Despite the emerging importance of protein arginine N-methyltransferase (PRMT) activity in regulating cellular processes, only a limited number of PRMT assays have been developed. Here, we compare several qualitative and quantitative methods that we use for measuring PRMT activity. Gel-based methods allow for the simultaneous detection of methyl transfer activity on multiple substrates, but require signals well above background in order to generate reliable data for quantitation, which can be challenging with low activity PRMTs or substrates that are poor methyl-acceptors. Techniques that measure S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) product formation suffer from a background caused by PRMT automethylation and the spontaneous formation of AdoHcy from S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet). However, when this background is controlled, this approach is useful for product inhibition studies. Methods that detect methylated arginines derived from acid hydrolysis of PRMT reaction samples can determine the absolute amounts of ω-NG-monomethylarginine (MMA), asymmetric ω-NG,NG-dimethylarginine (aDMA) or symmetric ω-NG,N′G-dimethylarginine (sDMA) to quantify PRMT activity. We describe separation methods of these methylated arginine derivatives by thin layer, reverse phase, or cation exchange chromatography, and quantification by radioactivity or mass spectrometry. The latter approach is advantageous because it does not require radiolabelled samples for detection, and activity is readily quantified with commercially available standards.