National average act scores by state

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      Table 226.60.

      Average ACT scores and percentage of graduates taking the ACT, by state: 2016 and 2020

      State	2016					2020					Percent taking ACT 1
      	Subject-area scores				Subject-area scores
      	Composite score	English score	Mathematics score	Reading score	Science score	Composite score	English score	Mathematics score	Reading score	Science score	2016	2020
      1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
      United States	20.8	20.1	20.6	21.3	20.8	20.7	20.1	20.4	21.2	20.6	58	46
      Alabama	19.1	18.7	18.3	19.7	19.1	18.8	18.5	18.1	19.3	18.8	100	100
      Alaska	20.0	18.9	20.0	20.6	19.8	20.1	18.8	20.0	21.0	20.1	53	33
      Arizona	20.1	19.1	20.2	20.5	20.0	19.1	18.0	19.3	19.5	19.1	58	71
      Arkansas	20.2	19.8	19.6	20.7	20.2	19.0	18.7	18.4	19.4	19.1	96	100
      California	22.6	22.1	22.7	22.9	22.1	23.3	23.1	22.9	23.8	22.8	33	19
      Colorado	20.6	20.0	20.3	20.9	20.9	23.7	23.6	23.1	24.4	23.4	100	25
      Connecticut	24.5	24.4	24.1	25.0	24.1	25.9	26.3	25.1	26.5	25.3	34	19
      Delaware	23.6	23.3	23.2	24.3	23.2	24.2	24.4	23.2	25.1	23.7	21	11
      District of Columbia	22.2	21.8	21.8	22.8	21.7	23.1	23.2	22.3	23.9	22.6	44	33
      Florida	19.9	18.9	19.5	21.1	19.5	20.6	20.1	19.8	21.7	20.2	81	46
      Georgia	21.1	20.7	20.6	21.8	21.0	21.7	21.3	21.0	22.5	21.6	60	43
      Hawaii	18.7	17.6	19.1	19.0	18.6	18.5	17.2	18.6	19.1	18.7	94	82
      Idaho	22.7	22.3	22.1	23.5	22.4	22.7	22.1	21.9	23.8	22.4	39	28
      Illinois	20.8	20.5	20.6	21.0	20.6	24.7	24.9	24.1	25.1	24.1	100	31
      Indiana	22.3	21.6	22.1	22.9	22.0	22.6	21.9	22.4	23.3	22.2	41	25
      Iowa	22.1	21.4	21.4	22.7	22.3	21.1	20.1	20.5	22.0	21.3	68	68
      Kansas	21.9	21.3	21.5	22.5	21.8	20.4	19.5	20.0	21.0	20.4	74	82
      Kentucky	20.0	19.7	19.3	20.6	19.9	19.5	18.9	19.0	20.1	19.6	100	100
      Louisiana	19.5	19.3	18.8	19.9	19.6	18.7	18.3	18.1	19.1	18.9	100	100
      Maine	23.6	23.3	23.8	23.9	23.1	24.9	25.0	24.0	25.8	24.2	10	5
      Maryland	23.0	22.6	22.7	23.6	22.8	23.8	23.7	22.9	24.6	23.4	27	19
      Massachusetts	24.8	24.4	24.9	25.3	24.1	26.0	26.0	25.6	26.6	25.4	28	18
      Michigan	20.3	19.9	19.9	20.7	20.5	24.6	24.6	24.1	25.0	24.1	100	17
      Minnesota	21.1	20.0	21.2	21.3	21.3	21.3	20.0	21.3	21.8	21.5	100	92
      Mississippi	18.4	17.9	18.0	18.7	18.5	18.2	17.8	17.7	18.5	18.4	100	100
      Missouri	20.2	19.7	19.8	20.6	20.4	20.7	20.1	20.1	21.3	20.8	100	78
      Montana	20.3	19.0	20.2	20.8	20.5	19.9	18.7	19.8	20.4	20.0	100	100
      Nebraska	21.4	20.9	20.8	21.8	21.5	19.9	19.2	19.7	20.2	20.0	88	100
      Nevada	17.7	16.2	18.0	18.1	18.1	17.9	16.7	18.0	18.3	18.1	100	100
      New Hampshire	24.5	24.0	24.4	25.1	24.1	25.7	25.7	25.2	26.2	25.3	23	12
      New Jersey	23.1	22.7	23.3	23.5	22.5	24.4	24.5	24.0	24.7	23.7	32	23
      New Mexico	19.9	18.9	19.5	20.5	20.1	19.3	18.1	18.8	20.1	19.6	70	56
      New York	23.9	23.2	23.9	24.4	23.7	24.9	24.5	24.5	25.4	24.6	29	20
      North Carolina	19.1	17.8	19.4	19.5	19.2	18.8	17.3	18.9	19.5	18.9	100	100
      North Dakota	20.3	19.1	20.3	20.7	20.7	19.6	18.2	19.6	20.1	20.1	100	94
      Ohio	22.0	21.2	21.6	22.5	22.0	19.9	18.8	19.8	20.4	20.0	73	100
      Oklahoma	20.4	19.8	19.5	21.3	20.5	18.7	17.9	18.0	19.5	18.9	82	100
      Oregon	21.7	21.0	21.4	22.3	21.6	21.0	20.0	20.6	21.9	20.8	39	42
      Pennsylvania	23.1	22.6	23.0	23.6	22.8	23.7	23.4	23.2	24.3	23.4	23	15
      Rhode Island	23.3	23.1	22.9	24.0	22.8	24.8	25.1	23.9	25.7	24.1	20	11
      South Carolina	18.5	17.3	18.5	19.0	18.6	18.4	17.3	18.3	19.0	18.6	100	76
      South Dakota	21.9	20.9	21.7	22.4	22.2	21.7	20.7	21.5	22.4	21.9	76	70
      Tennessee	19.9	19.6	19.2	20.3	19.9	19.3	19.1	18.7	19.6	19.1	100	100
      Texas	20.6	19.4	20.7	21.0	20.7	20.2	19.1	20.1	20.8	20.4	45	38
      Utah	20.2	19.5	19.7	20.9	20.3	20.2	19.3	19.7	21.0	20.3	100	100
      Vermont	23.4	22.9	22.9	24.1	23.2	23.3	23.0	22.4	24.5	23.0	29	23
      Virginia	23.3	22.9	22.9	24.0	23.1	24.4	24.2	23.5	25.2	24.0	31	19
      Washington	23.1	22.3	23.2	23.6	22.9	22.9	22.2	22.5	23.7	22.6	25	20
      West Virginia	20.7	20.5	19.6	21.5	20.7	20.9	20.6	19.8	21.8	20.9	67	38
      Wisconsin	20.5	19.7	20.4	20.7	20.7	20.1	19.1	19.9	20.5	20.3	100	100
      Wyoming	20.0	19.2	19.6	20.4	20.4	19.7	18.6	19.3	20.2	20.0	100	100

      1 Members of the graduating class who had taken the ACT as a percentage of all students who graduated in that school year. State percentages were calculated by ACT based on the number of high school graduates in each state as projected by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Total percentages for the United States were calculated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) based on NCES projections of the total number of U.S. high school graduates.

      NOTE: The minimum score on the ACT is 1 and the maximum score is 36. Data are for high school graduates who took the ACT test during their sophomore, junior, or senior year. If a student took the ACT test more than once, the composite and subject-area scores from the most recent test were used.

      SOURCE: ACT, The Condition of College and Career Readiness, 2016 and 2020. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National High School Graduates Projection Model, 1972-73 through 2029-30. (This table was prepared June 2021.)