Norwood Scale: The 7 Stages of Male Pattern Baldness

This page walks through each stage in plain words, explains the "A" and "vertex" variants, and shows which stages the main hair loss drugs were tested in. It is a guide to the words, not a diagnosis. A clinician who looks at your scalp can tell you where you stand.

The Norwood stages at a glance

Stage descriptions below follow a hair restoration clinic's summary of Norwood's system (Bernstein Medical: Norwood classification, read 14 Nov 2026), checked against a 2017 review in a hair research journal (Wirya et al., Int J Trichology, read 14 Nov 2026).

The crown is the top back of the head. Doctors call it the vertex. The temples are the corners of the hairline above each eye.

Stage by stage, in plain words

Norwood 1 and 2: not balding yet

Stage 1 is the hairline most boys have. The clinic summary says it "Represents an adolescent or juvenile hairline and is not actually balding" (Bernstein Medical).

Stage 2 is the mature hairline most adult men reach. The hairline sits a little higher, often about a finger's width above the top crease of the brow, with mild corners at the temples. The same source says "This also does not represent balding." Many men panic at this stage for no reason. Our receding hairline guide covers how to tell the two apart.

Norwood 3 and 3 vertex: where balding starts

Stage 3 is "The earliest stage of male hair loss. It is characterized by a deepening temporal recession" (Bernstein Medical). The corners at the temples cut in deeper, often into an M shape.

Stage 3 vertex adds a thin spot at the crown while the front stays at stage 2 or 3. Many men first spot it in a photo taken from above, or under bright bathroom light. Our male pattern baldness guide covers crown loss and what treats it.

Norwood 4 and 5: two areas growing

At stage 4 the front recedes more and the crown spot grows. A clear band of hair still runs across the top and keeps the two areas apart. At stage 5 both areas keep growing and that band starts to thin and break up.

Norwood 6 and 7: one large bald area

At stage 6 the band is gone. The front and crown join into one bald area on top. At stage 7, the clinic summary says, "Patients have extensive hair loss with only a wreath of hair remaining in the back and sides of the scalp" (Bernstein Medical). That wreath is often called the horseshoe.

The "A" variant: loss that moves front to back

A smaller group of men lose hair in a different order. The hairline moves straight back from the front without leaving an island of hair in the middle, and the crown is spared until late. Norwood labelled these 2A to 5A. The journal review says "the type A variant constituted approximately 3% of all individual studies" (Wirya et al., Int J Trichology), and the clinic puts it under 10%.

Men with the A pattern can look quite bald early, because the loss sits right at the front of the face.

Hamilton-Norwood scale: where the name comes from

James Hamilton published the first system in 1951, in a paper on "Patterned loss of hair in man; types and incidence" (PubMed: Hamilton 1951, read 14 Nov 2026). Norwood kept its basic shape, added the variants and redrew the pictures. The journal review notes that the Norwood-Hamilton system is "the most widely used hair loss classification" (Wirya et al., Int J Trichology).

The scale has limits. The same review says that when several doctors rated the same men, their answers often did not match. So treat a stage as a rough label, not an exact score. Stage numbers also do not capture thinning spread across the whole top, which some men have instead of clear bald areas. Our diffuse thinning guide covers that pattern.

How common each stage is with age

Pattern hair loss is very common and gets more common with age. DermNet, a skin reference run by doctors, says "Up to half of male Caucasians will experience some degree of hair loss by age 50, and possibly as many as 80% by the age of 70 years" (DermNet: male pattern hair loss, read 14 Nov 2026). It adds that Japanese and Chinese men are far less affected. Norwood's own study found that loss keeps moving forward even in later years.

Which Norwood stages treatment fits

The FDA-approved drugs were tested in men with early to middle loss, not in men who were already fully bald. The Propecia label says its studies were in "1879 men with mild to moderate, but not complete, hair loss" (DailyMed: Propecia label, read 14 Nov 2026). Two of its three studies were in men with mostly crown loss. The label does not list Norwood stages, but mild to moderate loss lines up roughly with stages 3 to 5.

The over-the-counter minoxidil label is narrower still. It is "to regrow hair on the top of the scalp (vertex only, see pictures on side of carton)" (DailyMed: Men's Rogaine Extra Strength label, read 14 Nov 2026). It also says it is "not intended for frontal baldness or receding hairline."

In practice, the earlier the stage, the more hair there is to keep. The American Academy of Dermatology says "men tend to have better results when they start treatment soon after noticing hair loss" (AAD: male pattern hair loss treatment, read 14 Nov 2026). At stages 6 and 7, drugs mainly protect what is left. A hair transplant is the usual option for areas that are already bald.

What treatment costs

Generic finasteride starts at $0.83 a tablet at Strut Health. The cheapest hair loss plan we track is Keeps at $14 a month, checked November 14, 2026. Every plan is on our hair loss price page, and the best hair loss programs are ranked by score.