SAT Scores: What Counts as Good, Percentiles, and Averages

SAT score range

• Reading and Writing: 200 to 800.
• Math: 200 to 800.
• Total score: 400 to 1600, the two sections added together.

Section scores always end in 0. Your score report also shows your percentiles and how you did in each content area.

Average SAT score

The average SAT total for the class of 2026 was 1045: 528 in Reading and Writing and 517 in Math. That covers 1,954,833 students who took the SAT at some point in high school, 1,262,698 of them through SAT School Day.

The middle half of the class scored from 870 to 1220, and the median was 1030. 691 students scored a perfect 1600.

Source: College Board, 2026 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report, pages 8 and 10.

What is a good SAT score?

It depends on what you want the score to do. Four useful lines:

1. Above average: above 1045, the class of 2026 average.
2. Top quarter: 1220 or higher, the 75th percentile for the class of 2026.
3. Top 10 percent: about 1360 or higher, the 90th percentile of recent SAT takers.
4. College ready: at least 480 in Reading and Writing and 530 in Math, College Board's benchmarks. 42% of the class of 2026 met both.

For admissions, the line that matters is each college's own range. Look up the middle 50% SAT range for every college on your list: a score inside it makes you a typical admit on scores, and a score above its 75th percentile helps. If you plan to send scores for merit aid, see how test scores can earn merit aid.

SAT percentiles

A percentile is the share of students who scored at or below you. College Board publishes two kinds:

• User group percentiles compare you with students who took the SAT in the past three years. This is the comparison colleges see.
• Nationally representative percentiles compare you with all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, including students who never take the SAT, so they run higher.

Source: College Board Research, SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles. 99+ means above the 99th percentile.

SAT college readiness benchmarks

College Board's benchmarks are 480 in Reading and Writing and 530 in Math. Students who meet them have a 75% chance of earning at least a C in a matching first-semester, credit-bearing college course. In the class of 2026, 67% met the Reading and Writing benchmark, 45% met the Math benchmark, 42% met both, and 31% met neither.

Source: College Board, 2026 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report, pages 4 and 8.

SAT scores on the ACT scale

The official concordance tables line up SAT and ACT scores. A 1200 SAT lines up with an ACT 25, a 1300 with a 28, and a 1400 with a 31. Our ACT to SAT converter does any score, and tells you which test is stronger if you have both.

To raise your score, start with one of College Board's official full-length practice tests in the Bluebook app, then study the Knowledge and Skills section of your score report. Our free 10-week SAT study plan lays out the weeks. If you will test more than once, read about score choice and superscoring, and combine your best sections with our SAT superscore calculator. Have a PSAT score instead? See what your PSAT score means.

Frequently asked questions

Every score figure on this page comes from College Board or the official ACT/SAT concordance. We are independent tutors and are not affiliated with College Board. Last checked October 27, 2026.