A blood pressure of 104/70 mmHg is not just good, it’s excellent. It falls squarely in the “normal” category under the latest 2025 guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, which define normal blood pressure as below 120/80 mmHg. It’s also well above the threshold for low blood pressure (90/60 mmHg), meaning it sits in a sweet spot: low enough to protect your heart and high enough to keep blood flowing where it needs to go.
Where 104/70 Falls on the Scale
The 2025 blood pressure guidelines break adult readings into four categories:
- Normal: below 120 systolic and below 80 diastolic
- Elevated: 120 to 129 systolic and below 80 diastolic
- Stage 1 hypertension: 130 to 139 systolic or 80 to 89 diastolic
- Stage 2 hypertension: 140 or higher systolic, or 90 or higher diastolic
At 104/70, both your top number (systolic) and bottom number (diastolic) are comfortably within the normal range. These categories apply the same way regardless of whether you’re 30 or 70. The current guidelines removed the older, more lenient thresholds that once allowed higher readings for people over 65.
Why Lower-Normal May Be Even Better
Being “normal” is good, but 104/70 may carry extra advantages. Research from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute looked at over 1,400 healthy adults with systolic readings between 90 and 129 mmHg to see how cardiovascular risk changed within the normal range. The results were striking: among people with systolic pressure between 100 and 109 (right where your reading falls), roughly 4 out of 1,000 experienced a heart attack or stroke over 10 years. That rate doubled to about 8.3 per 1,000 for people in the 120 to 129 range, which is still technically “normal.”
In other words, not all normal readings carry equal protection. A systolic number in the low 100s is associated with roughly half the cardiovascular event rate compared to a reading in the high 110s or 120s. The study’s participants had an average blood pressure of 111/67 mmHg and a median heart disease risk of just 3%, suggesting that readings like yours are common in people with strong cardiovascular health.
When a Reading Like This Could Be a Concern
A blood pressure of 104/70 is only a problem if it’s causing symptoms. Low blood pressure, or hypotension, is generally defined as a reading below 90/60 mmHg, so 104/70 doesn’t meet that threshold. But some people naturally run on the lower side and can feel lightheaded, dizzy, or fatigued if their pressure dips further from its usual baseline.
One scenario worth knowing about: orthostatic hypotension, which is a sudden drop in blood pressure when you stand up. It’s diagnosed when your systolic pressure drops by 20 mmHg or more within three minutes of standing. If your resting pressure is already 104, a 20-point drop would bring you to 84 systolic, which is below the hypotension line. If you regularly feel dizzy or unsteady when getting up from a chair or bed, that pattern is worth mentioning to your doctor, even though your resting number looks great.
For people who are pregnant, normal blood pressure is defined as 120/80 or lower, so 104/70 fits comfortably within the expected range during pregnancy as well.
What Your Two Numbers Tell You
The top number (104 in your case) measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The bottom number (70) measures the pressure between beats, when your heart is resting. Both numbers matter, and both of yours are in a healthy range. A reading where one number is high and the other is normal still counts as elevated or hypertensive, whichever category the higher number falls into. Because both of yours are well below the 120/80 cutoff, the reading is straightforwardly normal.
Keep in mind that blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day. It rises during exercise, stress, and caffeine intake, and drops during sleep. A single reading is a snapshot. If you’re monitoring at home, the most reliable picture comes from averaging multiple readings taken at the same time of day, ideally in the morning before eating or taking medications, after sitting quietly for five minutes.
Keeping Your Numbers Where They Are
A reading of 104/70 reflects a cardiovascular system that’s working well. The habits that maintain it are the same ones that protect heart health broadly: regular physical activity, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while moderate in sodium, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol, and managing stress. These aren’t dramatic interventions. They’re the reason your numbers look the way they do, and they’re worth protecting.
Blood pressure tends to creep upward with age as arteries stiffen. About half of all adults eventually develop hypertension. Periodic monitoring, even when your numbers are excellent, helps you catch any gradual shift early, long before it reaches a level that needs treatment.