Average act score by age

IES

National Center for
Education Statistics

• Surveys & Programs
  • Annual Reports
    • Condition of EducationDigest of Education StatisticsProjections of Education StatisticsTopical Studies
    • National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
    • International Activities Program (IAP)
    • Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)National Household Education Survey (NHES)
    • Common Core of Data (CCD)Secondary Longitudinal Studies ProgramEducation Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE)National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS)more.
    • Library Statistics Program
    • Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B)Career/Technical Education Statistics (CTES)Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS)more.
    • Common Education Data Standards (CEDS)National Forum on Education StatisticsStatewide Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Program - (SLDS)more.
    • Distance Learning Dataset TrainingNational Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC)Statistical Standards Programmore.
    • Downloads Microdata/Raw Data
      • Delta Cost ProjectIPEDS Data CenterHow to apply for Restricted Use LicenseOnline Codebook
      • ACS-ED TablesData LabElementary Secondary Information SystemInternational Data ExplorerIPEDS Data CenterNAEP Data Explorer
      • ACS DashboardCollege NavigatorPrivate SchoolsPublic School DistrictsPublic SchoolsSearch for Schools and Colleges
      • NAEP State Profiles (nationsreportcard.gov)Public School District Finance Peer SearchEducation Finance Statistics CenterIPEDS Data Center
      • NAEP Question ToolNAAL Questions Tool
      • ACS-ED DashboardACS-ED MapsLocale LookupMapEdSAFEMapSchool and District Navigator
      • BibliographyED Data Inventory
      • AssessmentsEarly ChildhoodElementary and SecondaryPostsecondary and BeyondResourcesSpecial Topics
      • NCES BlogWhat's New at NCESConferences/TrainingNewsFlashFunding OpportunitiesPress ReleasesStatChat
      • Search Publications and ProductsAnnual ReportsRestricted-use Data Licenses
        Recent PublicationsBy Subject Index A-ZBy Survey & Program AreasData Products Last 6 Months
      • About NCESCommissionerContact NCESStaffHelp

      

      Table 226.60.

      Average ACT scores and percentage of graduates taking the ACT, by state: 2018 and 2022

