What does load average actually measure?

On Linux it is the average number of processes that are either running or waiting to run (and, unlike some systems, also those in uninterruptible I/O wait). The key is to divide by your core count: a load of 4 is fully busy on a 4-core machine but heavily overloaded on a single core. Per-core load near 1.0 means fully utilized; above 1.0 means work is queuing and waiting.

Is a high load average always bad?

Not necessarily. Per-core load up to about 1.0 means the CPUs are well used with little waiting - efficient, not broken. Sustained per-core load above 1.0 means processes are waiting for CPU, so latency rises. On Linux a high load can also come from processes stuck in disk I/O wait rather than CPU, so pair this with a look at CPU versus I/O before assuming you need more cores.

What do the three numbers mean?

They are the load averaged over the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes. Comparing them shows the trend: if the 1-minute figure is well above the 15-minute, load is rising and a spike is building; if it is below, a spike is passing. A steady set of three similar numbers means a stable workload.

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Load average interpreter.

Paste the load average from uptime or top and your core count to see what it actually means — per-core load, whether you have headroom or are overloaded, and the 1/5/15-minute trend.

1-min load

5-min load

15-min load

CPU cores

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A number that only means something per core

Load average is one of the most-quoted and least-understood server metrics, because the raw number is meaningless until you divide by cores. A load of 8 is a calm, fully-used 8-core box or a desperately overloaded 2-core one. Read per core: near 1.0 is healthy and efficient, comfortably above 1.0 means processes are queuing for CPU and latency is climbing. Then read the trend — a 1-minute figure far above the 15-minute is a spike still building.

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