Average National SAT Scores for 2015

2015 National SAT scores
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by Kelly Roell
Kelly Roell is the author of "Ace the ACT. " She has a master's degree in secondary English education and has worked as a high school English teacher.
Updated March 18, 2017

 

In 2015, you registered for the SAT and took it along with 1,698,521 of your closest high school friends, which is a pretty sizable feat considering your complete aversion to all things standardized tests, right? And now, you're sitting there with your SAT score report in hand, wondering how all of those other college applicants fared on this test. Am I right? If you're anything like students before you, and maybe even those students who come after you, you're going to want to know how your SAT score compares to other SAT scores. Below, you'll read several fun facts about the average national SAT scores for 2015 according to gender, ethnicity, and even household income. 

If you're interested in knowing the average SAT scores for students entering the top public schools in the country and those for the top private schools, then check out the links. Otherwise, keep reading. 

Overall SAT Scores for 2015

Here's where we talk "mean." And I'm not talking about being a jerk. I'm referring to the mathematical mean, which is the average of a set of numbers. In this case, the mean is the average SAT score of every student who took the test from the fall of 2014 through June of 2015. 

Here are the mean scores for all testers by section:

SAT Scores By Gender

It isn't often fun to find out that people of your gender are performing worse than people of another gender, but here you have it in black and white. Males, you're leading in Critical Reading and Math. Females, you're ahead in Writing. Next year, these numbers will be dramatically different, considering the Redesigned SAT has an entirely different scoring system. 

  • Critical Reading:
    Males: 497
    Females: 493
  • Mathematics:
    Males: 527
    Females: 496
  • Writing:
    Males: 478
    Females: 490

SAT Scores By Reported Annual Income

I hate to say it, but it appears as though the kids with the wealthiest parents are the smartest kids in the universe. Just kidding, just kidding. Let's screw on our thinking caps and consider what these numbers imply. Perhaps kids with wealthier parents are just graced with above-average test-taking skills, OR, these statistics could mean that kids with a little bit more cash have parents who are more willing to purchase SAT prep or shell out the moolah for retakes. I don't know. We could conjecture all day on this subject, but the stats do not lie; parents making more money produce kids with higher SAT scores. Look:

  • $0 - $20,000
    • Critical Reading: 433
    • Math: 455
    • Writing: 426
  • $20,000 - $40,000
    • Critical Reading: 466
    • Math: 479
    • Writing:454
  • $40,000 - $60,000
    • Critical Reading: 488
    • Math: 497
    • Writing: 473
  • $60,000 - $80,000
    • Critical Reading: 503
    • Math: 510
    • Writing: 487
  • $80,000 - $100,000
    • Critical Reading: 517
    • Math: 526
    • Writing: 501
  • $100,000 - $120,000
    • Critical Reading: 528
    • Math: 539
    • Writing: 514
  • $120,000 - $140,000
    • Critical Reading: 531
    • Math: 542
    • Writing: 518
  • $140,000 - $160,000
    • Critical Reading: 539
    • Math: 551
    • Writing: 526
  • $160,000 - $200,000
    • Critical Reading: 545
    • Math: 557
    • Writing: 534
  • $200,000 and more
    • Critical Reading: 570
    • Math: 587
    • Writing: 563

SAT Scores By Ethnicity

Although there is definitely no causal relationship between ethnicity and SAT scores, it can be interesting to take a peek at the differences among us when it comes to test-taking. Here are the mean overall scores by ethnicity.

  • American Indian or Alaska Native: 1423
  • Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander: 1654
  • Black of African-American: 1277
  • Mexican or Mexican-American: 1343
  • Puerto Rican: 1357
  • Latin-American, Central-American, South-American or Other Latino: 1345
  • White: 1576
  • Other: 1496

2015 SAT Scores Summary

So, it would appear that if really interested in getting a fantastic SAT score, you should sign up to be in a family that brings in more than $200,000 per year, ensure that you're male, and become (or remain) Asian. If that doesn't work, there's always free SAT practice quizzes, free SAT apps, and the best SAT books out there.