What Is the Average SAT Score, and What Score Is a Good One?

As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.

As of October 2026, the average SAT total score is 1029 and the average ACT Composite is 19.1. The SAT number is the mean for students who graduated high school in 2025. The ACT number pools the graduating classes of 2024, 2025 and 2026. A good score, though, is not a national number. It is the band published by the colleges on your student's list.

Where an SAT score lands

College Board reports the SAT ladder in bands, not one percentile per point. Here is the class of 2025, 2,004,965 test takers in all.

SAT total	Share of the class of 2025 scoring at or above
1400	7%
1200	25%
1000	53%
800	83%
600	97%

We did the adding; the counts are College Board's. Each share is its own band counts divided by its own total.

The quartiles fill in the rest of the ladder. An 850 is the 25th percentile, a 1010 is the 50th, and a 1200 is the 75th. College Board's own guidance page rounds the average to about 1050 and says a 1350 or higher is the top 10% of test takers.

Where an ACT score lands

ACT does publish a point-by-point table. These are the US Ranks printed on score reports this year.

ACT Composite	US Rank (percentile)
36	100
34	99
32	97
30	94
28	91
26	86
24	80
22	72
20	63
18	52

The mean Composite on that table is 19.1. ACT's score guide cites 19.4 for the class of 2024 by itself; the table pools three classes.

What a good score is, college by college

A published band is the middle half of enrolled first-years who sent that test. It is not a cutoff. The last column is the share of that enrolled class who sent an SAT; the rest sent an ACT, or at a test-optional college sent nothing. USC and Michigan are test-optional. Florida and Purdue require a score.

College	Middle 50% SAT	Middle 50% ACT	Share who sent an SAT
University of Southern California	1440-1550	32-35	32%
University of Michigan	1350-1530	31-34	52%
University of Florida	1300-1480	28-33	79%
Purdue University	1190-1460	27-34	73%

Every row is federal IPEDS data for 2023. Read the row, not the national average. A 1300 sits near the top of Purdue's band and under the floor of USC's.

What preparation moves

Our published results cover 782 students who finished the program. Students who start at 1350 or below gain 190 SAT points on average, 1210 to 1400, which is the 77th percentile to the 93rd. Students who start above 1350 gain 120, 1400 to 1520. On the ACT, students starting 27 or below gain 5.7 points, 22 to 28. Students starting 28 or higher gain 3.4 points, 30 to 34. Of our SAT students, 63% gain 200 points or more and 20% gain 300 or more.

Published research puts a typical retest-with-prep gain near 30 SAT points and 1.4 ACT points. An average is not a promise, and your student may land above it or below it.

Plan 6 to 12 weeks before the first official sitting, and prepare for the whole SAT or ACT every time, never one section.

The move

This month, have your student sit one full-length practice SAT and one full-length practice ACT. Then read both results against the colleges on the list, not against 1029 or 19.1. Both mocks are free: prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step. Block 6 to 12 weeks on the calendar from there, or call 949.229.5359 and we will map the testing year with you.

Questions parents ask

What is the average SAT score right now?

As of October 2026, the average SAT total score is 1029, the mean for students who graduated high school in 2025. College Board's own guidance page rounds the average to about 1050.

Is a 1300 a good SAT score for my child?

It depends on the college. A 1300 sits near the top of Purdue's band and under the floor of USC's, so read the row, not the national average.

How much can my daughter realistically raise her score?

Students who start at 1350 or below gain 190 SAT points on average, 1210 to 1400, over 6 to 12 weeks of preparation. An average is not a promise, and your student may land above it or below it.

Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.