The magnetic recording medium includes: a non-magnetic support; a magnetic layer that includes ferromagnetic powder on one surface side of the non-magnetic support; and a back coating layer that includes non-magnetic powder on the other surface side of the non-magnetic support, in which a difference between a spacing measured on a surface of the back coating layer by optical interferometry under a pressure of 0.5 atm after n-hexane cleaning and a spacing measured on the surface of the back coating layer by optical interferometry under a pressure of 13.5 atm after n-hexane cleaning is 12 nm or more.