SAT score percentiles
What a total or a section score means next to other students, from College Board's own table, with the two groups it compares you with kept apart and the source linked.
An SAT percentile is the share of students in a comparison group who scored at or below a given score.
College Board publishes two percentile tables for every score, and they are not interchangeable. A 1500 is the 99th percentile against all U.S. students in 11th and 12th grade and the 97th against students who took the SAT. The tables below give both, side by side.
Two percentiles, two questions
Nationally representative percentiles come from a research study of U.S. students in 11th and 12th grade and are weighted to stand for every U.S. student in those grades, whether or not they usually take the SAT. User group percentiles are based on the actual SAT scores of students who graduated in the past three school years.
At every total from 1550 down to 1000 in the table below, the user-group percentile is the same or lower, because students who take the SAT are a different group from all students. Section scores do not follow one direction: Math at 500 is higher for the user group.
Percentiles for the total score
| Total score | Nationally representative | User group |
|---|---|---|
| 1600 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1550 | 99+ | 99 |
| 1500 | 99 | 97 |
| 1450 | 99 | 95 |
| 1400 | 97 | 93 |
| 1350 | 94 | 89 |
| 1300 | 91 | 85 |
| 1250 | 86 | 80 |
| 1200 | 81 | 75 |
| 1150 | 74 | 69 |
| 1100 | 67 | 62 |
| 1050 | 58 | 55 |
| 1000 | 48 | 47 |
A figure printed 99+ is above the 99th percentile. Rows every 50 points; College Board prints every 10.
Percentiles for each section
| Section score | Reading and Writing | Math | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationally representative | User group | Nationally representative | User group | |
| 800 | 99+ | 99+ | 99+ | 99+ |
| 750 | 99 | 98 | 98 | 95 |
| 700 | 97 | 92 | 95 | 91 |
| 650 | 90 | 84 | 90 | 84 |
| 600 | 79 | 72 | 81 | 75 |
| 550 | 65 | 59 | 68 | 64 |
| 500 | 48 | 43 | 47 | 50 |
| 450 | 31 | 29 | 29 | 37 |
| 400 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 21 |
Source: College Board, Understanding Scores: SAT, College Board. The page we read on November 2, 2026 shows no year or update date, so this is the table as published then; check the link for anything newer.
A percentile says where a score stands, not what it costs to reach it. For that, see how many questions each total allows you to miss.
Common questions
What percentile is a 1500 on the SAT?
In College Board's table a 1500 is the 99th percentile of the nationally representative group and the 97th percentile of the user group. The two differ because they compare a score with different groups of students.
Why are there two percentiles for the same score?
They answer different questions. The nationally representative figure compares a score with all U.S. students in 11th and 12th grade, including those who never take the SAT. The user-group figure compares it with students who actually sat the test.
Which one should I quote?
Say which one you mean. If a school or scholarship names a comparison, use that one. If it does not, name the group beside the number, as in the 97th percentile among students who took the SAT.
Last reviewed . Percentiles are copied from College Board’s published table.