SAT and ACT Scores by State 2026 (and Why the Rankings Mislead)

The states with the highest average SAT scores are the states where almost nobody takes the SAT. For the class of 2026, Nebraska led at 1270, Wisconsin had 1244 and Utah 1242, and in each only 2% of graduates sat the test. New Mexico was last at 876, with 100% participation. The ACT shows the mirror image: Connecticut topped the ACT ranking at 27.2 with 6% tested, while the 16 states that give the ACT to everyone fill the bottom. Raw state averages measure who takes the test far more than how well schools teach. Compare states only with others at similar participation, and the picture changes.

We compiled this table from College Board’s SAT Suite of Assessments annual reports for each state and ACT’s average scores by state, both for the class of 2026 (released in September and October 2026), with class of 2025 figures for comparison. Below you will find the full sortable table, the participation paradox in numbers, the Illinois natural experiment, the Mississippi split, the list of testing mandates and what all of this means if you are a student deciding on a target score.

Class of 2026 at a glance

Table: SAT and ACT summary for the class of 2026. Sources: College Board SAT Suite annual reports, 2026; ACT, Average ACT Test Scores by State, Graduating Class of 2026.

The range between states is wide on both tests: 394 SAT points separate Nebraska and New Mexico, and 9.9 Composite points separate Connecticut and Nevada. Almost all of that range lines up with participation.

SAT and ACT scores for all 50 states and DC

Select a column heading to sort; select it again to reverse. Search by state name or two-letter abbreviation, or filter by testing mandate. State names link to our state school-facts pages where one exists. Participation is the share of the state’s estimated class of 2026 graduates who took each test at any point in high school.

No states match that search.

Download the full dataset as CSV (51 jurisdictions plus a national row; includes SAT takers, benchmark rates, ACT section averages, class of 2025 values and the source PDF for every row).

“SAT RW” is the Reading and Writing section, which College Board’s 2026 reports label “RW” (older reports used “ERW”). A blank mandate does not mean no testing: districts in Florida (86% SAT participation), Texas (75%), Maryland (74%), Idaho (67%) and DC (82%) fund school-day tests without a statewide requirement we could confirm.

The participation paradox: why low-testing states win

The fewer students who take a test in a state, the higher that state’s average. In a state like Wisconsin, where the ACT is the state test, the 2% who also take the SAT are mostly ambitious applicants aiming at selective colleges elsewhere. In Michigan, every junior takes the SAT at school, including students who are not planning on college. Averaging those two groups and calling the result a ranking compares very different populations.

The numbers are stark. Across all 50 states and DC:

• SAT: the Pearson correlation between participation and average total score is −0.92 (Spearman rank correlation −0.90). Participation alone accounts for about 84% of the variation in state SAT averages. On a straight-line fit, every 10 extra percentage points of participation goes with about 26.5 fewer points.
• ACT: the correlation is −0.84 (Spearman −0.86), so participation accounts for about 71% of the variation. Each 10 points of participation goes with about 0.63 fewer Composite points.

The same pattern shows up in readiness. In the 19 states where under 10% took the SAT, an average of 71% of takers met both College Board benchmarks. In the eight states at 90% or more, the average was 25%.

The clearest proof is that one state can rank first and near-last at the same time.

Table: Same students, opposite rankings. Ranks among the 50 states and DC, class of 2026; our calculation.

Connecticut’s students did not get better at one test and worse at the other. Its school-day SAT includes nearly everyone, while its ACT takers are a small, self-selected group. College Board’s own state report says as much: “Caution is warranted when using scores to compare or evaluate teachers, schools, districts, or states.”

Fair comparisons: states with similar participation

ACT’s by-state report recommends comparing only states with similar participation, and that is the only reading of these tables that holds up. Inside each band, differences start to mean something.

SAT, states testing 90% or more: Colorado (994) and Connecticut (992) lead, followed by Michigan (959), Indiana (952), Rhode Island (946), Delaware (929), West Virginia (918) and New Mexico (876). The share meeting both benchmarks runs from 34% in Connecticut to 13% in New Mexico.

ACT, states testing 90% or more: Utah leads at 20.1, then Montana and Wisconsin (19.4), Illinois (19.0), Wyoming (18.9), Nebraska (18.8) and Tennessee (18.7). Oklahoma (17.4) and Nevada (17.3) are at the bottom.

SAT, states testing 50% to 89%: Massachusetts (1128 at 57%) leads, ahead of Virginia (1113) and Vermont (1107). Florida (983 at 86%), Texas (972 at 75%) and DC (957 at 82%) trail, but they also test more students than most of the group.

Even within a band, participation still matters at the edges: Massachusetts tests 57% of its graduates and Florida 86%. A stricter comparison would adjust for that and for demographics, which raw state averages cannot do.

