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An LSAT percentile shows the share of test-takers you scored above, reported next to your 120 to 180 scaled score. Higher scores climb the percentile scale steeply, so the gap between a 160 and a 170 is large. about the 71st percentile. Law schools publish 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile scores.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
Your LSAT scaled score is the 120 to 180 number you earn on a given test, while your percentile is the share of recent test-takers who scored at or below that number. The scaled score measures your performance in absolute terms; the percentile places it in the national field. Both appear on your LSAC score report, and law schools read them together because a percentile explains how rare a given scaled score is.
Percentiles rise steeply as scaled scores climb, so a handful of extra points near the top of the scale can move you past a large slice of the field. LSAC recalculates these percentiles across the three most recent testing years. The table shows the pattern at key scores, with each figure verified against the current LSAC percentile table.
Scaled scoreApproximate percentile180about the 99.85th percentile170about the 94th percentile160about the 71st percentile150about the 37th percentile
Law schools report their own class profiles as 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile LSAT scores in their ABA Standard 509 data, so your individual percentile helps you see where you would fall in a given class. A scaled score above a school's 75th percentile positions you strongly, while one below the 25th percentile is a stretch. The median, or 50th percentile, is the single most important number to clear for admission and scholarship consideration.
Because the LSAT percentile curve is steep in the high range, raising your scaled score by even a few points can lift your percentile substantially, especially above the mid 160s. Focused practice on your weakest question types is usually the fastest route, since it converts missed questions into raw points. Retaking the test is common, and law schools generally consider your highest score when reading your file.
A good LSAT score is one at or above the median LSAT of your target schools, which is the 50th percentile of each school's class. Because every ABA-approved school reports that median in its Standard 509 data, good is relative to where you apply. 120 to 180. Compare your percentile to each school's medians.
The average scaled LSAT score falls a little below the middle of the 120 to 180 range, so it sits near the 50th percentile by design. The exact mean varies slightly each testing year. the low-to-mid 150s (LSAC does not publish a single headline average; the median falls near 152 on the percentile tables). A score at the average places you ahead of roughly half the field and behind the other half.
The LSAT is scored on a 120 to 180 scale, and LSAC also reports the percentile for your score. You earn a raw point per correct answer with no penalty for wrong ones, and that raw total converts to a scaled score. Since August 2024 the scored sections are two Logical Reasoning and one Reading Comprehension, plus an unscored variable section, after Logic Games were retired.
A 170 on the LSAT sits high in the percentile range, above the large majority of test-takers, though the exact figure is set by LSAC across the three most recent testing years. about the 94th percentile. Because the curve is steep near the top, a 170 separates you from most of the field and clears the median at many highly ranked schools.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026