      State	2018					2022					Percent taking ACT 1
      	Composite score	Subject-area scores				Composite score	Subject-area scores
      		English score	Mathematics score	Reading score	Science score		English score	Mathematics score	Reading score	Science score	2018	2022
      1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
      United States	20.8	20.2	20.5	21.3	20.7	19.8	19.0	19.3	20.4	19.9	51	36
      Alabama	19.1	18.9	18.3	19.6	19.0	18.0	17.3	17.4	18.5	18.2	100	100
      Alaska	20.8	19.8	20.6	21.6	20.7	20.4	19.3	20.0	21.4	20.4	33	14
      Arizona	19.2	18.2	19.4	19.5	19.2	18.4	17.3	18.5	18.8	18.5	66	64
      Arkansas	19.4	19.1	18.9	19.7	19.4	18.8	18.3	18.1	19.2	19.1	100	93
      California	22.7	22.5	22.5	23.0	22.1	26.5	26.9	25.6	27.3	25.8	27	4
      Colorado	23.9	23.9	23.2	24.4	23.5	23.2	23.0	22.4	24.0	23.0	30	15
      Connecticut	25.6	26.0	24.8	26.1	24.9	26.3	26.8	25.3	27.1	25.7	26	9
      Delaware	23.8	23.7	23.1	24.5	23.4	24.9	25.3	23.6	26.1	24.3	17	5
      District of Columbia	23.6	23.7	22.7	24.4	23.0	26.9	27.4	25.2	28.2	26.0	32	18
      Florida	19.9	19.2	19.3	21.1	19.5	19.0	18.5	18.4	20.0	18.8	66	46
      Georgia	21.4	20.9	20.7	22.1	21.2	21.6	21.0	20.8	22.5	21.5	53	30
      Hawaii	18.9	18.2	19.0	19.1	19.0	18.8	17.6	18.6	19.4	19.1	89	53
      Idaho	22.3	21.9	21.6	23.2	22.1	22.8	22.3	22.2	23.7	22.6	36	15
      Illinois	23.9	24.1	23.4	24.2	23.4	24.5	24.8	23.7	25.2	24.0	43	18
      Indiana	22.5	21.9	22.3	23.1	22.2	22.8	22.1	22.5	23.7	22.5	32	13
      Iowa	21.8	21.0	21.2	22.5	22.0	21.4	20.4	20.6	22.3	21.6	68	49
      Kansas	21.6	21.0	21.1	22.3	21.5	19.9	18.9	19.4	20.6	20.1	71	73
      Kentucky	20.2	19.9	19.7	20.8	20.1	18.6	17.8	18.0	19.2	18.7	100	96
      Louisiana	19.2	19.0	18.5	19.6	19.1	18.1	17.6	17.4	18.6	18.3	100	100
      Maine	24.0	23.8	23.6	24.7	23.4	25.1	25.2	23.7	26.2	24.6	7	2
      Maryland	22.5	22.1	22.0	23.1	22.2	24.4	24.6	23.0	25.4	23.9	31	8
      Massachusetts	25.5	25.5	25.2	25.9	24.7	26.5	26.6	25.6	27.3	25.8	25	9
      Michigan	24.4	24.5	23.9	24.7	23.9	24.6	24.7	23.9	25.2	24.2	22	8
      Minnesota	21.3	20.2	21.4	21.7	21.4	21.0	19.7	20.7	21.7	21.4	99	69
      Mississippi	18.6	18.2	18.1	18.9	18.6	17.8	17.2	17.4	18.2	18.0	100	100
      Missouri	20.0	19.5	19.7	20.5	20.0	20.2	19.5	19.5	21.0	20.4	100	66
      Montana	20.0	18.7	19.9	20.7	20.0	19.3	18.0	19.0	20.1	19.5	100	94
      Nebraska	20.1	19.4	19.8	20.4	20.1	19.4	18.6	19.1	19.8	19.6	100	94
      Nevada	17.7	16.6	17.8	18.0	17.9	17.3	16.1	17.1	17.8	17.6	100	100
      New Hampshire	25.1	25.1	24.7	25.6	24.4	25.7	25.7	25.0	26.5	25.2	16	5
      New Jersey	23.7	23.8	23.6	24.0	23.0	24.6	24.9	23.9	25.1	24.0	31	12
      New Mexico	19.4	18.3	19.1	20.1	19.7	19.8	18.7	19.1	20.9	20.1	67	20
      New York	24.5	24.2	24.2	24.9	24.2	25.3	25.2	24.6	26.0	25.0	27	10
      North Carolina	19.1	18.0	19.3	19.5	19.2	18.5	17.1	18.5	19.2	18.8	100	88
      North Dakota	20.3	19.1	20.3	20.7	20.5	19.2	17.9	19.1	19.7	19.6	98	96
      Ohio	20.3	19.3	20.3	20.8	20.4	19.4	18.2	19.2	20.0	19.7	100	82
      Oklahoma	19.3	18.4	18.8	20.1	19.4	17.9	17.0	17.3	18.6	18.2	100	94
      Oregon	21.3	20.6	20.9	21.9	21.1	23.0	22.5	22.0	24.2	22.8	42	7
      Pennsylvania	23.5	23.3	23.2	24.0	23.1	24.4	24.3	23.7	25.2	24.0	20	7
      Rhode Island	24.2	24.4	23.6	25.0	23.5	25.2	25.3	24.0	26.2	24.7	15	5
      South Carolina	18.3	17.3	18.2	18.6	18.5	18.9	17.8	18.5	19.6	19.1	100	40
      South Dakota	21.9	20.8	21.6	22.4	22.2	21.5	20.5	21.2	22.2	21.7	77	58
      Tennessee	19.6	19.4	19.1	19.9	19.6	18.6	18.0	18.1	19.0	18.6	100	100
      Texas	20.6	19.6	20.6	21.1	20.8	19.8	18.7	19.5	20.4	19.9	41	22
      Utah	20.4	19.7	19.9	20.9	20.5	19.9	18.9	19.4	20.6	20.2	100	91
      Vermont	24.1	23.9	23.4	24.9	23.8	23.7	23.4	22.4	25.0	23.5	24	8
      Virginia	23.9	23.8	23.3	24.7	23.5	24.6	24.6	23.5	25.7	24.3	24	9
      Washington	22.2	21.4	22.2	22.7	22.0	24.6	24.3	23.6	25.6	24.3	24	7
      West Virginia	20.3	19.8	19.4	21.3	20.4	20.5	20.2	19.4	21.4	20.4	65	28
      Wisconsin	20.5	19.8	20.3	20.6	20.8	19.4	18.3	19.3	19.7	19.8	100	93
      Wyoming	20.0	19.0	19.7	20.6	20.3	19.2	18.1	18.9	20.0	19.5	100	100

      1 Members of the graduating class who had taken the ACT as a percentage of all students who graduated in that school year. State percentages were calculated by ACT based on the number of high school graduates in each state as projected by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Total percentages for the United States were calculated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) based on NCES projections of the total number of U.S. high school graduates.

      NOTE: The minimum score on the ACT is 1 and the maximum score is 36. Data are for high school graduates who took the ACT test during their sophomore, junior, or senior year. If a student took the ACT test more than once, the composite and subject-area scores from the most recent test were used.

      SOURCE: ACT, The Condition of College and Career Readiness, 2018 and 2022. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National High School Graduates Projection Model, through 2031-32. (This table was prepared April 2023.)