Research · Test scores · October 2026

SAT, ACT and National Merit by State: What the Class of 2025 Numbers Mean

As of October 2026: For the class of 2025, the national mean SAT total was 1029 (ERW 521, Math 508) among 2,004,965 test takers, and the national average ACT Composite was 19.4 among almost 1.4 million graduates. State means swing from 875 in New Mexico to 1254 in North Dakota on the SAT, and from 17.2 in Nevada to 27.6 in the District of Columbia on the ACT, largely because of how many students in each state test.

State SAT and ACT averages move with participation, not school quality. Here is how to read your state's number, plus how National Merit sets a different bar in every state.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

Average SAT score by state, class of 2025

Every state plus the District of Columbia, with the mean total, the two section means, the share of graduates who tested, and the number of test takers. The national mean total was 1029 among 2,004,965 test takers. Read the participation column before you compare two states.

College Board, 2025 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report, state reports. Participation rates use College Board estimates of graduate counts, not actual headcounts.

Average ACT Composite score by state, class of 2025

Every state plus the District of Columbia, sorted from the highest share of graduates tested to the lowest. The national average Composite was 19.4. ACT does not publish the raw number of test takers per state in this table, so that column is not reported.

ACT, Average ACT Test Scores by State, Graduating Class of 2025. The count of students tested per state is not reported in this source.

What was the average SAT score in 2025?

The national mean SAT total score for the class of 2025 was 1029, made up of 521 on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 508 on Math. That average comes from 2,004,965 test takers in the graduating class.

This is the only SAT average that covers the whole country. It includes students who tested during a school day and students who tested on a Saturday. It includes students headed to a four-year college and students headed straight to work.

Because the pool is so broad, 1029 is not a target score for a college-bound teen. It marks the middle of all testers and nothing more. Many four-year colleges that still ask for scores report middles above it.

For a family, the useful move is to compare your student's score to the schools on the list, not to 1029. A 1100 is above the national mean and still below the middle at many large public schools. Both facts can be true at once, and neither one says much about how hard your student works.

The national mean also moves little from year to year. It is a steady marker, not a goal line. Treat it as the backdrop for a score, not the test of a score.

Which state has the highest average SAT score?

North Dakota posted the highest mean SAT total in the class of 2025 at 1254, with 631 on ERW and 623 on Math. Only 1% of North Dakota graduates tested, which comes to 80 students.

Right behind it sit Nebraska at 1249 with 1% tested, Wisconsin at 1240 with 2% tested, Kansas at 1238 with 2% tested, and Wyoming at 1234 with 1% tested. Every one of those states tested a tiny share of the class.

The pattern is simple. When only a small share of a state tests, the group that does test is self-selected. The pack's own note says low-participation states show higher means because only self-selected, college-bound students test.

So a 1254 state mean is not proof of better schools in North Dakota. It reflects the small group that chose the test. The College Board's state reports note that participation rates rest on estimated graduate counts, not exact headcounts, so treat these small-state figures as rough.

For a family in one of these states, the state mean is close to useless as a benchmark. Use the score ranges that each college publishes instead.

Which state has the lowest average SAT score, and why?

New Mexico had the lowest mean SAT total in 2025 at 875, with 451 on ERW and 424 on Math, and it tested 100% of graduates. That is 23,439 students, or essentially the whole class. The pack notes that New Mexico's SAT is mandatory statewide.

West Virginia came next at 911 with 93% tested, then Delaware at 933 with 94% tested, and Rhode Island at 935 with 99% tested. The pack does not say whether those three require the test, only that nearly all of their graduates took it.

When nearly every student in a state takes the SAT, the average includes students who are not applying to college at all. The mean drops for reasons that have little to do with the strength of the top of the class.

Here is the part parents miss. New Mexico's low mean does not mean a strong New Mexico student scores low. It means the average takes in the full range of students. A student from Albuquerque who scores 1250 is simply strong, same as anywhere.

Compare your student's score to colleges, not to the state.

