Below you'll find the full class of 2026 numbers, how they compare with the last two years, why state averages swing so widely, and how to tell whether your own score is just average or actually good for the colleges on your list.
Class of 2026 SAT averages at a glance
College Board released the class of 2026 results on September 29, 2026. Here are the headline numbers from its newsroom announcement and the national annual report (College Board newsroom; 2026 Total Group report):
| Measure | Class of 2026 |
|---|---|
| Average total score | 1045 (up 16 from the class of 2025) |
| Average Reading and Writing | 528 (up 7) |
| Average Math | 517 (up 9) |
| Students who took the SAT | 1,954,833 |
| Met both college readiness benchmarks | 42% |
| Took the SAT through SAT School Day | 65% of test takers |
Two details about how that average is calculated matter when you compare yourself to it. First, if a student took the SAT more than once, College Board counts only the most recent score, not the highest one or a superscore (College Board). The same rule applies to the official count of perfect 1600 scores: 691 in the class of 2026. Second, the scale runs from 400 to 1600, with each section scored from 200 to 800 (College Board), so 1045 sits a little above the midpoint of the scale.
The benchmarks in the table are section scores College Board links to a 75% chance of earning at least a C in a first-semester, credit-bearing college course in that subject. For the class of 2026, 67% met the Reading and Writing benchmark and 45% met the Math benchmark (College Board). Math is still below where it was before the pandemic: the newsroom release notes that the class of 2020 averaged 523 in Math (College Board).
What percentile is the average SAT score?
College Board publishes two kinds of percentiles. User group percentiles are "based on the actual SAT scores of students that graduated in the past three school years." Nationally representative percentiles come from a research study weighted to represent all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, including students who never take the SAT (College Board). The user group number is the fairer comparison, because it measures you against students who actually tested.
| Total score | User group percentile | Nationally representative percentile |
|---|---|---|
| 1000 | 47th | 48th |
| 1040 | 53rd | 56th |
| 1050 | 55th | 58th |
| 1100 | 62nd | 67th |
| 1200 | 75th | 81st |
| 1300 | 85th | 91st |
| 1350 | 89th | 94th |
| 1400 | 93rd | 97th |
Source for every row: College Board, SAT Understanding Scores. So a student who scores right at the 1045 average is scoring higher than a bit more than half of recent test takers. Because the percentile table pools three graduating classes, it won't line up perfectly with the class of 2026 average alone.
If you want your exact percentile and how you stack up against a specific college's middle 50%, our Is My SAT Score Good? checker compares your score to the 1045 average and to the schools you're considering.
A note on "1350 is the top 10%"
You may have seen the line that 1350 or higher puts you in the top 10% of test takers. It shows up in search summaries and comes from Kaplan, which says "A good SAT score is 1350 or higher, which would put you in the top 10% of test takers" (Kaplan). College Board's own table tells a slightly different story. A 1350 is the 89th user group percentile, meaning about 11% of recent test takers scored at or above it, and the 94th nationally representative percentile (College Board). It's close, and 1350 is a strong score either way, but by College Board's table the top 10% of actual SAT takers starts a little above 1350 (a 1400 is the 93rd user group percentile).
How the average has changed: classes of 2024 to 2026
College Board's annual Total Group reports give the national averages for each graduating class. The class of 2024 and 2025 reports label the reading section "Evidence-Based Reading and Writing" (ERW); the class of 2026 report calls it Reading and Writing.
| Graduating class | Test takers | Average total | Reading and Writing | Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1,973,891 | 1024 | 519 | 505 |
| 2025 | 2,004,965 | 1029 | 521 | 508 |
| 2026 | 1,954,833 | 1045 | 528 | 517 |
Sources: 2024 Total Group report, 2025 Total Group report, 2026 Total Group report.
That's why some articles you'll find still say the average is "about 1024" or "around 1030." Those numbers were right for earlier classes. For the class of 2026 (results released September 29, 2026), the average is 1045. College Board publishes each new class's results in late September. Keep in mind that a jump in the average doesn't change what any particular college expects; schools set their own ranges.
Average SAT score by state: why the numbers look backwards
State averages are some of the most searched SAT numbers and some of the most misread. The biggest driver is who takes the test. In states that give the SAT to nearly every junior during the school day, the average includes students who weren't planning on a selective college. In states where the ACT is the main test, only a small, self-selected group takes the SAT, often students aiming at competitive schools, so their average runs high.
College Board's class of 2026 state reports show the gap clearly:
| State | Class of 2026 SAT takers | Average total | What's going on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 910 | 1236 | Small, self-selected group |
| North Dakota | 122 | 1211 | Small, self-selected group |
| Texas | 308,166 | 972 | Very large, broad group |
| Michigan | 105,586 | 959 | 98% tested through SAT School Day |
| Delaware | 11,596 | 929 | Broad statewide testing |
Kansas's 1236 does not mean Kansas students are better at the SAT than Michigan students. It means 910 students chose to take it, while Michigan tested more than 100,000. Nationally, 65% of class of 2026 takers tested through SAT School Day (College Board), so school-day states shape the national number a lot. To look up any other state, College Board posts a report for every state, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, on its SAT Suite Program Results page.
The useful comparison for you is rarely your state's average. It's the score range of students admitted to the colleges you're applying to.
Average vs. good: they're not the same question
The national average tells you where the middle of the test-taking population sits. A "good" score depends on your goals. A 1045 may put you comfortably inside the range at many colleges and well below it at highly selective ones. Colleges report the middle 50% of their enrolled students' SAT scores in Common Data Set section C9 (Common Data Set), and that range is the number to aim at.
- For a breakdown of score ranges and what they mean, read What Is a Good SAT Score?
- To check your own score against the average and a target school, use Is My SAT Score Good?
- Applying with an ACT score too? The SAT to ACT converter uses the official 2018 concordance tables.
- For every score tool in one place, see our SAT scores hub.
If your score is below average
A score under 1045 is not the end of the road. College Board says "Students can take the SAT as many times as they want" (College Board), and many colleges superscore, using your best section scores across test dates (College Board). Whether another attempt is worth it depends on how far you are from your target schools' ranges and how much time you have. Our Should I Retake the SAT? tool walks through that decision.