ACT national ranks · 2026-2027
ACT score percentile chart
ACT’s own national ranks for ACT-tested high school graduates from 2024-2026, used for tests taken September 2026 through August 2027 — every scale score from 1 to 36, across all six reported columns, below. A percentile is the share of test takers who scored that number or lower, so a 28 at the 91st percentile beats nine in ten.
Top 25%
23+
Top 10%
28+
Top 1%
34+
Median
18
A point near the middle is worth 5 percentiles
The table tells you where you are. Not what is reachable.
One point at a 19 clears another 5% of the field and reaches 15 more colleges that publish an award. Which point is reachable depends on the concepts you are missing, and that takes about three minutes to find out.
Raise my ACT score →Free to start, no card. A projected score for every section.
The caveat nobody else prints
This is the current official table and the right one to quote for a score earned today. But the cohort behind it sat a test whose composite averaged four sections, including Science. The Enhanced ACT composite averages three. So a composite percentile is ACT’s official reference, not a like-for-like comparison against students who sat the same test you did. The section columns are unaffected and are the cleaner comparison.
The full ACT percentile chart
Every scale score against every reported column. Science and STEM are reported but do not count toward the Enhanced ACT composite. The right-hand column is the one no other percentile chart carries: how many of 504 colleges publish a merit award at that composite with a 3.5 GPA.
| Score | English | Math | Reading | Science | Composite | STEM | Colleges paying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 480 |
| 35 | 99 | 99 | 98 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 478 |
| 34 | 97 | 99 | 97 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 478 |
| 33 | 96 | 98 | 95 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 478 |
| 32 | 95 | 97 | 93 | 97 | 97 | 97 | 478 |
| 31 | 94 | 96 | 91 | 96 | 96 | 96 | 476 |
| 30 | 93 | 95 | 89 | 95 | 94 | 95 | 476 |
| 29 | 92 | 94 | 87 | 93 | 93 | 94 | 477 |
| 28 | 90 | 93 | 85 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 477 |
| 27 | 88 | 91 | 83 | 91 | 89 | 90 | 475 |
| 26 | 87 | 88 | 81 | 89 | 86 | 88 | 474 |
| 25 | 84 | 84 | 78 | 86 | 83 | 85 | 470 |
| 24 | 81 | 81 | 75 | 82 | 80 | 81 | 468 |
| 23 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 77 | 77 | 77 | 456 |
| 22 | 74 | 74 | 66 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 448 |
| 21 | 70 | 71 | 61 | 65 | 68 | 69 | 435 |
| 20 | 64 | 68 | 56 | 60 | 63 | 64 | 425 |
| 19 | 58 | 64 | 51 | 54 | 58 | 58 | 410 |
| 18 | 54 | 60 | 47 | 48 | 52 | 52 | 403 |
| 17 | 50 | 53 | 42 | 41 | 47 | 45 | 395 |
| 16 | 46 | 45 | 37 | 34 | 41 | 36 | 393 |
| 15 | 41 | 33 | 33 | 27 | 34 | 27 | 392 |
| 14 | 34 | 21 | 28 | 19 | 28 | 17 | 392 |
| 13 | 28 | 11 | 22 | 14 | 20 | 10 | 392 |
| 12 | 23 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 392 |
| 11 | 18 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 392 |
| 10 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 392 |
| 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 392 |
Values are percentile ranks, so 83 means 83% of test takers scored that number or lower. Published means: composite 19.1, English 18.4, Math 19, Reading 20, Science 19.5.
Look up my own section percentiles →The scores people look up
The lowest composite that reaches each landmark percentile, and what it is worth in published awards.
| To reach | You need | Actual percentile | Colleges paying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 50% | 18 | 52nd | 403 |
| Top 25% | 23 | 77th | 456 |
| Top 10% | 28 | 91st | 477 |
| Top 5% | 31 | 96th | 476 |
| Top 1% | 34 | 99th | 478 |
“Actual percentile” differs from the target because the scale is whole numbers: there is no score that lands exactly on the 90th, so the first one past it is the answer.
