What Is a Good SAT Score in 2026? Percentiles, Averages & Targets

A good SAT score is anything above the national average of 1045, and 1200 or higher is a strong score by any national measure. The Class of 2026 averaged 1045 out of 1600, according to College Board’s 2026 SAT Suite Annual Report↗. A 1200 is higher than 81% of US 11th and 12th graders, and a 1400 is higher than 97%. Those national numbers set the baseline. The score that is “good” for you depends on the colleges on your list, and the last sections of this guide show how to work that out.

SAT percentiles for every 50 points

A percentile tells you the share of a comparison group that scored at or below your score. College Board’s SAT percentile tables↗ give two versions, explained in the next section.

Table 1. SAT total score percentiles. Source: College Board Research, SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles (retrieved October 15, 2026; the page carries no year label). “99+” and “1-” are College Board’s own labels.

Our SAT score calculator shows the percentile for your estimated score automatically, in 10-point steps.

Nationally representative or user percentile: which one counts?

College Board defines the two groups differently:

• Nationally representative percentile: comes from a research study of US 11th and 12th graders, weighted to stand for all students in those grades, including those who never take the SAT.
• User percentile: based on the actual SAT scores of students who graduated in the past three school years.

From about 990 upward, the user percentile is the tougher comparison, because the test-taker group scores higher than the full population in that range. At 1300, for example, you beat 91% of all juniors and seniors but 85% of real test takers. Below about 980 the order flips.

For college planning, the user percentile is the honest one, since your competition is other test takers. Your official score report adds a third figure: College Board’s Fall 2026 Understanding Scores guide says reports show an All Tester Percentile, based on the past three cohorts who took the SAT in 12th grade anywhere in the world.

How the Class of 2026 actually scored

College Board’s 2026 annual report covers 1,954,833 students in the Class of 2026 and counts each student’s most recent score.

Table 2. SAT total score distribution, Class of 2026. Source: College Board, 2026 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report (Total Group).

The mean was 1045: 528 in Reading and Writing and 517 in Math. Add the top two rows and 28% of the class scored 1200 or higher. More than half (57%) landed between 800 and 1190, so a score in the low 1000s is truly middle of the pack.

What is a good SAT section score?

Colleges and scholarship programs sometimes look at Reading and Writing and Math separately, and some majors care mostly about Math. College Board’s section percentiles, from the same research page as Table 1, show how each 200–800 score compares.

Table 3. SAT section score percentiles (NR = nationally representative). Source: College Board Research.

A 600 in either section is roughly the 72nd to 81st percentile, and a 650 is the 84th to 90th. The halves are not identical lower down: a 500 is the 43rd user percentile in Reading and Writing but the 50th in Math.

A practical scale: average, good, strong, top tier

College Board’s tables don’t attach labels like “good” or “strong” to scores. The scale below is ours. Each cut point is read from the user percentile table above, so you can check the math.

Table 4. Our score labels built from College Board’s user percentiles. The labels are a reading aid, not an official College Board scale.

What is a good SAT score for the colleges on your list?

National percentiles can’t tell you whether a score is good enough for a specific college. Admitted-student ranges vary from school to school, and we don’t publish a tier chart because we haven’t found an official source for one. Use each college’s own numbers instead:

1. Find the middle-50% SAT range (the 25th and 75th percentile of enrolled students) on the college’s admissions page or in its Common Data Set.
2. Compare your score:
   • If you are above the 75th percentile: your score is a strength there, so send it.
   • If you are between the 25th and 75th: it is typical for admitted students. A retake might help if you are near the bottom of the range.
   • If you are below the 25th: check whether the college is test-optional. If it is, consider applying without a score. If it requires scores, plan a retake.
3. Check the college’s test policy each fall. Some colleges require scores, some are test-optional, and policies change.

The 2026–27 weekend SAT dates still ahead are November 7 and December 5, 2026, and March 6, May 1 and June 5, 2027, per College Board’s dates and deadlines page↗.

College readiness benchmarks: 480 and 530

College Board’s other yardstick is the College and Career Readiness Benchmark: 480 in Reading and Writing and 530 in Math. Its Understanding Scores guide says meeting a benchmark predicts a 75% likelihood of earning a C or higher in a related 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 (2026 annual report). Math is the harder benchmark, so a student with 560 RW and 510 Math (total 1070, above average) still misses the Math benchmark. That points to where extra study pays off.

Superscoring and Score Choice

Superscoring can raise the score a college sees without any single test day improving. College Board’s explanation is short: colleges that superscore “use your best section-level scores, even if they’re from different tests.”

Worked example. Maya scores 610 RW + 570 Math = 1180 in November (user percentile 72). In March she scores 590 RW + 620 Math = 1210. A college that superscores sees 610 + 620 = 1230, which is the 78th user percentile. On the SAT to ACT conversion, 1230 lines up with an ACT 26, while her November 1180 matched a 24.

Score Choice lets you choose which test dates to send, but whole test dates only. You can’t mix sections from different days in a send. College Board’s help center adds that Score Choice doesn’t apply to free score sends chosen at registration or as part of in-school testing. Those include the scores automatically.

Where the percentile tables fall short

Percentiles are the best national yardstick, but they have limits worth knowing before you quote one:

• No year on the table. College Board’s research page carries no year label, and the user group rolls forward as new classes graduate. Quote it as “College Board percentile, retrieved October 2026” rather than tying it to one class.
• Percentiles rank single test scores, not superscores. A 1230 superscore built from two test days is compared here as if it were one sitting.
• “Top 10%” is not “admitted.” A national percentile says nothing about a given college’s applicant pool. The college’s own middle-50% range does.
• Practice tests are estimates. A percentile for a practice score is only as good as the score. The digital SAT is adaptive, so a calculator estimate from a practice test is a range, not a promise.

If your score sits right at a cut point, look at the range around it rather than the single number. Our guide to AI test prep and the research-backed study methods guide cover how to close a 50 to 100 point gap with targeted practice.

SAT, PSAT and ACT: translating your score

If you also took the PSAT or ACT, the numbers line up roughly like this. The SAT-to-ACT column uses the official 2018 ACT/SAT concordance. It predates the digital SAT and the Science-free ACT Composite, and its standard error is about 2 ACT points.

Table 5. SAT to ACT concordance (Guide to the 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance, Table A1) with College Board user percentiles.

PSAT/NMSQT scores run on a 320–1520 scale, so convert with the PSAT score calculator before you compare a PSAT result with these tables. For the ACT side, including national ranks and the enhanced ACT, see our guide to what a good ACT score is.

If you are still a sophomore or junior, your grades sit next to your score on every application. The high school GPA calculator shows where your grades stand, and the cumulative GPA calculator shows what next semester can do to it. For context on GPA numbers, see what counts as a good GPA. Juniors taking AP classes may also want the 2027 AP exam schedule, since the May 1 SAT falls two days before AP exams begin.

Want the numbers for one exact score? Look it up in our SAT score percentiles by score tables, from 900 to 1550. Curious how the SAT compares with the national exam in China? Read gaokao vs SAT.