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An LSAT percentile rank shows the percentage of recent test-takers who scored below your scaled score. LSAC publishes a percentile for every score from 120 to 180 about the 37th percentile. Law schools report 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile scores, so beating a school's median strengthens your file.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Figures on this page were verified in August 2026 or point readers to the current source.
An LSAT percentile rank is the percentage of recent test-takers who scored below your scaled score. LSAC assigns a percentile to every score from 120 to 180, based on the most recent multi-year pool of test-takers about the 37th percentile. A higher percentile means you outperformed a larger share of the field.
Law schools report their entering-class scores as 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile figures, and your percentile rank shows where you fall against those markers. Beating a school's 50th percentile, its median, positions you as a competitive applicant see the linked source (see the linked source). Percentile framing lets you compare your standing across schools quickly.
Small score gains can move your percentile sharply because scores cluster near the middle of the scale. Around the low-to-mid 150s, a single scaled point can jump you past a large slice of test-takers see the linked source (see the linked source). Near the top of the scale, each added point clears a smaller but more decisive share.
A good LSAT score is one whose percentile clears the median at your target schools. A score above the low-150s national average ranks in the upper half of test-takers and competes at many programs, while the T14 want high-percentile scores in the 160s and 170s each school's median LSAT (see its 509 report).
The average LSAT score is in the low 150s on the 120 to 180 scale, which corresponds to roughly the middle of the percentile distribution the low-to-mid 150s (LSAC does not publish a single headline average; the median falls near 152 on the percentile tables). Because so many test-takers score near this point, percentiles rise quickly for scores just above the average.
The LSAT is scored by converting your raw number of correct answers into a 120 to 180 scaled score through a per-form equating curve, with no penalty for wrong answers. LSAC then attaches a percentile rank to that scaled score, showing the share of recent test-takers you outscored.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026