Non-HDL and remnant cholesterol calculator, with TG/HDL and cholesterol ratios
A standard lipid panel gives you four numbers, and several more can be worked out from them. Non-HDL cholesterol counts the cholesterol in every particle that can clog an artery. Remnant cholesterol is the part carried by triglyceride-rich particles. The total/HDL and TG/HDL ratios put two of the numbers side by side. Enter your panel below. LDL is optional: leave it blank and the calculator estimates it.
Non-HDL cholesterol
Non-HDL = total cholesterol − HDL
Non-HDL is everything except the “good” cholesterol: LDL, VLDL, the remnants VLDL turns into, and Lp(a). It needs no estimate and no fasting, because total cholesterol and HDL barely move after a meal. Many labs now print it on the report.
The 2026 ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guideline brought back non-HDL goals alongside LDL goals: below 130 mg/dL (3.4 mmol/L) for people whose LDL goal is below 100, and below 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L) where the LDL goal is below 70. Each sits 30 mg/dL above its LDL goal, a rule that goes back to the NCEP ATP III report, since that’s roughly how much cholesterol VLDL carries when triglycerides are normal. Your clinician sets your goal from your overall risk.
Remnant cholesterol
Remnant cholesterol = total cholesterol − HDL − LDL
Remnants are what’s left of VLDL and chylomicrons after they’ve given up some of their triglyceride. They are small enough to enter an artery wall, and in the Copenhagen studies Varbo and colleagues found that people whose genes gave them higher remnant cholesterol had more heart disease, independent of HDL. No guideline sets a target for it yet.
The result depends heavily on which LDL you subtract. If you enter the LDL from your report, the calculator uses it. If you leave LDL blank, it uses the Martin/Hopkins estimate for triglycerides up to 399 mg/dL and the Sampson estimate up to 800. With a Friedewald LDL, remnant cholesterol is always exactly triglycerides ÷ 5, so it adds no information. The LDL cholesterol calculator explains the three LDL equations.
Cholesterol ratios
Total/HDL ratio = total cholesterol ÷ HDL
TG/HDL ratio = triglycerides ÷ HDL
The total/HDL ratio is the “cholesterol ratio” some reports print. It’s the same in mg/dL and mmol/L, because both numbers are cholesterol. Lower is better.
The TG/HDL ratio is often used as a rough sign of insulin resistance. In overweight adults, McLaughlin and colleagues found that a ratio of 3.0 or more, in mg/dL, identified insulin resistance with a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 68%, similar to a fasting triglyceride or insulin cutoff. That makes it a hint, not a diagnosis, and the best cutoff varies between populations.
This ratio does change with the units, because triglycerides and cholesterol convert by different factors. A ratio from mmol/L values is about 2.29 times smaller than the same ratio from mg/dL values, so 3.0 in mg/dL is 1.31 in mmol/L. (The McLaughlin paper printed 1.8 as the SI equivalent, but converting both values gives 1.3.) The calculator shows both. Compare yours only with a cutoff quoted in the same units.
Worked examples
| Total | HDL | Triglycerides | Non-HDL | Remnant | Total/HDL | TG/HDL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 180 | 60 | 80 | 120 | 17 | 3.0 | 1.3 |
| 200 | 50 | 150 | 150 | 26 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| 190 | 40 | 250 | 150 | 36 | 4.8 | 6.3 |
| 220 | 35 | 350 | 185 | 50 | 6.3 | 10.0 |
All values in mg/dL. Remnant cholesterol uses the Martin/Hopkins LDL.
The second and third rows have the same non-HDL. More of it sits in remnants in the third, where triglycerides are higher and HDL is lower, which is the pattern these measures were meant to pick up.
Limits
- Triglycerides move after a meal. Non-HDL and the total/HDL ratio hardly change, but remnant cholesterol and the TG/HDL ratio both follow triglycerides. Compare them only between draws taken the same way, fasting or not.
- Remnant cholesterol inherits the LDL’s error. A calculated LDL that is off by 10 mg/dL puts remnant cholesterol off by the same 10, which can be a third of the value.
- None of these replaces LDL or ApoB. They are extra context for the same panel, and your clinician will still look at LDL first.
Tracking them over time
How to track your cholesterol over time covers fasting, which numbers to chart, and how to read a change. If some of your results are in mmol/L, the lab unit converter has the factors, and this calculator accepts either unit.
Non-HDL and ratios in HealthViewer
HealthViewer is a lab results tracker that runs on your own computer. It imports lipid panels from lab report PDFs, MyChart downloads, and direct connections to your health system, and charts each test over time in Trends.
To chart any of these across your whole history, add a derived test in Settings. With A as total cholesterol, B as HDL, and C as triglycerides, and a date window of 0 days so only results from the same draw are combined:
- Non-HDL:
A - B - Total/HDL ratio:
A / B - TG/HDL ratio:
C / B
Each letter’s results are converted to the unit most of them were in when you created the formula, so the TG/HDL ratio comes out in that unit’s scale.
Everything stays in an encrypted file on your computer, with no account and no cloud service. Getting Started walks through the first import.
This calculator is for understanding your lab report, not for making treatment decisions. Ask your clinician what your numbers mean for you.