Scoville scale chart
How hot is it, really? Start with a chilli you already know, such as a jalapeño, and see how many times hotter the others are. Or pick any two and compare them. Heat is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), a number that comes from a dilution test: a rating of 5,000 SHU means the chilli's extract had to be diluted about 5,000 times before the heat disappeared (Bosland and Walker, 2010). You don't need to learn the numbers.
Compare two chillies
Find a chilli
Pick a chilli you already know and the result will say how the chilli you find compares. A jalapeño is a good place to start.
Missing a chilli? Tell us about it. Please include its name and, if you can, a link to a published heat range. We only add chillies that have a source.
Heat chart
Every chilli we hold, in one list from the hottest to the mildest, with a bar for each. You can also download the chart as an image or print it.
Each bar shows the published range for that item on a log scale, so each gridline to the right is ten times hotter (1m is one million SHU). The name, band and numbers are written out beside every bar. You can also press "Compare" on any row.
What the bands mean
Bands and their descriptions are our own, not an official scale, and tolerance varies from person to person. An item sits in the band that holds the middle of its range.
How to read the chart
Heat on the Scoville scale is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). A bigger number means more capsaicin, said kap-SAY-ih-sin (Cambridge Dictionary, no date), and related compounds, the chemicals that cause the burning feeling. A jalapeño is about 2,500 to 8,000 SHU (Lynch, 2013). A habanero is about 100,000 to 350,000 (Zepp, 2026). The hottest chilli on record, Pepper X, averages 2,693,000 (Atwal, 2023). Every figure on this site has a named source: see the figures page and the About page.
The scale is wide, so the chart uses a log scale: moving one gridline to the right means ten times more heat. That is the only way to fit a bell pepper and a Carolina Reaper on one page and still read both.
Two things are worth remembering. First, every figure is a range, because two peppers of the same variety can differ a lot. Second, a "times hotter" figure is a rough guide drawn from the middle of each range. To see how the measurement works, and where it falls short, read how the Scoville scale works. To see where the figures come from, read the About page.
Chillies and chilli products can irritate skin and eyes. See the handling notes on the how it works page, and read our health warning about chilli eating challenges.
References
- Atwal, S. (2023) 'Pepper X dethrones Carolina Reaper as world's hottest chilli pepper', Guinness World Records, 16 October. Available at: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/10/pepper-x-dethrones-carolina-reaper-as-worlds-hottest-chilli-pepper-759706 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Bosland, P.W. and Walker, S.J. (2010) Measuring chile pepper heat. Guide H-237. Las Cruces: New Mexico State University. Available at: https://pubs.nmsu.edu/_h/H237/ (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Cambridge Dictionary (no date) Capsaicin. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus, Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/capsaicin (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Lynch, K. (2013) 'Confirmed: Smokin Ed's Carolina Reaper sets new record for hottest chilli', Guinness World Records, 19 November. Available at: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2013/11/confirmed-smokin-eds-carolina-reaper-sets-new-record-for-hottest-chilli-53033 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Zepp, M. (2026) 'Hot peppers: preserving the heat!', Penn State Extension, updated 8 July. Available at: https://extension.psu.edu/hot-peppers-preserving-the-heat (Accessed: 11 October 2026).