A magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, an underlayer, and a magnetic layer that are arranged in this order. The magnetic layer has a granular structure including magnetic grains having a L10 crystal structure, and grain boundary parts having a volume fraction in a range of 25 volume % to 50 volume %. The magnetic grains have a c-axis orientation with respect to the substrate. The grain boundary parts include a material having a lattice constant in a range of 0.30 nm to 0.36 nm, or in a range of 0.60 nm to 0.72 nm.