Illinois: a natural experiment in one year

Illinois switched its statewide test from the SAT to the ACT for the class of 2026, and the results flipped overnight.

Table: Illinois before and after the switch. Sources: College Board 2025 and 2026 Illinois reports; ACT by-state tables, 2025 and 2026.

These are two consecutive graduating classes from the same schools. Nothing about Illinois teaching changed enough in a year to explain a 254-point SAT gain. What changed is who took each test. In 2026, the 20,254 Illinois SAT takers were students who chose to sit it on their own, usually for college applications, while the ACT now includes every junior. Had you read the rankings at face value, you would conclude that Illinois schools soared on the SAT and collapsed on the ACT in the same year. Our Illinois school facts page covers the state’s other school rules.

Mississippi: school-day vs weekend takers in one state

Mississippi’s SAT report shows the paradox inside a single state. Its “Test-Taking History” table splits the class of 2026 by how students took the SAT:

• 413 weekend-only takers averaged 1232. These are students who signed up and paid for a Saturday test on their own.
• 393 school-day takers averaged 816. These students took the SAT during school.

In the class of 2025, about 95% of Mississippi’s SAT takers were weekend-only, and the state average was 1223. Adding school-day testing pulled the 2026 average down to 1029, a drop of 194 points, while SAT participation only moved from 1% to 2% of graduates. A ranking that put Mississippi near the top in 2025 and near the middle in 2026 would be measuring a change in testing logistics, not in learning. Mississippi’s main test is still the ACT, where all graduates are tested and the Composite was 17.8.

States with SAT and ACT mandates

For the class of 2026, 25 states tested nearly every student with one test through a state program, and Ohio funded either test. We list only mandates stated in an official source.

Table: Statewide SAT and ACT testing for the class of 2026.

Tennessee also requires the ACT or SAT in grade 11 for a regular diploma, according to the state education department. Ohio’s state-funded test still leaves its participation at 22% SAT and 66% ACT, and a parent opt-out applies from the class of 2026 onward. Our Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee pages collect other school rules for those states.

Two more patterns stand out. No state had 50% or more participation on both tests: states pick a side. And seven states had under 50% on both (Alaska, California, Iowa, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington), so their averages on either test come from self-selected groups. Policies move fast, and Illinois is the latest example; check your state education department before relying on a mandate list.

Is your state an SAT state or an ACT state?

The country splits almost evenly. In the class of 2026, 27 jurisdictions (26 states plus DC) had higher SAT participation than ACT participation, and 24 leaned toward the ACT. The SAT side covers the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the West Coast and Alaska, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, plus school-day SAT states inland such as Colorado, Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico. The ACT side covers most of the Midwest, the Mountain West and the Deep South, largely because of the 16 statewide ACT programs.

For students, the lean of your state mostly decides which test you will take for free at school. It does not decide which test colleges prefer: both are accepted by colleges that consider scores. If your school-day test is the ACT and you think the SAT format suits you better, the weekend SAT is open to you, and the reverse is true in SAT states. A practice test of each, scored with our calculators, is the quickest way to find out.

Reading and Writing vs Math: where state scores fall short

In every state and DC, the average SAT Reading and Writing score is higher than the average Math score. Nationally the class of 2026 averaged 528 on Reading and Writing and 517 on Math, an 11-point gap. Across the states the gap is wider, with a median of 22 points.

The widest gaps were in West Virginia (480 RW vs 438 Math, 42 points), followed by Alaska, Maine and Vermont (35 each), Oregon (33) and New Mexico (32). The narrowest were Illinois (608 vs 607) and Wisconsin (623 vs 621), both states where the SAT is taken by a small, self-selected group. The gap correlates modestly with participation (0.37): when everyone tests, Math falls further behind.

The highest state Math averages belong to the same low-participation ACT states that top the overall ranking: Nebraska (628), Wisconsin (621), Utah and Wyoming (615 each) and Kansas (611), all with 2% participation. The same caution applies. For a student, the useful takeaway is about your own scores: if your Math section lags your Reading and Writing section, your profile matches the typical pattern in every state, so plan your practice time around the weaker section.

What changed from 2025 to 2026

Nationally, the SAT average rose 16 points (1029 to 1045) while the ACT Composite slipped from 19.4 to 19.2. State averages moved in the same direction on the SAT: 40 states rose, 10 fell and one was unchanged. For the 43 states whose SAT participation moved by two points or less, the median change was +8 points.

The biggest state moves were participation stories again:

• Illinois: SAT +254, ACT −4.1 (the switch above).
• Mississippi: SAT −194 after school-day testing was added.
• North Dakota: SAT −43 (1254 to 1211), but on only 122 takers. Its ACT participation fell from 82% to 62% and its Composite rose 0.7 to 20.1.
• Oklahoma: SAT +33 (1150 to 1183), on 1,378 takers.

