Average SAT Scores by State (Most Recent)

Average SAT Scores by State (Most Recent) SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips More than a million students across the country take the SAT each year. So what do SAT scores by state look like? How do you stack up against other test takers in your state? Finally, what are some interesting state facts- for example, which state has the highest SAT score? The lowest SAT score? The highest rate of participation? It's the battle of the states, SAT edition. Find out your state's average SAT scores and other fun facts in this article! What Is the National Average SAT Score? Before we get into the SAT averages by state, let's quickly go over the SAT scoring system as well as what the overall average SAT score in the US currently is. As you probably know, the SAT is made up of three sections: Reading, Writing and Language (also just called Writing), and Math. The Math section is scored on a scale of 200-800, while the Reading and Writing sections are combined to give you a final Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) score on a scale of 200-800. By combining these two sections, we get atotal SAT score rangeof400-1600, with 1600 being a perfect score. Now that we've got this down, let's take a look the national average SAT score. In 2018, the College Board reported the following average SAT scores: Total: 1068 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW): 536 Math: 531 As you can see, the average scores for EBRW and Math are quite close. These then add up to get a total SAT average score that's around the halfway point of the total score range (400-1600). But what are the average SAT scores by state? Keep reading to learn some interesting trends and to see the notable top spots held by different states! State SAT Awards We'll start with the states that have won our "State SAT Awards." The categories for these are as follows: Highest SAT Score Highest SAT Score With Over 20% Participation Team Players (100% Participation) Lowest SAT Score Most Variation Between SAT Sections All data below comes from the College Board's 2018 SAT state reports. Highest Score: Minnesota (SAT Score: 1298) Minnesota takes the cake for highest average SAT score with 1298. This is 230 points higher than the national average! But wait- Minnesota also has lower test participation than 78% of the US at 4%. In other words, just 2,464 seniors took the test in 2018. Because more students in Minnesota take the ACT than they do the SAT, Minnesota's high average SAT score likely means that only the most prepared, ambitious high schoolers take the SAT. These students tend to score higher, effectively raising the state's average. But what if we look instead at states with a significant participation rate- that is, a state in which more than 20% of students take the SAT? The winner for that SAT award is ... Highest Score With Over 20% Participation: Arizona (SAT Score: 49, with 29% Participation) Great achievement here! With more than 20,000 students in the class of 2018 taking the SAT here, Arizona is truly outperforming the national average. Team Players (100% Participation): Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, and Michigan In Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, and Michigan, every student took the SAT. This usually means that thesestates require all high school students to take the SATas part of normal high school testing. In addition, four other states- Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island- as well as the District of Columbiaoffered the SAT statewide during the 2017-18 school year. But because the testwasn't mandatory for all students in these states for the entire school year, participation rates here are below 100%. The highest participation rate for non-mandatory testing goes to Florida, at 97%. Lowest Score: District of Columbia (SAT Score: 977) Unfortunately, the District of Columbia underperforms the national average by more than 90 points. Also ranking at the bottom are other states with statewide SAT testing (Delaware and Idaho) as well as West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. From the data, it's reasonable to conclude that statewide testing causes lower scores because it includes all seniors andnot just those planning to apply to college. The lowest SAT score for a non-mandatory state is 1014 in Florida. While Florida is only in the top 18% of the country as far as participation goes (97% participation rate), it's important to point out that this is still a huge number of students, as the population of Florida is so large. In 2018, 147,058 students took the SAT in Florida. This number is much higher than the number of test takers in other states with comparable SAT participation rates, such as Rhode Island (97% participation rate, 10,161 students) and New Hampshire (96% participation rate, 14,834 students). So even though only 97% of students took the SAT in Florida, there's still plenty of room for variation within these nearly 150,000 students' scores. Most Variation Between Sections: Florida (520 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, 497 Math) With a participation rate of 97%, Florida also has the greatest difference between SAT section scores of all states. On average, Florida students score 29 points higher on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) than they do on Math. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! List of All Average State SAT Scores Here are the most recent average SAT scores for all 50 statesas well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Find your area below and see how your SAT score compares with your region's average! State Participation Rate EBRW Math Total Alabama 6% 595 571 66 Alaska 43% 562 544 06 Arizona 29% 577 572 49 Arkansas 5% 592 576 69 California 60% 540 536 1076 Colorado 100% 519 506 1025 Connecticut 100% 535 519 1053 Delaware 100% 505 492 998 District of Columbia 92% 497 480 977 Florida 97% 522 493 1014 Georgia 70% 542 522 1064 Hawaii 56% 550 549 1099 Idaho 100% 508 493 1001 Illinois 99% 513 506 1019 Indiana 67% 546 539 1086 Iowa 3% 634 632 1265 Kansas 4% 633 631 1265 Kentucky 4% 630 618 1248 Louisiana 4% 615 595 1210 Maine 99% 512 501 1013 Maryland 76% 545 535 1080 Massachusetts 80% 562 563 25 Michigan 100% 5 499 10 Minnesota 4% 643 655 1298 Mississippi 3% 630 606 1236 Missouri 4% 633 629 1262 Montana 10% 606 592 1229 Nebraska 3% 629 623 1252 Nevada 23% 574 566 40 New Hampshire 96% 535 528 1063 New Jersey 82% 547 547 1094 New Mexico 16% 552 540 1093 New York 79% 534 534 1068 North Carolina 52% 554 543 1098 North Dakota 2% 640 643 1283 Ohio 18% 552 547 1099 Oklahoma 8% 541 521 1062 Oregon 48% 564 553 17 Pennsylvania 70% 547 539 1086 Puerto Rico - 512 481 993 Rhode Island 97% 513 505 1018 South Carolina 55% 547 523 1070 South Dakota 3% 622 618 1241 Tennessee 6% 624 607 1231 Texas 66% 520 512 1032 Utah 4% 618 612 1230 Vermont 64% 565 554 20 Virgin Islands - 490 445 935 Virginia 68% 567 550 17 Washington 69% 543 538 1082 West Virginia 28% 513 486 999 Wisconsin 3% 641 653 1294 Wyoming 3% 633 635 1257 Source: The College Board What's Next? Confused about SAT scoring? Learn more about how the SAT is scored,and get tips onhow to figure out your SAT goal score based on the schools you're applying to. Wondering what it takes to get a perfect SAT score? I scored a perfect SAT scoreand wrote a detailed guide about what it takes here.Read this to learn all of my best strategies- and to get a 1600 on test day! If you liked this post, make sure youscroll up and subscribe on the right hand sideso you can stay up-to-date with our SAT/ACT articles! Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: