What is the average SAT score?
A plain-English look at the average SAT score: the national number, how it splits between Reading & Writing and Math, what percentile it lands at, and how it has shifted in recent years.
The national average SAT score is about 1030. Recent national reporting puts it around 1029 — roughly 521 on Reading & Writing and 508 on Math. Because the score is a 400–1600 scale, the midpoint isn't 1000: about half of all test-takers score between roughly 900 and 1200. The average has sat a little below pre-pandemic levels in recent years.
What "average" actually tells you
The average is a single point on a wide scale. Three angles make it more useful: what it means, how the two sections compare, and which way it has been moving.
The average is the 50th percentile.
Score above ~1030 and you're above half the country. It isn't a pass or fail line — it's simply the midpoint of where everyone who tested landed.
Reading & Writing edges Math.
Reading & Writing averages a touch higher than Math; both sit on the 200–800 scale, and added together they give the 400–1600 total.
Slightly below pre-pandemic.
The mean has been a little under pre-pandemic averages, with the cohort now almost entirely taking the digital test rather than the old paper one.
See where you'd land.
Reading about the average helps; answering a few real-format questions and getting a practice estimate tells you more.
An average built from two section scores
Every SAT total is the sum of a Reading & Writing score and a Math score, each from 200 to 800. The national average is just the mean of all those totals across a graduating class. Percentiles describe the same data from another angle: your percentile is the share of test-takers you scored at or above. Both are approximate and nationally representative, not a fixed cutoff.
The average in context
- 1010–1030 ≈ 50th percentile (average).
- Reading & Writing average ≈ 520.
- Math average ≈ 508.
- Middle ~50% of scores ≈ 900–1200.
- Above ~1200 puts you in roughly the top quarter.
Average SAT score, at a glance
Use these figures as planning context, then check College Board for current national reporting.
| Measure | Planning read | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Average total | About 1030 | A midpoint, not a college target. |
| Reading & Writing | About 521 | One of the two 200-800 section scores. |
| Math | About 508 | The other 200-800 section score. |
| Competitive selective target | Often 1400+ | Depends on your college list. |
Average SAT score questions
What is the average SAT score?
What is the average SAT score by section?
Is 1030 a good SAT score?
What percentile is the average SAT score?
Has the average SAT score gone down?
Keep reading on SAT scores.
Know the average. Now see where you stand on it.
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