STEEL WIRE MATERIAL FOR WIRE DRAWING

To provide a steel wire material for wire drawing capable of suppressing crack occurrence and disconnection during wire twisting, and more stably producing a steel wire having preferably high strength as a material for a wire rope and the like.SOLUTION: A steel wire material contains, by mass%, C:0.80-1.10%, Si:0.35-2.00%, Mn:0.30-1.20%, Al:0.005-0.050%, P:0.030% or less, S:0.015% or less, N:0.0100% or less, O:0.0020%, and the balance having Fe and impurities, having a metallographic structure, where in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the steel wire material, an area ratio of pearlite is 95% or more and an area ratio of pro-eutectoid cementite is 0.50% or less, and when the average value of the Vickers hardnesses in an inside area is A, the average value of the Vickers hardnesses near the surface is B, and the standard deviation is σ, then the following formulas: 360≤A≤480, 30