Average SAT Scores by State (Most Recent)

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 a total SAT score range of 400-1600, with 1600 being a perfect score.

Now that we've got this down, let's take a look at the national average SAT score. In 2023, the College Board reported the following average SAT scores:

• Total: 1028
• Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW): 520
• Math: 508

As you can see, the average scores for ERW 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 (Over 75% Participation)
• Lowest SAT Score
• Most Variation Between SAT Sections

All data below comes from the College Board's 2022 SAT state reports.

North Dakota might be known for the badlands...but they have good SAT scores. 

Highest Score: North Dakota (SAT Score: 1287)

Wisconsin takes the cake for highest average SAT score with 1287. This is 259 points higher than the national average!

But wait—North Dakota also has lower test participation than most of the US at 1%. In other words, just 83 seniors who graduated in 2023 took the SAT. 

Because more students in North Dakota take the ACT than they do the SAT, North Dakota'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 ...

North Carolina is known as the birthplace of aviation...and also high SAT scores.  

Highest Score With Over 20% Participation: North Carolina (SAT Score: 1127, with 24% Participation)

Great achievement here! With 27,803 students in the class of 2023 taking the SAT here, North Carolina is truly outperforming the national average. The state averaged an ERW score of 570 and a Math score of 557, with an average total score of 1127.

Team Players (Over 75% Participation): 13 States

There are 13 states where over 75% of seniors took the SAT in 2023. They are:

• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Washington D.C.
• Florida
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Michigan
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• Rhode Island
• West Virginia
  
  

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were multiple states each year that had 100% participation for the SAT. They were typically states that required all high school students to take the SAT as part of normal high school testing.

However, with the large number of colleges making standardized tests optional during the pandemic and beyond, it wasn't as high a priority for high schools to offer the SAT. As a result, only Washington D.C. and Indiana had 100% participation this year.

Lowest Score: New Mexico (SAT Score: 901)

Unfortunately, New Mexico underperforms the national average by more than 125 points. This is likely due to the high percentage of seniors who took the SAT in New Mexico (94%). In other states where less than 5% of seniors took the SAT, it's likely only the most prepared students took the SAT, thus bumping up the average. Other states with low average SAT scores were West Virginia, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, and Oklahoma  (<975 composite score). The U.S. Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory, also have low SAT scores.

Most Variation Between Sections: West Virginia (551 EBRW, 503 Math) 

West Virginia had an average Math score that was at least 33 points lower than their average Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) score.

There's also a discrepancy among students in the US Virgin Islands–students scored an average of 47 points higher on ERW than on Math. but since there were only 462 students in the class of 2023 who took the SAT there, such variance is less surprising than in West Virginia, where far more students took the SAT.

List of All Average State SAT Scores

Here are the most recent average SAT scores for all 50 states as 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!

Source: The College Board

What's Next?

How will scores change on the Digital SAT? Our breakdown of the new digital SAT test format will teach you everything you need to know.

Confused about SAT scoring? Learn more about how the SAT is scored, and get tips on how 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 score and 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 you scroll up and subscribe on the right hand side so you can stay up-to-date with our SAT/ACT articles!