Where one point moves you most
The opposite of where most people assume. The table is cumulative and the field is densest around the mean, so a point in the high teens clears several percent of the field while a point in the mid thirties clears one or none.
| From | Percentile | +1 point clears | Extra colleges paying |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 → 17 | 41st | +6% | +2 |
| 19 → 20 | 58th | +5% | +15 |
| 22 → 23 | 72nd | +5% | +8 |
| 25 → 26 | 83rd | +3% | +4 |
| 28 → 29 | 91st | +2% | +0 |
| 31 → 32 | 96th | +1% | +2 |
| 34 → 35 | 99th | +0% | +0 |
Read the two right-hand columns together. Percentile gain falls as the score rises; the scholarship gain does not follow the same curve, because merit bands sit on round thresholds rather than rising smoothly. A point is worth having for different reasons at a 19 and at a 31.
A percentile is not a plan
Knowing you are at the 58th does not tell you which points are reachable.
That answer is specific: which concepts you are actually missing, and what each one is costing you. It takes about three minutes to find out.
Raise my ACT score →What a percentile will not tell you
- It is not a college's admitted range. A university's middle 50% is drawn from its applicants, not from everyone who sits the ACT, and runs far above these national numbers at selective schools.
- It is cumulative and it includes ties. The 90th percentile means 90% scored at or below you, not that you beat 90% of individual students.
- The table rounds to whole percents, so the top of the scale compresses: a 34, a 35 and a 36 are barely distinguishable on it even though they are very different results to an admissions office.
- It says nothing about money. Two scores one point apart can be a percentile apart and thousands of dollars apart, or the reverse, depending entirely on where the colleges on your list set their bands.
Questions about ACT percentiles
What percentile is my ACT score?
Find your composite in the table on this page. As landmarks: an 18 is the 52nd percentile, a 23 reaches the top quarter, a 28 reaches the top tenth, and a 34 reaches the top one percent. These are ACT's 2026-2027 national ranks for ACT-tested high school graduates from 2024-2026.
What does ACT percentile actually mean?
The share of test takers who scored that number or lower. It is cumulative, not a ranking of you against one other student — so the 90th percentile means 90% of test takers scored at or below your score, and it includes everyone who tied with you.
What ACT score is the top 1 percent?
A 34. That is the lowest composite whose national rank reaches the 99th percentile. The table rounds, so a 34, a 35 and a 36 are not distinguishable on it — all three report 99 or 100.
Is the ACT percentile chart the same for the Enhanced ACT?
It is the table ACT publishes for tests taken September 2026 through August 2027, so it is the right one to quote for a score earned today. But the cohort behind it — ACT-tested high school graduates from 2024-2026 — sat a test whose composite averaged four sections including Science, and the Enhanced ACT composite averages three. A composite percentile is therefore ACT's official current reference rather than a like-for-like comparison. Section percentiles are unaffected by the change and are the cleaner comparison.
Where does one ACT point move you the most?
Near the middle. The table is cumulative and the distribution is densest around the mean, so a point at a 19 clears another 5% of the field, a point at a 33 clears 1%, and a point from a 34 to a 35 clears none at all — the two scores report the same percentile. In scholarship terms the reverse is often true, because merit bands cluster higher up.
Related
Percentiles are the 2026-2027 national table for ACT-tested high school graduates from 2024-2026, published by ACT. Scholarship figures are read from each college’s own published award chart at a 3.5 GPA, across 504 colleges. Counts include only awards a college guarantees at a published threshold. They are not perfectly monotonic: one college's guaranteed band tops out at a 29 and everything it offers above that is competitive, so a 30 reaches one fewer guaranteed award than a 29. A published threshold is not an offer — the financial aid office makes the award.