.png)
The LSAT score scale runs from 120 to 180, reported as one scaled score per test. Most test-takers land in the low-to-mid 150s (LSAC does not publish a single headline average). This hub explains how raw answers convert to the 120 to 180 scale, what counts as a good score, how percentile ranks work, and how scores are distributed.
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.
The LSAT score scale is a single scaled score that runs from 120 at the low end to 180 at the high end. Every test-taker receives one number on this scale, no matter which test date or form they sat. The middle of the scale, in the low-to-mid 150s, is where the largest share of scores falls the low-to-mid 150s (LSAC publishes no single headline average; the median sits near 152). There are no fractional scores, so results move in whole points.
Your raw score is the number of scored questions you answer correctly, and the LSAT applies no penalty for wrong answers or blanks. That raw total is converted to the 120 to 180 scaled score using an equating curve built for each specific test form. Equating means a given scaled score reflects the same ability whether the form was slightly harder or easier not published by LSAC as a fixed table (each form is equated separately). This is why a fixed number correct does not always yield the same scaled score.
The 120 to 180 scaled score is your absolute result, while your percentile rank is your standing relative to other test-takers. LSAC pairs each scaled score with a percentile drawn from the most recent test-taker pool the LSAC percentile tables (for example a 150 is about the 37th percentile, 160 the 71st, 165 the 85th, and 170 the 94th). Two people who both score 165 share the same percentile in a given reporting period, because the percentile is tied directly to the scaled score.
A good LSAT score is one at or above the median of the schools you are targeting, not a fixed national cutoff. Scores above the national average of the low 150s are competitive for many ABA-approved schools, while the T14 typically expect scores in the high 160s and 170s each school's median LSAT (see its 509 report). Read any score against a target school's published medians rather than the national mean.
LSAT scores form a roughly bell-shaped distribution centered in the low-to-mid 150s, thinning out sharply toward both 120 and 180. The table shows landmark scaled scores and the percentile each represents, with current figures to be confirmed against LSAC.
The current ranking is best read directly from the source. See the U.S. News Best Law Schools list for the up-to-date order, and each school's ABA Standard 509 report for its median LSAT, GPA, and acceptance rate.
Use your scaled score to sort target schools into reach, target, and likely tiers based on how you compare to each school's median LSAT. A score above a school's 75th percentile makes it a likely admit and can trigger merit scholarships, while a score below its 25th percentile marks a reach. Pair the LSAT with your GPA, since law schools weigh both medians heavily your target schools' published 25th-50th-75th percentile figures.
The LSAT is scored by counting the questions you answer correctly to form a raw score, then converting that raw score to a scaled score from 120 to 180 using an equating curve unique to each test form. Wrong answers carry no penalty, so answering every question is always to your advantage.
A good LSAT score is one that meets or beats the median at your target law schools. Nationally, anything above the low-150s average is competitive for many programs, while the most selective schools expect scores in the high 160s to 170s each school's median LSAT (see its 509 report).
The average LSAT score sits in the low 150s on the 120 to 180 scale the low-to-mid 150s (LSAC does not publish a single headline average; the median falls near 152 on the percentile tables). Because scores cluster near the middle of the scale, small point gains around the average can move your percentile rank noticeably in either direction.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026