LSAT Percentiles - LSAT Score Percentile Chart (2024)

LSAC publishes score percentiles for each scaled score measured over a three year period (your scaled score is the one people mean when they say “my LSAT score is __.” It’s some number between 120-180, but hopefully, for you, it will be closer to 180). These percentile scores can help you assess your strength by showing you roughly how rare each score is. The percentile numbers in the chart below indicate the percentage of people that scored below that score in that three years measured. So for 165, for example, 89.8% of takers got below that score in the period 2019-2020.

Without further ado, here is the chart:

Score	2019-2020	2018-2019
180	99.9	99.9
179	99.9	99.9
178	99.9	99.9
177	99.8	99.8
176	99.6	99.8
175	99.5	99.6
174	99.2	99.4
173	98.8	99.1
172	98.4	98.7
171	97.8	98.2
170	97.1	97.6
169	95.9	96.8
168	94.8	95.4
167	93.3	94.5
166	91.5	92.9
165	89.8	91.5
164	87.4	89.5
163	85	87.2
162	82.7	84.9
161	80.1	82.3
160	77	79.2
159	73.6	76.1
158	70.4	73.2
157	66.5	69.6
156	62.9	66.3
155	59.2	62.3
154	55.5	58.4
153	51.7	54.4
152	47.7	50.8
151	44	47
150	39.7	43.4
149	36.3	39.4
148	32.8	36.2
147	29.1	32.4
146	26	29
145	22.9	25.4
144	20	22.8
143	17.4	20
142	14.8	17.1
141	12.6	15
140	10.8	12.8
139	9	11
138	7.5	9.2
137	6.4	7.8
136	4.9	6.7
135	4.2	5.2
134	3.6	4.5
133	3	3.8
132	2.4	3.1
131	2	2.5
130	1.6	2
129	1.4	1.6
128	1.1	1.3
127	0.9	1.2
126	0.8	1
125	0.7	0.8
124	0.5	0.6
123	0.5	0.5
122	0.4	0.4
121	0.3	0.3
120	0	0

Looking at LSAT percentile scores gives you a good way to understand why high scorers are in demand at law schools. 170-180 seems like a big range of numbers but, if you look below at the chart, you see that a tiny fraction of the total test-takers hit that score range- only 2.8% of takers in the year of LSAT takers in the last three years did so. The best law schools are trying to pull applicants mostly from this tiny batch of scorers at the top.

Past LSAT Score Percentiles

Scaled Score	2005–2008	2006–2009	2007–2010	2008–2011	2009–2012
180	99.9	99.9	99.9	99.9	99.9
179	99.9	99.9	99.9	99.9	99.9
178	99.8	99.8	99.9	99.9	99.9
177	99.7	99.7	99.8	99.8	99.8
176	99.6	99.6	99.6	99.6	99.7
175	99.5	99.5	99.4	99.4	99.5
174	99.3	99.2	99.2	99.2	99.3
173	99.0	99.0	99.0	99.0	98.9
172	98.6	98.6	98.6	98.6	98.6
171	98.1	98.1	98.0	98.0	98.0
170	97.5	97.5	97.4	97.3	97.2
169	96.8	96.8	96.7	96.6	96.5
168	96.0	96.1	95.9	95.7	95.6
167	95.1	94.9	94.6	94.2	94.2
166	93.4	93.4	93.2	93.1	92.9
165	92.2	92.1	92.0	91.5	91.4
164	90.7	90.4	90.0	89.7	89.5
163	88.5	88.5	88.1	87.6	87.4
162	86.3	86.3	85.9	85.5	85.1
161	84.0	83.9	83.4	82.9	82.5
160	81.5	81.0	80.4	79.9	79.9
159	78.0	78.0	77.6	77.4	76.9
158	75.1	75.1	74.6	74.1	73.6
157	72.0	71.6	70.9	70.4	70.3
156	68.3	67.9	67.4	66.9	66.7
155	64.2	64.2	63.9	63.7	63.3
154	60.0	60.0	59.7	59.8	59.8
153	56.1	55.8	55.6	55.6	55.6
152	52.9	52.6	52.2	51.7	51.6
151	48.6	48.3	48.1	47.7	47.9
150	44.4	44.1	44.3	44.2	44.4
149	40.0	40.2	40.3	40.3	40.2
148	36.3	36.3	36.3	36.3	36.6
147	32.9	32.5	33.0	33.1	33.6
146	29.6	29.6	29.5	29.5	29.9
145	26.2	25.8	26.1	26.3	26.7
144	23.1	22.8	22.9	23.1	23.6
143	20.2	20.3	20.5	20.4	20.6
142	17.5	17.4	17.8	17.9	18.3
141	15.2	15.0	15.2	15.3	15.7
140	13.0	13.0	13.4	13.4	13.7
139	11.1	11.2	11.4	11.5	11.7
138	9.3	9.3	9.6	9.8	9.9
137	7.8	7.9	8.1	8.3	8.5
136	6.5	6.6	6.7	6.9	7.0
135	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.7	6.0
134	4.5	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.8
133	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.8	4.0
132	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.3
131	2.3	2.4	2.5	2.6	2.7
130	1.9	1.9	2.0	2.0	2.1
129	1.6	1.6	1.7	1.7	1.8
128	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.4
127	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.1
126	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9
125	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.7
124	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.6
123	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5
122	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.4
121	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
120	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

As you get in the very best scores, you see that these scores are scarce. My score of 177, for example, put me in the top 0.2 percent of scorers for that period (2008-2011).

You might also have noticed that the numbers are shifting a little. In most areas of the chart, a greater percentage of LSAT takers are achieving higher numbers, possibly because test takers are putting in more effort preparing with each subsequent year.

