6,637 – 50,109 | Week 19 | 354 |
| 19+0 – 19+6 | 17,609 | 5,022 – 52,640 | Week 20 | 271 |
| 20+0 – 20+6 | 17,354 | 5,342 – 43,692 | Week 21 | 389 |
| 21+0 – 21+6 | 15,088 | 4,213 – 42,892 | Week 22 | 530 |
| 22+0 – 22+6 | 16,174 | 3,689 – 44,548 | Week 23 | 330 |
| 23+0 – 23+6 | 12,415 | 2,390 – 43,379 | Week 24 | 165 |
| 24+0 – 24+6 | 13,739 | 4,067 – 45,031 | Week 25 | 134 |
| 25+0 – 25+6 | 14,749 | 3,847 – 53,383 | Week 26 | 79 |
Source: Korevaar et al., European Journal of Epidemiology 2015, Table 1: 8,065 women after IVF, twin and terminated pregnancies were excluded. The paper numbers its weeks without saying whether 12 means 12+0 to 12+6; they are read here as completed weeks, the usual convention. It pooled the 32 women tested before 9 weeks into one group and everyone after the 25-week row into another, so neither appears here.
hCG peaked at 9 to 10 weeks and then fell steadily. The authors stress that their ranges belong to the Siemens test they used, and that the estimates are least certain at the two ends: very early in pregnancy and in the third trimester.
What if my hCG is below or above the range?
A result outside the published range for its week is a reason to repeat the test, not a diagnosis. The usual explanations are ordinary ones:
- Dates a few days out. If you ovulated later than day 14, the pregnancy is younger than your dates say, and the early ranges move fast from week to week.
- A different test. Your laboratory's assay may read higher or lower than the one behind the chart.
- Twins or IVF, which run higher on average (see below).
- A pregnancy that is not progressing, or one outside the womb. These are the reasons your doctor wants a second value and, in time, a scan.
NICE, which sets clinical guidance for the NHS in England, advises taking two hCG measurements as close as possible to 48 hours apart, and warns against using hCG to decide where a pregnancy is: symptoms count for more than the number. A result inside the range cannot show that the pregnancy is in the womb either. If you have both results, the hCG doubling calculator shows how much the level rose, and the early ultrasound guide explains what a scan can show at each stage.
hCG levels with twins and after IVF
Twin and IVF pregnancies run higher on average. In Generation R, where blood was taken at a median of 14.4 weeks, these were the averages after adjusting for the week of the test:
| Pregnancy | Women | Average hCG, IU/L |
|---|---|---|
| One baby | 8,065 | 40,099 |
| Twins | 82 | 67,488 |
| No fertility treatment | 7,996 | 39,287 |
| IVF | 38 | 47,501 |
Source: Korevaar et al. 2015, Supplemental Table 5. These are averages: the study publishes no range for twin or IVF pregnancies.
Because the range for one baby is so wide, a high value cannot tell you there are two. An ultrasound can.
After IVF the first blood test is usually taken 9 to 17 days after the transfer, on a day the clinic sets. One open-access study from Linz, Austria, measured hCG 14 days after a single day-5 blastocyst transfer. ACOG sets the due date 261 days after a day-5 transfer, which puts the transfer at 2 weeks 5 days of pregnancy and this test at 4 weeks 5 days. In pregnancies that went on to a live birth:
| Transfer | Median | Middle half | Lowest – highest | Pregnancies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh embryo | 931.5 | 575 – 1,258 | 149 – 2,870 | 186 |
| Frozen embryo | 1,415.5 | 880.5 – 2,005 | 100 – 8,298 | 268 |
Source: Trautner et al., Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 2024, Table 2: one clinic, 2011–2020, Roche assay.
Frozen-embryo transfers ran higher than fresh ones, and the spread was wide in both. Clinics set thresholds for their own test, so your clinic's range and its repeat test are the ones to go by.
Is there an hCG chart by days after ovulation?
We found no open, peer-reviewed source that publishes blood hCG ranges day by day after ovulation in a natural cycle, so this page does not print one. The chart above is the closest sourced alternative.
You can still find your row. Pregnancy dating counts the day of ovulation as 2 weeks 0 days, the same convention behind ACOG's due dates, so 12 days after ovulation is 3+5 and 16 days after is 4+2. Treat the row you land in as a rougher guide than usual, because Roche's women were dated from their periods rather than from ovulation.
When to get help the same day
Go to an emergency department or early pregnancy unit now, not tomorrow, if you have:
- Severe or persistent pain on one side of the lower abdomen
- Pain at the tip of your shoulder
- Feeling faint, dizzy or collapsing
- Heavy vaginal bleeding, or bleeding with pain
- Pain when opening your bowels, or diarrhoea with pelvic pain
These are the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. It is a medical emergency, and no hCG result, however reassuring, rules it out.
