Arterial stenosis is a common disease and a major cause of death in developed countries. Because of the important role of hemodynamic factors in the formation and progression of the stenosis, modeling of blood behavior has been studied by researchers for many years. In the present study, blood is simulated as both steady state and pulsatile laminar in a common carotid artery with an axisymmetric stenosis assuming rigid and impermeable walls. Governing equations, continuity and momentum, have been solved by finite element method. Newtonian and six non-Newtonian models are used to describe blood behavior. Hematocrit is applied in modified-Casson and Walburn-Schneck models. Hemodynamic parameters such as radial velocity, wall shear stress, global importance factor, separation and reattachment points have been calculated. According to obtained results, separation zone is the longest for Newtonian model and is more affected under changes like Reynolds number and stenosis severity. Basic difference between steady and pulsatile conditions is for the recirculation zone length and so for the global importance factors, because under pulsatile condition, blood flow can not adjust itself with velocity fluctuations at the inlet. At lower velocities global importance factors show more values and differences of models are more considerable. At low shear rates power-law model is not appropriate. Generalized power law and Carreau-Yasuda models show very similar behavior at most shear rates. non-Newtonian effects become more significant by increasing hematocrit. Choosing the best model depends on having experimental data. The results have convenient agreement with previous works. Key words Stenosis, Wall shear stress, Flow separation, Newtonian, Non-Newtonian blood flow, Global importance factor, Oscillatory shear index.