ACT score ranges · 1 to 36

ACT score ranges, band by band

The ACT is scored 1 to 36, and the five bands below are the ones colleges and counsellors actually use. What almost nobody adds is how much of the field sits in each — 41% of everyone who takes the ACT scores a 16 or below — or what a band is worth. At the floor of above average, 448 of the 504 colleges whose award charts we have read publish a scholarship you would qualify for.

Score scale

1–36

National mean

19.1

National median

Colleges read

504

One point, 19 to 20

15 more colleges publish an award.

That is the single biggest step in the whole scale. Merit grids sit on round thresholds, so one point either crosses a band or it changes nothing — and the only way to know which is to find out where your points are going.

Raise my ACT score →

Free to start, no card. You see a projected score for every section and the concepts costing you the most.

The five ACT score ranges

Share is the proportion of test takers whose composite falls inside the band, from ACT’s own national table. The scholarship columns are measured at the band’s floor, not its ceiling — quoting the ceiling would let a band claim the 32-point answer while admitting anyone with a 28.

The five ACT composite score ranges, with the share of test takers, national percentile range, and colleges publishing an award at the bottom of each band
Range	Score	Share	Percentile	Colleges paying
Elite	33–36	3%	98th–100th	478
Competitive	28–32	8%	91st–97th	477
Above average	22–27	21%	72nd–89th	448
Average	17–21	27%	47th–68th	395
Developing	1–16	41%	1st–41st	392

The share column sums to 100%. The two bottom bands together hold 68% of all test takers, which is the part of this table most range guides leave out.

What each range actually means

Elite 33–36

3% of test takers

Competitive for the most selective universities and top merit awards.

At a 33 with a 3.5 GPA, 478 of 504 colleges publish an award you would reach, 81 of them worth $20,000 a year or more. See a 29 in detail.

Competitive 28–32

8% of test takers

In range for selective schools and most automatic merit scholarship bands.

At a 28 with a 3.5 GPA, 477 of 504 colleges publish an award you would reach, 77 of them worth $20,000 a year or more. See a 28 in detail.

Above average 22–27

21% of test takers

Above the national average; opens most state flagships and many merit grids.

At a 22 with a 3.5 GPA, 448 of 504 colleges publish an award you would reach, 67 of them worth $20,000 a year or more. See a 23 in detail.

Average 17–21

27% of test takers

Around the national average. Admissible at many schools, limited merit aid.

At a 17 with a 3.5 GPA, 395 of 504 colleges publish an award you would reach, 64 of them worth $20,000 a year or more. See a 23 in detail.

Developing 1–16

41% of test takers

Below the national average. The largest score gains usually start here.

At a 1 with a 3.5 GPA, 392 of 504 colleges publish an award you would reach, 64 of them worth $20,000 a year or more. See a 23 in detail.

Every score from 1 to 36

The full scale: national percentile, which band it falls in, and how many of the 504 colleges publish an award at that score with a 3.5 GPA.

Every ACT composite score from 1 to 36 with its national percentile, score range band, and the number of colleges publishing a merit award
ACT	Percentile	Range	Colleges paying	$20k+/yr
36	100th	Elite	480	82
35	99th	Elite	478	82
34	99th	Elite	478	81
33	98th	Elite	478	81
32	97th	Competitive	478	80
31	96th	Competitive	476	78
30	94th	Competitive	476	77
29	93rd	Competitive	477	77
28	91st	Competitive	477	77
27	89th	Above average	475	76
26	86th	Above average	474	76
25	83rd	Above average	470	76
24	80th	Above average	468	69
23	77th	Above average	456	68
22	72nd	Above average	448	67
21	68th	Average	435	65
20	63rd	Average	425	64
19	58th	Average	410	64
18	52nd	Average	403	64
17	47th	Average	395	64
16	41st	Developing	393	64
15	34th	Developing	392	64
14	28th	Developing	392	64
13	20th	Developing	392	64
12	13th	Developing	392	64
11	6th	Developing	392	64
10	2nd	Developing	392	64
9	1st	Developing	392	64
8	1st	Developing	392	64
7	1st	Developing	392	64
6	1st	Developing	392	64
5	1st	Developing	392	64
4	1st	Developing	392	64
3	1st	Developing	392	64
2	1st	Developing	392	64
1	1st	Developing	392	64

See which colleges pay for my score →

Where the ranges actually matter

Merit grids do not rise smoothly with the score. They sit on round thresholds, so most points change nothing and a few change a great deal. These are the four single points that unlock the most colleges.

The ACT score increases that unlock the largest number of additional colleges publishing a merit award
One more point	Extra colleges paying	Percentile gained
19 → 20	+15	+5
21 → 22	+13	+4
23 → 24	+12	+3
20 → 21	+10	+5

At a 20 with a 3.5 GPA, the best-known names paying include Arizona State at $13,500 a year, Oklahoma State at $7,000 a year, Kentucky at $6,500 a year.

What this table will not tell you

Every scholarship figure assumes a 3.5 GPA. These grids are two-dimensional, so the same ACT score pays differently at a 3.0 and at a 4.0.
The band labels are conventions, not ACT's. ACT publishes a 1-36 scale and a percentile table; it does not publish "competitive" or "above average". Those are the words admissions and counselling use, and a school's own published range beats any label on this page.
A range is not an admission decision. A 28 clears the published middle 50% at most state flagships and sits below it at the most selective private universities, where the score is rarely the reason either way.
Percentiles come from a cohort that sat a four-section test. The Enhanced ACT composite averages three sections, so a composite percentile is ACT's current official reference rather than a like-for-like comparison. Section percentiles are unaffected.
Every scholarship count is of awards a college guarantees at a published threshold. Competitive awards, which several of these colleges also offer, are excluded however large they are.

Questions about ACT score ranges

What are the ACT score ranges?

Elite: 33-36, the 98th to 100th percentile, holding 3% of test takers. Competitive: 28-32, the 91st to 97th percentile, holding 8% of test takers. Above average: 22-27, the 72nd to 89th percentile, holding 21% of test takers. Average: 17-21, the 47th to 68th percentile, holding 27% of test takers. Developing: 1-16, the 1st to 41st percentile, holding 41% of test takers.

What is a good ACT score range?

Anything from a 22 up. A 22 is the 72nd percentile and reaches a published scholarship at 448 of the 504 colleges whose award charts we have read, 67 of them worth $20,000 a year or more. Below that, at the national average of 19.1, 410 colleges still publish something — the awards are simply smaller.

What ACT score is in the top 10 percent?

A 28. That is the lowest composite whose national percentile reaches the 90th, which means nine in ten test takers score at or below it.

What is the average ACT score range?

The middle band runs 17-21 and holds 27% of test takers. The published mean composite is 19.1 and the median is an 18 — the mean sits higher because the distribution has a long tail at the bottom, which is why an average score lands at the 58th percentile rather than the 50th.

Which ACT score range unlocks the most scholarship money?

The jump from a 19 to a 20 adds the most colleges of any single point in the dataset — 15 more publish an award at a 3.5 GPA. Merit grids cluster on round thresholds rather than rising smoothly, so a point either crosses a band boundary or it does almost nothing.

Knowing your range is not the same as moving out of it.

Elite is 3% of the field and above average is 21%. The points between them are specific concepts, not general effort.

Find what’s costing me points →

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.