What was the average ACT score in 2025?

The national average ACT Composite score for the class of 2025 was 19.4. Almost 1.4 million graduates, about 36% of the full US graduating class, took the ACT at least once between sophomore and senior year.

That 36% figure matters. The ACT pool is smaller than the SAT pool of 2,004,965 test takers, and it leans toward states where nearly all graduates test.

Fifteen states tested 90% or more of their 2025 graduates. Those states pull the national average down, because their pools include every teen, not just the college-bound ones.

On a 36-point scale, small moves read large. A 19.4 and a 21.0 look far apart on paper, but both sit in the broad middle of the national pool. What a college sees is the score next to its own admitted range.

If your student is choosing between tests, the national averages do not settle it. Try one timed practice test of each and compare the percentile each score earns. That is a cleaner signal than any state or national mean.

Which state has the highest average ACT score?

The District of Columbia had the highest average ACT Composite at 27.6, with 10% of graduates tested. Connecticut came second at 27.1 with 6% tested.

After those two, Massachusetts and California both averaged 26.4, with 7% and 4% tested. New York and New Hampshire both hit 25.9, at 8% and 3% tested. Maine averaged 25.4 on just 1% participation, the lowest share in the table.

Each of these places tested a small share of graduates on the ACT. A small, self-selected group tends to post a high average, which is the same pattern the SAT table shows.

Set that against Mississippi at 17.7 and Nevada at 17.2, both testing 100% of graduates. The gap between 27.6 and 17.2 is 10.4 points on a 36-point scale. Almost none of that gap is about teaching.

For a family, the lesson is to skip the state ranking and read the participation column next to it. A state average built on 1% of graduates describes 1% of graduates and no one else.

Does a high state average mean the schools are better?

No. The clearest proof is New Mexico, which sits at 875 on the SAT table and at 20.6 on the ACT table. The same state and the same students look very different from one table to the next.

New Mexico tested 100% of graduates on the SAT and 8% on the ACT. The SAT number describes nearly everyone. The ACT number describes a small, self-selected group. The state did not change in between.

Illinois shows the reverse mix. Its SAT mean is 961 with 99% tested, while its ACT average is 23.1 with 16% tested. Colorado shows 987 on the SAT at 90% tested and 24.7 on the ACT at 8% tested.

So when a news story ranks states by average score, it is mostly sorting states by how many students test. A state where nearly all students test will look lower than a state where few do.

What this means for your family is practical. Do not use a state average to judge a school district, and do not let a low state mean make your student feel behind. Judge the student's score against the colleges on the list.

How many students take the SAT and the ACT each year?

The class of 2025 produced 2,004,965 SAT test takers and almost 1.4 million ACT test takers, with the ACT group making up about 36% of all US graduates. The two counts come from two different sources.

Texas had the largest SAT group in the table at 301,020 test takers, with 74% of graduates testing. Florida followed at 204,840 on 87% participation, then Illinois at 142,400 on 99%.

At the other end, North Dakota and Wyoming each reported 80 SAT test takers. South Dakota reported 161 and Nebraska 357. Those are small enough that one strong or weak group of students moves the whole state mean.

ACT does not publish the number of students tested per state in the source we used, only the estimated share of graduates. That column is not reported here, and we did not estimate it.

For parents, the size numbers are a sanity check. Before you quote a state average at the dinner table, look at how many students stand behind it. Eighty students is a classroom, not a state.

Which states tested every graduate on the SAT or the ACT?

Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico each tested 100% of 2025 graduates on the SAT, and nine states tested 100% on the ACT: Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming.

Close behind on the SAT are Illinois and Rhode Island at 99%, Delaware at 94%, West Virginia at 93%, Connecticut at 91%, and Colorado at 90%. On the ACT, Arizona tested 99%, Montana 98% and Wisconsin 95%. Fifteen states tested 90% or more of their 2025 graduates on the ACT.

