Average SAT score
Total
1029
standard deviation 235
Reading and Writing
521
standard deviation 121
Math
508
standard deviation 126
Class of 2025, 2,004,965 test takers. Source: 2025 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report, Total Group. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
The full distribution
Bars are scaled to the largest band, not to 100 percent, so the shape of the distribution is readable. The six bands sum to exactly 2,004,965.
The mean is not the middle
The average total score is 1029, but the 50th percentile among SAT takers is 1020. Those are different numbers because the distribution is not symmetrical, and because the two figures answer different questions.
For working out where you stand, the percentile is the more useful of the two. It tells you what proportion of the comparison group scored at or below you. The full percentile tables are here.
Why the national average is a weak benchmark
The SAT cohort is not a random sample of American students, and it is not the same cohort every year. Several states pay for every 11th grader to sit the test during the school day, which pulls large and broadly representative groups into the average. In states where students opt in and pay their own fee, the group that shows up is self-selected and scores higher.
So a state-by-state comparison of means mostly measures participation policy rather than preparation. The same caution applies to year-on-year comparisons, since participation patterns move.
Benchmarks are a different measure
College Board publishes College and Career Readiness Benchmarks separately from averages: 480 for Reading and Writing and 530 for Math. Each predicts a 75 percent likelihood of a C or higher in a related first-semester, credit-bearing college course.
In the Class of 2025, 39 percent of test takers met both, 64 percent met the Reading and Writing benchmark, 41 percent met Math, and 34 percent met neither. Unlike an average, a benchmark is anchored to an outcome rather than to whoever happened to sit the test.
One labelling quirk
College Board's annual report still labels the section ERW, for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, while the digital test calls it Reading and Writing. Same section, older name. Several other terms have been retired too.
This data refreshes
The Class of 2025 report is the newest available. A class of 2026 report is expected in autumn 2026 and will replace every figure on this page. The retrieval date at the bottom tells you which vintage you are looking at.
To place your own score in this distribution, use the percentile calculator, or score a practice test with the SAT score calculator.
Read next
- The average SAT score, and what it actually tells you Class of 2025 means, the full distribution, and why participation rules distort the average.
- What is a good SAT score Percentile anchors, class of 2025 data, and why the answer depends on your college list.
- SAT percentiles explained Three different percentile systems, and why the one on your report has no lookup table.
Common questions
- What is the average SAT score?
- 1029 for the Class of 2025, made up of 521 in Reading and Writing and 508 in Math, across 2,004,965 test takers.
- Is the average the same as the 50th percentile?
- No. The mean is 1029, while the 50th percentile among SAT takers is 1020. The two differ because the score distribution is not perfectly symmetrical.
- How spread out are SAT scores?
- The standard deviation of the total score is 235. Roughly seven percent of the cohort scored 1400 or above, and about thirty percent scored between 800 and 990.
- Why do state averages differ so much?
- Mostly participation, not ability. Some states pay for every 11th grader to take the SAT during the school day, which produces a large and representative cohort with a lower mean. In states where students opt in and pay, the group is self-selected and the mean is higher.
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