The NHS adds that ectopic symptoms tend to appear between the 4th and 12th week, and that any combination of one-sided pain, bleeding or a brown watery discharge, shoulder-tip pain and discomfort when using the toilet needs advice the same day, even before a positive test. A second hCG result that is lower than the first, or no higher, also needs talking through with your doctor the same day.
Inside Baby Novum: the lab results journal keeps each hCG result with its date, value and notes, so the first value is still there when the second one arrives. The free version holds one record; Premium keeps every result, with a photo of the printed report and filters. The calendar, free on every plan, can file the repeat test as a lab test with a reminder.
Related tools and guides
FAQ — hCG levels by week
What is a normal hCG level at 4 weeks?
Counted as 4 completed weeks since your last period (4+0 to 4+6, which is week 5 of pregnancy), Roche's reference data put the middle 90% of results between 9.5 and 750 mIU/mL, with a median of 141. A week earlier, at 3+0 to 3+6, the range was 5.8 to 71.2. A spread that wide is why one early value settles so little: the rise over the next 48 hours tells your doctor more.
What are normal hCG levels at 5 and 6 weeks?
At 5 completed weeks (5+0 to 5+6) Roche's data put the middle 90% of results between 217 and 7,138 mIU/mL, median 1,398; at 6 completed weeks between 158 and 31,795, median 3,339. The two ranges overlap almost entirely, so one result cannot tell the weeks apart, and your laboratory's test may read differently. The range on your own report and a repeat after 48 hours are what to go by.
When do hCG levels peak in pregnancy?
At around 9 to 10 weeks. The Generation R Study, which measured hCG in 8,195 women, found total hCG peaked at 9 to 10 weeks and then fell steadily to a lower level that holds through the second and third trimesters. In Roche's reference data the highest median, 106,257 mIU/mL, is at 9 completed weeks. A value that falls after the peak is expected.
Can one hCG result tell me if my pregnancy is healthy?
No. The ranges for each week are too wide, and they differ between laboratory tests, so one value can neither confirm nor rule out a problem. NICE advises two measurements as close as possible to 48 hours apart, and warns that hCG cannot show where a pregnancy is: symptoms count for more than the number. An ultrasound answers the rest.
Why is my hCG different from the chart?
Usually because of the test or the dates. Laboratories use different hCG tests that read the same blood differently, and Roche's own instructions say results from different methods cannot be compared directly. Dating matters as much: counting from the period instead of the scan lowered the lower limit at 12 weeks in the Generation R Study from 22,846 to 12,193. Compare your result with the reference range on your own report.
Are hCG levels higher with twins?
On average, yes. In the Generation R Study the 82 twin pregnancies averaged 67,488 IU/L against 40,099 for single pregnancies, with blood taken at a median of 14.4 weeks. That is an average, not a range: values for one baby spread so widely that a high result cannot show twins. Only an ultrasound can tell how many babies there are.
What should hCG be 14 days after an embryo transfer?
One open-access study from an IVF clinic in Linz, Austria, measured hCG 14 days after a single day-5 blastocyst transfer. In pregnancies that ended in a live birth the median was 931.5 mIU/mL after a fresh transfer and 1,415.5 after a frozen one, and live births followed values as low as 149 and 100. Clinics set thresholds for their own test, so your clinic's range and its repeat test are what count.
Is there an hCG chart by days past ovulation (DPO)?
We found no open, peer-reviewed source that publishes blood hCG ranges day by day after ovulation, so this page does not print one. You can still find your row: pregnancy dating counts the day of ovulation as 2 weeks 0 days, so 12 days after ovulation is 3+5 and falls in the 3+0 to 3+6 row. That row comes from women dated by their periods, so treat it as a rough guide.
Sources
- Roche Diagnostics — Elecsys HCG+β method sheet (2024): expected values in pregnancy
- Korevaar et al., European Journal of Epidemiology 2015 — Reference ranges and determinants of total hCG levels during pregnancy: the Generation R Study
- Trautner et al., Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 2024 — Day 14 serum hCG after fresh and frozen single blastocyst transfer
- NICE NG126 — Ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage: diagnosis and initial management
- NHS — Ectopic pregnancy
- ACOG Committee Opinion 700 — Methods for Estimating the Due Date
hCG levels by week — at a glance
hCG levels by week are published as wide ranges that overlap from one week to the next. Roche's reference data for its Elecsys test give the median and the middle 90% of results for 3 to 18 completed weeks since the last period, and the Generation R Study adds ranges from 9 to 25 weeks, dated by ultrasound and measured on a Siemens test. The two disagree at the same week because tests and dating methods differ, which is why the reference range printed on your own lab report is the one that counts. One value cannot confirm or rule out a problem: two measurements about 48 hours apart at the same laboratory, and then a scan, answer the questions that matter. Twin and IVF pregnancies run higher on average, and no source we could verify publishes a blood hCG table by days after ovulation. Severe one-sided pain, shoulder-tip pain, fainting or heavy bleeding need emergency care whatever the number.
Baby Novum is an informational and tracking tool, not a medical device, and does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your doctor or midwife about your pregnancy.