A career home run total looks simple: add up every ball a player hit over the fence and compare the final numbers. In MLB record books, though, the scope matters. The standard all-time leaderboard is based on regular-season home runs across a player’s Major League career, which keeps the comparison consistent from one era and player to the next.
What the all-time home run leaderboard counts
The all-time MLB home run leaderboard ranks players by the number of home runs they hit during regular-season games over their full Major League careers. It is a career statistic, not a single-season measure and not a count limited to one club, league or stretch of years.
Postseason home runs are not included in these career totals. Neither are home runs hit in exhibition games. That distinction is important because playoff performances can be memorable and heavily discussed, but they sit outside the regular-season record used for the standard career rankings.
Put simply, the leaderboard answers one specific question: which players accumulated the most regular-season home runs during their MLB careers? It is not a measure of overall hitting ability, postseason production or the number of home runs a player may have hit in every professional setting. Keeping that definition in view makes the totals below easier to read and compare.
Career leaderboards also reward longevity as well as power. A player’s final position reflects the full body of regular-season home runs recorded across his time in the majors, rather than a peak season or a short run of exceptional production.
Who holds the MLB career home run record?
Barry Bonds holds the all-time MLB career home run record with 762 regular-season home runs. That total places him first in the career rankings and remains the benchmark for every player chasing the sport’s most famous power-hitting record.
Bonds’ lead is narrow at the very top, which gives the record its immediate context. Hank Aaron finished with 755 career home runs, only seven behind Bonds, while Babe Ruth’s 714 remains the third-highest total in the ranking shown here. Those figures underline how rare it is to move into the 700-home-run range over a career.
The record is often discussed alongside individual seasons and historic milestones, but the career mark is its own category. Bonds’ 762 represents the cumulative regular-season total, not a postseason-inclusive number and not a total from a single campaign.
For a quick answer, then: Barry Bonds is MLB’s career home run leader, and his record total is 762.
All-time MLB career home run leaders
The leading supported entries in the all-time MLB regular-season career home run rankings are headed by Bonds, followed closely by Aaron. The gap between the first two places is seven home runs; from there, the totals step down through several of baseball’s most recognisable power hitters.
1. Barry Bonds — 762 home runs. Bonds holds the career record and is the only player in this ranking with more than 755 home runs.
2. Hank Aaron — 755 home runs. Aaron sits second, seven home runs behind the record holder and 41 ahead of the next player listed.
3. Babe Ruth — 714 home runs. Ruth is third on 714, making him the third player in this group to reach the 700-home-run mark.
4. Albert Pujols — 703 home runs. Pujols follows Ruth and is the fourth player among these leaders to finish with at least 700 regular-season career home runs.
5. Alex Rodriguez — 696 home runs. Rodriguez falls just four short of 700 and ranks fifth among the totals shown.
6. Willie Mays — 661 home runs. Mays occupies sixth place, with a career total that keeps him comfortably ahead of the next two players in this selection.
7. Ken Griffey Jr. — 630 home runs. Griffey is seventh with 630, one of the standout career power totals in MLB history.
8. Jim Thome — 612 home runs. Thome rounds out the ranked entries presented here, passing the 600-home-run threshold over his regular-season career.
These eight totals provide a quick view of the very top of the career home run record book. The list is limited to the ranked entries established here, rather than presenting itself as a complete table of every all-time position beyond eighth.