A characteristic evaluation method of a perpendicular magnetic recording medium suitable for obtaining a perpendicular magnetic recording medium which can respond to much higher recording density is provided.This is an evaluation method of a perpendicular magnetic recording medium, including a process of recording a first signal of a specific frequency at an arbitrary first position in the perpendicular magnetic recording medium; a process of measuring a reproduction output of the first signal and of measuring a signal/noise ratio (initial value) of the first signal at a peak position where the reproduction output becomes the maximum; a process of recording a signal of a specific frequency at a second position away from the first position by a predetermined distance in the radial direction of the perpendicular magnetic recording medium; a process of measuring the signal/noise ratio of the first signal at the peak position again; a process of repeating the process of recording the signal of the specific frequency at a position brought close to the first position from the second position by a predetermined distance and of measuring the signal/noise ratio of the first signal at the peak position again while sequentially getting closer to the first position from the second position; and a process of determining whether the value of the signal/noise ratio has lowered from the initial value by a predetermined range or more.