What Is a Good SAT Score?
A good SAT score is one that falls inside or above the middle 50% range of scores at the colleges you plan to apply to. As a national reference point, College Board percentile tables put a 1200 total score at the 75th user group percentile and a 1400 at the 93rd, on a scale that runs from 400 to 1600. The score you need depends on your list of colleges, so the most useful number is the one you look up for each school.
How the SAT is scored
The SAT reports three scores:
| Score | Range |
|---|---|
| Reading and Writing section | 200 to 800 |
| Math section | 200 to 800 |
| Total score (the sum of the two sections) | 400 to 1600 |
Your score report also gives a score range for each score. The College Board explains that a range describes your ability better than a single number, because it shows how much your score would likely vary if you took a different version of the test under the same conditions. A 1250 and a 1270 are, in practice, very close.
The College Board also publishes College and Career Readiness Benchmarks: 480 for Reading and Writing and 530 for Math. Meeting a benchmark predicts a 75% likelihood of earning a C or higher in a related first-semester, credit-bearing college course. The benchmarks are a floor for readiness rather than a target for selective admissions.
SAT percentiles
A percentile tells you what share of a comparison group scored at or below you. If your score is in the 70th percentile, 70% of that group scored at or below your score.
The table below comes from the SAT percentile tables on the College Board's research site, read on November 7, 2026. The page does not state a report year. It says user group percentiles are based on the actual scores of students who graduated in the past three school years, and nationally representative percentiles come from a research study of US students in 11th and 12th grade.
| Total score | User group percentile | Nationally representative percentile |
|---|---|---|
| 1600 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1550 | 99 | 99+ |
| 1500 | 97 | 99 |
| 1450 | 95 | 99 |
| 1400 | 93 | 97 |
| 1350 | 89 | 94 |
| 1300 | 85 | 91 |
| 1250 | 80 | 86 |
| 1200 | 75 | 81 |
| 1150 | 69 | 74 |
| 1100 | 62 | 67 |
| 1050 | 55 | 58 |
| 1000 | 47 | 48 |
| 950 | 39 | 38 |
| 900 | 32 | 29 |
| 800 | 17 | 14 |
For section scores, the same tables put a 600 at the 72nd user group percentile in Reading and Writing and the 75th in Math, a 650 at the 84th in both, and a 700 at the 92nd in Reading and Writing and the 91st in Math.
The user group column is the one to use when comparing yourself with other people who actually took the SAT. Note that your own score report may show slightly different labels. The College Board's Fall 2026 guide to understanding scores describes All Tester percentiles based on the past three groups of students who took the SAT in 12th grade, plus country and state percentiles in the online score report. Treat the percentile printed on your own report as the definitive one for your score.
What good means for you
Percentiles describe how you compare with other test takers. Admissions decisions are made college by college, so the comparison that matters is with each school's admitted students.
Colleges often publish the middle 50% SAT range of their admitted or enrolled students: the 25th percentile score and the 75th percentile score. A practical way to read those numbers:
- At or above the 75th percentile: your score is a strength in your application.
- Between the 25th and 75th percentiles: your score is typical for that college.
- Below the 25th percentile: your score is lower than most admitted students, and the rest of your application carries more weight. Retaking may be worthwhile if you have time.
You can find these ranges on each college's admissions pages or in its Common Data Set. Look up the current figures for every school on your list rather than relying on averages or old numbers, since ranges shift from year to year and testing policies differ between colleges.
Testing policies
Colleges differ in whether they require scores, accept them optionally, or set other rules. Check each college's current policy, because it changes how much a score matters to that application.
Superscoring
Some colleges superscore the SAT. In the College Board's words, colleges that superscore "use your best section-level scores, even if they're from different tests." If you scored 620 Reading and Writing and 640 Math in March, then 660 and 610 in May, a superscoring college would see 660 plus 640, or 1300.
Two related rules, both from the College Board:
- Score Choice lets you choose which test dates' scores to send to each college.
- Some colleges require all scores. Even some colleges that superscore ask you to send scores from every SAT date you took. Every college, and sometimes each department, can have its own score-use policy.
At colleges that superscore, a planned retake can only add to your best section scores. Check each school's policy before you decide which scores to send.
Setting a target
A clear target turns a vague goal into a study plan:
- List your colleges and write down each one's middle 50% SAT range.
- Set your target at or slightly above the 75th percentile of the most selective school you care about.
- Take a full practice test to see where you stand. The College Board's full-length practice tests in Bluebook are scored, and you can review your results in My Practice.
- Split the gap by section. If you need 80 more points, see whether they are more likely to come from Math or from Reading and Writing, based on where your practice mistakes cluster.
- Pick a test date that leaves enough time, using our SAT test dates guide, and follow a schedule such as our 8-week SAT study plan.
For daily practice toward a target, NextGen AI Digital SAT Prep offers 6,000+ SAT-style questions in Math and Reading and Writing, each with an explanation, and an AI Tutor you can ask about any question you answered. It is free to download with daily free limits. See the app's features.
Sources
All pages read on November 7, 2026.
- Understanding SAT Scores: SAT percentiles, College Board research site (no report year stated on the page)
- Fall 2026 SAT Weekend Understanding Scores for Students and Families, College Board
- What Is an SAT Superscore?, College Board blog, February 19, 2024
- Full-Length Practice Tests on Bluebook, College Board
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