Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in the world. There is no simple laboratory marker available for assessing the severity of stroke. We studied neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio as an indicator of stroke severity and compared it with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), used as the gold standard marker for assessing severity of stroke. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted taking 100 subjects fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. N/L ratio was calculated using standard techniques. Observations: Patients with moderate stroke had higher N/L ratio than those with mild stroke (p = 0.004). Conclusion: N/L ratio can be used as a simple, calculative laboratory marker for assessing the severity of stroke.