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UniGeniusSAT and ACT

What is a good ACT score?

What is a good ACT score? 23 or more is good: the top 25% of ACT takers.

From 1 to 36. A practice test Composite works too.

A good ACT score

23+

The top 25% of ACT takers. The average is 19.4.

Your result

Every ACT Composite, from ACT's 2026-27 ranks
CompositeVerdictPercentile
31-36Excellent96th to 100th
28-30Very good91st to 94th
23-27Good77th to 89th
20-22Above average63rd to 72nd
16-19Average41st to 58th
1-15Below average1st to 34th

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99 interactive lessons, 535 practice questions and 3 full-length mocks.

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Questions people ask

What is a good ACT score?

23 or more is good: the top 25% of ACT takers. 28 or more is the top 10%, and 31 or more is the top 5%.

What is the average ACT score?

19.4, the national average Composite for the class of 2025 (ACT).

Is a 30 a good ACT score?

Yes, very good. A 30 is the 94th percentile, 10.6 points above the average.

Is a 24 a good ACT score?

Yes. A 24 is the 80th percentile: higher than 80% of ACT takers.

Is a 20 a good ACT score?

It is just above average: the 63rd percentile, against an average of 19.4.

What ACT score do I need for a top college?

Check each college's middle 50%. At MIT and Princeton it starts at 34 (Common Data Set 2024-25), so aim for 34 or more.

How we work this out

What it does

Enter your Composite for a straight answer, from ACT's own national ranks.

Any ACT Composite from 1 to 36, compared with recent ACT-tested graduates.

Method

  1. Your percentile is ACT's US rank for your Composite: the share of ACT-tested graduates of 2024, 2025 and 2026 who scored the same or lower. ACT uses this table for tests from September 2026 to August 2027.
  2. Excellent is the top 5% (31 or more). Very good is the top 10% (28 to 30). Good is the top 25% (23 to 27).
  3. Above average is above the class of 2025 average of 19.4 (20 to 22). Average runs from the 40th percentile up to that average (16 to 19). Below average is under the 40th percentile.
  4. The average is ACT's figure for 2025 graduates: almost 1.4 million students who took the ACT at least once.

Sources

Checked .