Our sources report the share of graduates tested, not the law or policy behind it. The pack flags New Mexico's SAT as mandatory statewide, and it does not label the other states one way or the other.

In states with near-total participation, most students take the test during a school day at no charge. That is real money saved and one fewer Saturday spent in a testing room.

It also means the score lands in a file whether or not your student prepared. Some students treat the school-day test as the only try. Others use it as a baseline and test again later. A few timed practice sections before that date turn a free try into a usable score.

What is National Merit and how do students qualify?

National Merit is a scholarship contest that students enter by taking the PSAT/NMSQT, and for the 2027 program that test was given October 1 through October 31, 2025. Over 1.2 million students in about 19,000 high schools enter each year.

The sorting runs on a Selection Index. NMSC computes it by doubling the Reading and Writing section score, adding the Math section score, and dividing the total by 10.

From that pool, some 50,000 entrants qualify for program recognition. About 16,000 were named Semifinalists, with the news release date set for September 9, 2026. More than two-thirds of the 50,000, about 34,000 students, were named Commended Students instead.

Commended is a real honor and ends the contest for that student. Semifinalist is the gate to the money.

For a family, the timing is the key fact. The junior-year PSAT/NMSQT is the only entry point. A student who misses it, or who treats it as a practice run, is out of the running for that class year. The test comes in the fall, so steady practice during the summer before junior year is the whole prep window.

How many students become National Merit Finalists and win money?

About 15,000 of the roughly 16,000 Semifinalists will advance to Finalist standing, with notices mailed February 8, 2027. About 6,700 of those Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.

The program offers some 7,320 awards each year with a total value of over $30 million. That total includes the 6,700 National Merit Scholarships plus about 620 Special Scholarships sponsored by business organizations for other high performers.

Finalists compete for three types of award: National Merit $2500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships, and college-sponsored scholarships. The 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships are single-payment awards, and winners are chosen in every state and other selection unit.

NMSC is blunt about the odds. In recent years, only about half of the 15,000 Finalists have been selected as Merit Scholar awardees. Reaching Finalist is not the same as getting paid.

The bigger prize for many families is indirect. Some colleges attach their own large awards to Finalist status. Those college-sponsored deals change year to year and school to school, so read each college's own scholarship page while building the list.

What is the National Merit cutoff score in my state?

NMSC sets a separate Semifinalist qualifying Selection Index for each state, and it does not release those numbers for publication. We do not print state cutoffs on this page.

Here is how NMSC describes the method. It spreads Semifinalists so that each state's share matches its share of the nation's graduating seniors. In NMSC's words, this process results in qualifying scores that vary from one state to another and from year to year.

The state-by-state table does exist inside NMSC's official guide. That table carries a notice saying the information is proprietary and may not be published or disclosed without the express written permission of National Merit Scholarship Corporation. We respect that notice.

Numbers you see on message boards are guesses from past years. They are sometimes close and sometimes off by several points, and a family that plans around a guessed cutoff can be let down.

The honest answer for parents is that the bar moves. A student in a high-scoring state needs more than a student in a low-scoring state, and no one knows the exact figure until the fall after the test. Aim as high as the practice tests allow, then let the result be the result.

How should our family use these state numbers?

Use them for context, not as a target, and always read the participation column first. A 1029 national mean and a 19.4 national ACT average tell you where the middle of the whole country sits.

Start with the colleges. Pull the middle score range each school publishes for admitted students. That range, not your state average, is the number your student is measured against.

Next, check whether your state tests during the school day. Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico tested 100% of graduates on the SAT, and nine states did the same on the ACT. A free attempt saves both time and money.

Then pick one test and stay with it. Students who split practice between two tests often end up with two middling scores instead of one strong one.

Last, keep National Merit in its place. About 16,000 Semifinalists come out of over 1.2 million entrants each year. It is a fine goal for a student already scoring near the top, and a poor reason to add stress for everyone else. Steady practice raises the score that colleges will see either way.

Related: SAT percentiles · The 2026 Public University Test Policy Report · Parent explainers