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Interpreting National Ranks and Averages

Your national ranks tell you how your scores compare to those earned by recent high school graduates who took the ACT. The numbers indicate the percentage of students who scored at or below a given score.

What's an ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøScore Percentile Ranking? 

An ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore percentile ranking compares your score to those of other test-takers, helping to measure your performance. Colleges use this ranking to assess and compare applicants.

National Ranks for English, Math, Reading, Science, Composite, and STEM Scores

·  Based on ACT-tested high school graduates of 2022, 2023, and 2024

·  Used for ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøtests taken from September 2024 through August 2025

How to use the table: Using the leftmost column, find the row for one of your content area test scores or your Composite score. Next, find the national rank in the column corresponding to that test. For example, the national rank for a Composite score of 22 is 71. This means that 71 percent of recent high school graduates who took the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøachieved a Composite score of 22 or lower. Similarly, the national rank for a STEM score of 26 is 88. Thus, 88 percent of recent high school graduates who took the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøachieved a STEM score of 26 or lower.
 

ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøScore National Ranks
Score	English	Math	Reading	Science	Composite	STEM	Score
36	100	100	100	100	100	100	36
35	99	99	98	99	99	99	35
34	97	99	97	99	99	99	34
33	95	98	95	98	98	98	33
32	94	98	93	97	97	97	32
31	93	97	91	96	96	97	31
30	92	96	89	94	94	95	30
29	91	94	87	93	93	94	29
28	89	93	85	92	91	92	28
27	88	91	82	90	88	90	27
26	86	88	80	88	86	88	26
25	83	84	77	85	83	84	25
24	80	80	75	81	79	80	24
23	76	77	71	75	75	76	23
22	72	73	66	69	71	72	22
21	68	70	60	64	66	67	21
20	62	67	55	58	61	62	20
19	57	63	49	52	55	57	19
18	52	59	45	46	49	50	18
17	48	52	40	39	43	43	17
16	44	43	36	32	37	34	16
15	39	31	31	26	30	25	15
14	32	19	26	19	23	16	14
13	26	9	20	14	16	9	13
12	22	4	15	10	8	4	12
11	17	2	9	6	3	2	11
10	11	1	4	3	1	1	10
9	5	1	2	2	1	1	9
8	3	1	1	1	1	1	8
7	2	1	1	1	1	1	7
6	1	1	1	1	1	1	6
5	1	1	1	1	1	1	5
4	1	1	1	1	1	1	4
3	1	1	1	1	1	1	3
2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Mean	18.7	19.1	20.2	19.7	19.6	19.7
SD	7.0	5.6	7.1	5.8	5.9	5.4

ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøScore National Ranks (PDF)

National Ranks for ELA and Writing Test Scores

·  Based on the subset of ACT-tested high school graduates of 2022, 2023, and 2024 who took the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøWriting test

·  Used for ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøtests taken from September 2024 through August 2025

ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøScore National Ranks for ELA and Writing Test Scores
Score	ELA	Writing
36	100	100
35	99	99
34	99	99
33	99	98
32	99	98
31	99	97
30	97	96
29	96	94
28	95	93
27	93	91
26	91	88
25	89	84
24	86	80
23	83	77
22	79	73
21	74	70
20	69	67
19	63	63
18	58	59
17	51	52
16	45	43
15	39	31
14	32	19
13	26	9
12	20	100
11	14	99
10	10	99
9	6	97
8	4	93
7	2	73
6	1	61
5	1	33
4	1	20
3	1	8
2	1	3
1	1
Mean	17.8	6.1
SD	5.9	1.8

Note: These ranks are reported as “US Rank” on ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore reports during the 2024-2025 reporting year (September 2024 through August 2025). The ranks are based on ACT-tested high school graduates of 2022, 2023, and 2024 who took the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøWriting test (n=1,083,008).

How to use the table: Using the leftmost column, find the row for your ELA or writing score. Next, find the national rank in the column corresponding to that test. For example, the national rank for a writing score of 9 is 97. This means that 97 percent of recent high school graduates who took the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøwriting test achieved a writing score of 9 or lower.

What Is the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøSubscore Percentile? 

An ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøsubscore percentile reflects the percentage of test-takers who scored at or below your score in a particular section of the ACT. Percentiles are an essential measure for understanding your performance on the test.

Using the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøScore Percentiles and Rankings in your College Search 

Find the ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore range for each college.

When researching colleges, check the 25th and 75th percentile ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscores for admitted students to understand the middle 50% score range.

Compare your ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore to the college's range.

If your ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore is within the middle 50% of a college's admitted students, you are considered a competitive applicant.

Identify "reach," "match," and "safety" schools:

• Reach schools: Colleges where your ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore is near the top of their range typically indicate a more competitive admissions process..
• Match schools: Colleges where your ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore falls firmly within their middle 50% range typically indicate a good fit for your application.
• Safety schools: Colleges where your ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøscore is well above their middle 50% range suggest a higher likelihood of acceptance.

View Your Scores

Create or sign in to your ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍøweb account for access to your scores anytime, anywhere. Scores are processed and added each week, so start checking two weeks after your test date.