What is a good ACT score?
A good ACT score is one at or above the middle 50% range of the colleges you want. Nationally, the average composite for the class of 2024 was 19.4 out of 36. A 24 beats about 80% of recent test takers, a 28 about 91%, and a 30 or higher puts you in roughly the top 6%.
Each ACT section is scored from 1 to 36. Your composite is the average of English, math and reading, rounded to the nearest whole number. Since September 2025, science is optional and no longer part of the composite. If you take it, you get a science score and a STEM score, the average of math and science. The optional writing test is scored 2 to 12 and does not change the composite.
ACT gives its own rough tiers. A composite of 18 to 20 is accepted at many regional and open-admission colleges. 20 to 23 fits mid-tier colleges, 24 to 28 selective colleges, and 30 to 36 the top-tier schools. The national rank next to your score tells you the share of recent test takers who scored the same or lower.
For your own list, the middle 50% rule beats any national number. Look up the 25th to 75th percentile ACT range of each college you are aiming for. Inside that range you are a normal admit, at the top end your score helps you, and below it the score works against you. ACT also offers a superscore, the average of your best section scores across test dates, which many colleges accept.
| Composite | National rank | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | 100 | Top-tier schools |
| 34 | 99 | Top-tier schools |
| 32 | 97 | Top-tier schools |
| 30 | 94 | Top-tier schools |
| 28 | 91 | Selective colleges |
| 26 | 86 | Selective colleges |
| 24 | 80 | Selective colleges |
| 22 | 72 | Mid-tier colleges |
| 20 | 63 | Mid-tier and many regional colleges |
| 18 | 52 | Many regional and open-admission colleges |
| 16 | 41 | Below the national average |
- 1List the colleges you are most likely to apply to.
- 2Find each one's middle 50% ACT range on its admissions page or in its Common Data Set.
- 3Set your target at the top of the range of your most selective school.
- 4Take a full timed practice test to get your starting composite and section scores.
- 5Put most of your prep into the section furthest below your target.
- 6Book a second test date early, so a superscore can still help you.