Background No studies have investigated the association between self-rated health (SRH) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in South Koreans. This study explored the association and analyzed any sex differences.Method Using data from the 2015-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we analyzed the association between SRH and high group (>1.0 mg/L) in 14,544 Koreans aged ≥19 years who responded to the SRH survey and who had hs-CRP test results. Results The percentage of having a very poor to poor SRH was higher in the high hs-CRP level group (22.4%) than in the low level group (17.66%). Among males, the risk of a high hs-CRP level increased with worse SRH (adjusted for confounders; P for trend <0.001). After adjusting for all confounders, including chronic diseases, males with a very poor SRH showed higher odds ratio (OR) for high group than those with a very good SRH (fully adjusted OR, 1.74; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-2.90). Significant correlations were absent among females. Conclusions A poor SRH was correlated with low-grade inflammation (high hs-CRP level) among male Korean adults. The findings could be useful for developing health improvement programs and in goal setting at a national scale.