SAT Score to Percentile
Turn an SAT total score (400–1600) into its approximate national percentile.
A total of 1200 is higher than about 75% of US test-takers. Approximate, from College Board’s Nationally Representative percentiles (published ≈2024); the figures shift slightly each year.
An SAT total of 1200 sits at roughly the 75th percentile — higher than about three-quarters of US students — using College Board’s Nationally Representative percentiles. The median score is near 1050 (about the 52nd percentile). These ranks are approximate and shift slightly each year as College Board refreshes the data.
What an SAT percentile means
Your SAT total runs from 400 to 1600 and is fixed once scored. The percentile rank puts that number in context: it is the share of students you scored at or above. A 75th percentile score means you did as well as or better than about 75% of the comparison group.
This tool uses College Board’s Nationally Representative Sample percentiles, which compare you to all US students in the relevant grades — not only the ones who sat the test. It maps your total to a percentile by interpolating linearly between College Board’s published anchor points.
How to read your rank
- 1 Enter your SAT total. Any total from 400 to 1600, in steps of 10 — the sum of your Reading & Writing and Math section scores.
- 2 Read the percentile. A 1200 lands near the 75th percentile; the median total of about 1050 is near the 52nd.
- 3 Compare to your target schools. Check each college’s published middle-50% SAT range and see where your percentile places you against admitted students.
SAT total → approximate national percentile
Approximate, from College Board’s Nationally Representative Sample percentiles (published ≈2024); College Board updates these yearly.
| SAT total | Percentile |
|---|---|
| 1600 | 99th |
| 1500 | 98th |
| 1400 | 94th |
| 1350 | 92nd |
| 1300 | 88th |
| 1200 | 75th |
| 1100 | 60th |
| 1050 | 52nd |
| 1000 | 41st |
| 900 | 27th |
| 800 | 15th |
| 700 | 6th |
| 600 | 2nd |
Two percentiles: Nationally Representative vs SAT User
College Board reports two percentiles. The Nationally Representative percentile — the one this tool uses — compares you to all US students, including those who never take the SAT. The SAT User percentile compares you only to students who actually took the test, a stronger and more self-selected group, so the same score usually lands a few points lower on the User scale. A 1200, for example, is around the 75th percentile nationally representative but closer to the 74th among SAT users.
Because the test-taking pool changes, both sets of percentiles shift slightly from year to year. Treat these numbers as a well-grounded guide, not an exact figure from your official score report, and always weigh them against the specific score ranges your target colleges publish.