It has to be taken in context of the total cholesterol. Medically, total cholesterol should not exceed 200. Furthermore, HDL (good cholesterol) should be 1/3 of total cholesterol or greater while LDL should be 2/3 of total cholesterol or less. Regardless of total cholesterol, a person's LDL should not be greater than 100. What is more important is the ratio of HDL to LDL and not the absolute value.