Across states, the change in participation and the change in average are strongly negative-correlated (−0.75 for the SAT, −0.89 for the ACT), though Illinois drives much of that.

Treat ACT changes from 2025 to 2026 as indicative only. ACT removed Science from the Composite for national online tests from April 2025 and for all test types by September 2025. Class of 2026 Composites are mostly from the enhanced ACT (English, Math and Reading), while the class of 2025 was a mix. For the 41 states whose ACT participation moved by two points or less, the median change was −0.1.

What the state averages mean for a student

Your state’s average is not your benchmark. Colleges compare your score with their own admitted students and, for national percentiles, with all test takers, not with your state. A 1100 in Michigan, where everyone tests, is above the state average of 959; the same 1100 in Wisconsin is below the 1244 posted by a small self-selected group. Neither comparison tells you much about your chances.

A more useful order of work:

1. Score a practice test. Use the SAT score calculator for the digital SAT or the ACT composite calculator for the enhanced ACT.
2. Compare with national percentiles and college ranges. Our guides on what counts as a good SAT score and what a good ACT score looks like show where a score sits nationally.
3. Check testing policies at your target colleges. Some colleges are test-optional, others now require scores again; see our list of test-optional colleges.
4. Use your state’s school-day test. If your state is on the mandate list, you get one free sitting during school. Taking the other test on a weekend is your choice, not a requirement.
5. Ignore state rankings when choosing a test. Both tests are accepted widely, and the state with the “best” SAT average got there by barely using it.

If your state tests everyone with one exam and you score lower than you hoped, remember that your state’s average includes every student, and colleges know it. Admissions readers generally look at a score in the context of the school and state it comes from.

Methodology

SAT data comes from College Board’s SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report state supplements for the class of 2026 and the class of 2025, one PDF per state, linked from College Board’s SAT Suite program results page. Participation is College Board’s estimate of the share of each state’s graduates who took the SAT, using WICHE graduate projections. The average is the mean of each student’s most recent score. For every state, the number of test takers in the participation box matches the total row in the report appendix.

ACT data comes from ACT’s “Average ACT Test Scores by State, Graduating Class of 2026” and the class of 2025 edition. Participation is ACT’s “estimated percent of graduates tested.” The 2026 PDF’s table was extracted in layout mode because plain extraction scrambles its columns.

Mandates are listed only where an official source states them: College Board’s 2026 state reports name the nine SAT school-day states; ACT’s 2026 table shades the 16 states that tested 90% or more of graduates through statewide programs; Ohio’s and Tennessee’s rules come from their state education departments.

Our calculations: correlations are across the 50 states and DC (n = 51). Band averages are simple means of state averages, not weighted by test takers. All values were parsed from the official PDFs and nothing was interpolated.

Limitations

• Participation denominators are estimates based on graduate projections, so small states can round to 1% or 2%, and the SAT and ACT shares can add to more than 100% because many students take both (Florida: 86% SAT, 36% ACT).
• Tiny samples swing. Wyoming had 105 SAT takers and North Dakota 122 in 2026.
• The ACT Composite changed between the two years, as described above.
• Wisconsin’s ACT row is identical in 2025 and 2026 in all five score columns (Composite 19.4); only participation changed (95% to 96%). That is what ACT published; it may be a coincidence or a copy error in ACT’s table.
• Nebraska’s class of 2025 SAT values (mean 1249, 1% participation) were parsed from an unusual table layout; we use them only in the CSV.
• Mandates change. Secondary sources report further switches for later classes that we could not confirm from official sources, so they are not listed.
• Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have College Board reports but no ACT row, so they are excluded.

Download the data and cite this page

The table and CSV are free to reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0), including commercially, as long as you credit The Homework Site and link to this page. Please also cite College Board and ACT as the original sources.

Sources

• College Board, SAT Suite of Assessments Program Results (links to all 2026 state reports): reports.collegeboard.org↗
• College Board, SAT Suite data archive (2025 state reports): reports.collegeboard.org↗
• College Board, 2026 Illinois SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report (example state report; the same URL pattern covers every state): reports.collegeboard.org↗
• ACT, Average ACT Test Scores by State, Graduating Class of 2026 (PDF): act.org↗
• ACT, Average ACT Scores by State, Graduating Class of 2025 (PDF): act.org↗
• Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, State-Funded ACT/SAT Test: education.ohio.gov↗
• Tennessee Department of Education, Graduation Requirements: tn.gov↗

Checked October 15, 2026. If you spot an error in the table, tell us and we will correct it.