Remember that the LSAT is not actually a curved test. There doesn’t have to be any set percentage of people getting any given score.This means thateveryone taking it could theoretically get above a 150 if only strong takers took a specific test administration. Instead of being curved, the LSAT is actually statistically equated. In plain English, that means they try to make a given score just as challenging to get on each test. So if people are better prepared than in previous years, the percentiles will change a little bit.

We here at LSI implore you not to get too hung up on the numbers and stats. The most important thing is that you get the highest score that you can achieve. Remember that you will be preparing more than the vast majority of takers by following a rigorous prep schedule, which increases your chances of being at the top of this chart. See our recommended schedule here to get an idea of what it looks like to undertake the sort of rigorous prep I did to earn a 177.

Best of luck, and follow us on Twitter @onlawschool for more stats and LSAT prep tips.

LSAT Percentiles - LSAT Score Percentile Chart (2024)

FAQs

What LSAT score is 95th percentile? ›

On average, getting a raw score of about 67 or above converts into an LSAT score of 170 or above. Note that a score in this range places you, on average, in the 95th percentile, meaning that only 5% of all those who take the LSAT score 170 or above. To get a score of 160 you should aim for getting 55 questions correct.

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What score is top 10 percentile LSAT? ›

Top Scores

To achieve this, you need a scaled score of 165 or greater, which translates to a raw score of around 85. In other words, to score in the top ten percent of applicants, you need to answer approximately 85 of the 100 questions correctly.

What percentile is 172 on the LSAT? ›

Estimated Score Conversions

Raw score*	Scaled Score	Est. Percentile**
71	176	99.64%
70	175	99.47%
69	173	98.8%
68	172	98.4%

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What percentile is a 157 on the LSAT? ›

Your percentile rank tells you the percentage of scaled scores in the last three years that your score beats. For example if your LSAT Scaled Score is 157 you will have a percentile rank of approximately 75% meaning that your Scaled Score of 157 is better than 75% of the LSAT Scaled Scores for the last three years.

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How rare is a 179 LSAT? ›

In the film, Elle scored a 179 on her LSAT. That is one point away from a perfect score of 180. This means she scored in the 90th overall percentile. The average student's LSAT score is a 150.

Know More ›

What LSAT score to get into Mensa? ›

The Mensa cut-off is top 2% of the general public. 98th percentile on an IQ test. For the LSAT, they accept 163 as meeting that cut-off. Relative to other LSAT takers however, a 163 is 92nd percentile.

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What did Obama get on the LSAT? ›

The easiest to predict, by far, is Barack Obama's score, mostly because we have some data. Based on admissions records, we can deduce — somewhat reliably — that Barry-O scored between the 94th and 98th percentile on his LSAT. Using today's grading system, that would place him somewhere around a 170.

Learn More Now ›

What is an impressive LSAT score? ›

According to U.S. News, law school admissions experts recommend striving for at least a 150; however, for a top-ranking law school, you should aim for a 160 or better. For a Top 10 law school, a 170 or more is desired. Of course, this all depends on which schools you are applying to.

Has anyone got a 180 on the LSAT? ›

Sarah Boyle, a member of The University of Scranton's Class of 2024, scored a perfect 180 on her Law School Admission Test (LSAT). She prepared for more than 10 months for the standardized test that is used for admission to law schools.

Read The Full Story ›

How rare is a 170 LSAT? ›

What is a good LSAT score? Getting an average LSAT score of 170 (or higher) puts you in some rare air—the 98th percentile of all test takers.

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How bad is a 139 LSAT score? ›

The below table shows the schools that accept the lowest LSAT scores. This shows that the lowest acceptable LSAT score is 139. Typically, a good rule of thumb is that you want to at least break 140 to make taking on the cost of law school economically feasible. You can get into a law school with a 140 LSAT score.

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Is a 172 LSAT good enough for Harvard? ›

As you can see from these numbers, an LSAT score of 170 or higher and a GPA above 3.75 will give you a chance of gaining admission to Harvard Law School.

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Is 159 a bad LSAT score? ›

Average LSAT Score and Scores of Accepted Law Students. The typical LSAT score for 2022 law school enrollees was about 159, but top programs require scores in the 170-175 range. Jane Nam is a staff writer for BestColleges' Data Center.

Is 150 a bad LSAT score? ›

However, the average LSAT score is 150, which is enough to get you into most American Bar Association-accredited law schools.

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How bad is a 147 LSAT score? ›

LSAT vs Bar Pass Rates

Risk Band	LSAT Score	LSAT Percentile
Low Risk	153-155	50.5 - 57.7
Modest Risk	150-152	39.5 - 46.7
High Risk	147-149	29.4 - 36.1
Very High Risk	145-146	23.6 - 26.3

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What percentile is a 174 on the LSAT? ›

A good LSAT score for top tier(defined by T14 schools for this article) law schools is between 171 and 174. This means that a student in the 99th percentile of test takers with an LSAT score of 172 will still be at or below the median LSAT for 6 top-tier law schools.

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What percentile is a 162 LSAT score? ›

LSAT Percentiles Table

Scaled Score	2004–2007	2011–2014
165	92.2	91.4
164	90.5	89.6
163	88.5	87.6
162	86.5	85.1

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What percentile is a 171 LSAT score? ›

The 75th percentile LSAT score for a top 10 school ranges from 171 (Duke University) to 178 (Yale). The 25th percentile LSAT scoring range is from 166 to 171. These are the top-ranked schools for a reason—they are tough to get into. Only 5.7% of applicants earn the right to join Yale Law School each year.

What percentile is 173 on the LSAT? ›

An exceptional LSAT score will be somewhere around 173, which is the 99th percentile, according to the Law School Admissions Council—if you received a 173, you scored better than 99 percent of all test takers.

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