A good myAir score is generally 70 or above, meaning you wore your CPAP machine long enough to earn most or all of the usage points. A score of 80 to 100 means your therapy is going well across all categories. The score is out of 100 points, and ResMed’s official guidance is simple: the higher, the better.
But the way those 100 points are distributed tells a more nuanced story. Understanding what earns you points, and where most of them come from, helps you figure out whether your score actually reflects effective treatment.
How the 100 Points Break Down
Your myAir score is calculated from four categories, each weighted very differently:
- Usage hours: up to 70 points
- Mask seal: up to 20 points
- Events per hour: up to 5 points
- Mask on/off: up to 5 points
The first thing that jumps out is how heavily the score favors usage. Seventy percent of your total score comes from how many hours you wore the mask. The remaining 30 points are split among leak control, breathing events, and how many times you removed your mask during the night. This weighting matters when you’re interpreting what your number actually means.
Usage Hours Carry the Most Weight
The more hours you use your CPAP each night, the more of the 70 available points you earn. Points scale upward with time, so wearing it for six or seven hours earns significantly more than wearing it for three. ResMed calculates this in hours and minutes, so even partial hours count toward your total.
This category alone explains why someone can score in the 70s or 80s simply by wearing the mask consistently, even if their seal isn’t perfect. It also explains why a night where you take the mask off after two hours can tank your score regardless of how well everything else went. If you’re seeing scores below 50, short usage time is almost always the reason.
Mask Seal: The Second Biggest Factor
Mask seal accounts for up to 20 points and reflects how much air leaks from your mask during the night. Minimal leak earns the full 20 points. Moderate leak drops you to 10 to 15 points, and higher leak levels earn anywhere from 0 to 10.
Leak doesn’t just cost you points on the app. Excessive air escaping from your mask means the machine can’t maintain steady pressure, which reduces how well your therapy works. If your seal score is consistently low, the most common fixes are straightforward: adjusting your mask straps so they’re snug but not overtightened (which can actually warp the cushion and create gaps), replacing worn-out mask cushions every few months, and making sure you’re fitted for the right mask size. Sleeping with your mouth open while using a nasal mask is another frequent cause of high leak, and a chin strap or switching to a full-face mask can help.
Events Per Hour: Small Points, Big Importance
This category tracks how many times per hour your breathing is partially or fully interrupted while you sleep, a measurement clinically known as the apnea-hypopnea index, or AHI. Minimal events earn 4 to 5 points. That’s it. Five points maximum out of 100.
This is the most important limitation of the myAir score to understand. The events-per-hour number is arguably the most clinically meaningful metric on your machine, because it tells you whether your therapy is actually controlling your sleep apnea. An AHI under 5 while on CPAP is the standard treatment goal. Yet a person could have a high event count and still score in the 80s or 90s overall if they wore the mask long enough and had a good seal.
In other words, a high myAir score does not automatically mean your sleep apnea is well controlled. If your events-per-hour reading is consistently above 5 even with good usage, that’s worth discussing with your sleep specialist, regardless of what your overall score says.
Mask On/Off Events
You earn 5 points for keeping your mask on throughout the night, or removing it only once or twice. Every additional removal beyond that reduces your points in this category. This metric mostly captures whether you’re pulling the mask off in your sleep or taking extended breaks during the night. It’s a minor component of the score, but frequent mask removals often signal a comfort issue worth addressing, like a poorly fitting mask or pressure that feels too high.
What Different Score Ranges Mean
ResMed doesn’t publish official “good, fair, poor” ranges, but the math makes interpretation fairly clear. A score of 90 to 100 means you’re using the machine for a full night, your mask seal is tight, your breathing events are minimal, and you’re keeping the mask on. Everything is working as intended.
Scores in the 70 to 89 range typically mean strong usage hours with room for improvement in one of the smaller categories, usually mask seal. This is where most consistent CPAP users land on a typical night, and it reflects solid therapy adherence.
Scores below 70 usually point to insufficient usage time, since that category alone accounts for 70 points. If you’re regularly scoring in this range, the single most effective fix is simply wearing the mask longer. For many people, that means addressing whatever is causing them to remove it early, whether that’s discomfort, dry mouth, claustrophobia, or pressure settings that feel wrong.
Why Your Score Matters for Insurance
Many insurance companies in the U.S. require proof that you’re using your CPAP regularly before they’ll continue covering the equipment. The standard compliance threshold is using the machine at least 4 hours per night on at least 70% of nights over a 30-day period. Since usage hours make up the bulk of the myAir score, consistently scoring above 70 usually means you’re meeting this requirement. Your myAir score itself isn’t what insurers look at directly (they pull usage data from the machine), but tracking it gives you a real-time sense of whether you’re on pace.
Look Beyond the Number
The myAir score is a useful daily check-in, but it’s designed more as a motivational tool than a clinical assessment. Its heavy emphasis on usage hours means it rewards consistency, which is genuinely important. But it can mask therapy problems that only show up in the events-per-hour data or in detailed leak graphs that your sleep provider can review through more advanced software. If you’re scoring well but still waking up tired, snoring, or getting morning headaches, your overall score may be painting an incomplete picture. The individual category breakdowns, especially events per hour, tell you more about treatment quality than the single number at the top of the screen.