LSAT percentiles are an important metric in evaluating your overall competitiveness in the law school admissions process. For each admissions cycle (June through February of the following year), LSAC releases a new table which gives the aggregate percentiles for the prior three cycles. For example, test takers in the 2012–2013 cycle were given the numbers on the far right. The numbers in the table reflect the percentage of test takers who scored below each listed score during that three-year span. When you are targeting schools, be sure to check their median LSAT scores for the previous cycle and verify that you are within their 25th–75th percentiles for both your LSAT and your GPA.
We have included the historical data to give some perspective on how the percentiles shift over time. For the most part, the numbers remain pretty steady from year to year. However, there are some noticeable differences in certain parts of the score band. For instance, the percentile corresponding to a scaled score of 160 has dropped from 82.2 to 79.9 during the time period covered. That is a drop of more than two percentile points! Going back even further, for the years 1996 through 1999 (not shown), a 160 corresponded to a percentile of 83.4. Some hypothesize that the downward-trending shifts in the percentiles are a reflection of test takers being better prepared in recent years, as LSAC equates each test form.
| Scaled Score | 2001–2004 | 2002–2005 | 2003–2006 | 2004–2007 | 2005–2008 | 2006–2009 | 2007–2010 | 2008–2011 | 2009–2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 180 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 |
| 179 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 |
| 178 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 |
| 177 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.7 | 99.7 | 99.7 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.8 |
| 176 | 99.7 | 99.7 | 99.7 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.7 |
| 175 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.6 | 99.5 | 99.5 | 99.5 | 99.4 | 99.4 | 99.5 |
| 174 | 99.5 | 99.4 | 99.3 | 99.3 | 99.3 | 99.2 | 99.2 | 99.2 | 99.3 |
| 173 | 99.3 | 99.2 | 99.1 | 99.0 | 99.0 | 99.0 | 99.0 | 99.0 | 98.9 |
| 172 | 99.0 | 98.9 | 98.8 | 98.6 | 98.6 | 98.6 | 98.6 | 98.6 | 98.6 |
| 171 | 98.5 | 98.4 | 98.3 | 98.1 | 98.1 | 98.1 | 98.0 | 98.0 | 98.0 |
| 170 | 98.1 | 98.0 | 97.8 | 97.6 | 97.5 | 97.5 | 97.4 | 97.3 | 97.2 |
| 169 | 97.5 | 97.3 | 97.1 | 96.9 | 96.8 | 96.8 | 96.7 | 96.6 | 96.5 |
| 168 | 96.7 | 96.5 | 96.3 | 96.0 | 96.0 | 96.1 | 95.9 | 95.7 | 95.6 |
| 167 | 95.7 | 95.5 | 95.4 | 95.0 | 95.1 | 94.9 | 94.6 | 94.2 | 94.2 |
| 166 | 94.6 | 94.2 | 93.8 | 93.4 | 93.4 | 93.4 | 93.2 | 93.1 | 92.9 |
| 165 | 93.2 | 93.0 | 92.6 | 92.2 | 92.2 | 92.1 | 92.0 | 91.5 | 91.4 |
| 164 | 91.4 | 91.0 | 90.9 | 90.5 | 90.7 | 90.4 | 90.0 | 89.7 | 89.5 |
| 163 | 89.7 | 89.4 | 88.9 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 88.1 | 87.6 | 87.4 |
| 162 | 87.3 | 87.1 | 86.8 | 86.5 | 86.3 | 86.3 | 85.9 | 85.5 | 85.1 |
| 161 | 84.9 | 84.5 | 84.3 | 83.8 | 84.0 | 83.9 | 83.4 | 82.9 | 82.5 |
| 160 | 82.2 | 81.8 | 81.7 | 81.3 | 81.5 | 81.0 | 80.4 | 79.9 | 79.9 |
| 159 | 79.1 | 78.8 | 78.4 | 78.1 | 78.0 | 78.0 | 77.6 | 77.4 | 76.9 |
| 158 | 76.5 | 75.9 | 75.4 | 74.8 | 75.1 | 75.1 | 74.6 | 74.1 | 73.6 |
| 157 | 72.6 | 72.4 | 72.2 | 72.0 | 72.0 | 71.6 | 70.9 | 70.4 | 70.3 |
| 156 | 68.7 | 68.4 | 68.2 | 68.3 | 68.3 | 67.9 | 67.4 | 66.9 | 66.7 |
| 155 | 65.7 | 65.3 | 64.8 | 64.4 | 64.2 | 64.2 | 63.9 | 63.7 | 63.3 |
| 154 | 61.5 | 61.4 | 60.8 | 60.4 | 60.0 | 60.0 | 59.7 | 59.8 | 59.8 |
| 153 | 57.3 | 57.1 | 56.8 | 56.3 | 56.1 | 55.8 | 55.6 | 55.6 | 55.6 |
| 152 | 53.2 | 52.7 | 52.6 | 52.8 | 52.9 | 52.6 | 52.2 | 51.7 | 51.6 |
| 151 | 49.1 | 48.8 | 48.6 | 48.5 | 48.6 | 48.3 | 48.1 | 47.7 | 47.9 |
| 150 | 44.9 | 44.8 | 44.5 | 44.5 | 44.4 | 44.1 | 44.3 | 44.2 | 44.4 |
| 149 | 41.0 | 40.8 | 40.5 | 40.2 | 40.0 | 40.2 | 40.3 | 40.3 | 40.2 |
| 148 | 37.0 | 37.0 | 36.6 | 36.7 | 36.3 | 36.3 | 36.3 | 36.3 | 36.6 |
| 147 | 33.4 | 33.2 | 33.0 | 32.9 | 32.9 | 32.5 | 33.0 | 33.1 | 33.6 |
| 146 | 29.6 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 29.6 | 29.6 | 29.6 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 29.9 |
| 145 | 26.4 | 26.4 | 26.5 | 26.5 | 26.2 | 25.8 | 26.1 | 26.3 | 26.7 |
| 144 | 23.3 | 23.3 | 23.2 | 23.3 | 23.1 | 22.8 | 22.9 | 23.1 | 23.6 |
| 143 | 20.2 | 20.0 | 19.9 | 19.9 | 20.2 | 20.3 | 20.5 | 20.4 | 20.6 |
| 142 | 17.7 | 17.6 | 17.5 | 17.6 | 17.5 | 17.4 | 17.8 | 17.9 | 18.3 |
| 141 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 15.2 | 15.3 | 15.7 |
| 140 | 12.9 | 12.9 | 12.9 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.4 | 13.4 | 13.7 |
| 139 | 10.9 | 11.1 | 11.0 | 11.2 | 11.1 | 11.2 | 11.4 | 11.5 | 11.7 |
| 138 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 9.6 | 9.8 | 9.9 |
| 137 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.5 |
| 136 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 7.0 |
| 135 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 6.0 |
| 134 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| 133 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| 132 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| 131 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | |
| 130 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | |
| 129 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | |
| 128 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | |
| 127 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | |
| 126 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | |
| 125 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | |
| 124 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | |
| 123 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | |
| 122 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | |
| 121 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |
| 120 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |