Average ASVAB score: the population median, and what recruits actually score
"Average" hides three different questions. The average of the population the ASVAB is normed on is fixed by the way the scale is built. The average recruit is a different, higher group, and the Department of Defense publishes exactly how that group is distributed. And the "average" requirement for a job is a line score threshold that has nothing to do with either. This page keeps the three apart and quotes the source for each number.
AFQT 50
The median of the 1997 national sample of 18 to 23 year olds, by construction of the scale.
69.37%
Of 148,318 new active-duty enlistees across the Department of Defense in FY2020.
Air Force 81.47%
Share of FY2020 Air Force enlistees scoring 50 or above; the Army was lowest at 63.06%.
The average AFQT is 50 because the scale is built that way
AFQT is a percentile against a fixed reference group, not a percentage of correct answers. The Department of Defense states it directly: An AFQT score of 50 indicates that the examinee scored as well as or better than 50% of the nationally-representative sample.
(Understanding ASVAB Scores, officialasvab.com, checked 2026-09-17).
That reference group is the 1997 Profile of American Youth (PAY97), and the technical report that defined the current scale explains that the median is a design choice, not a measurement of any later year's examinees: The new AFQT ‘97 score scale will be constructed by assigning percentile scores in a way that results in a mean percentile score of about 50.
It adds that, for the norming sample itself, Consequently, for the PAY97 sample, average AFQT scores on the ‘97 scale would be expected to decrease (relative to the ‘80 scale) from about 52.3 to about 50.0.
(Development and Evaluation of the 1997 ASVAB Score Scale (Segall, July 2004), Section 2.1).
Two consequences follow. First, "the average ASVAB score is 50" is true only of that 1997 population, and it stays true no matter how this year's applicants perform. Second, because the AFQT is looked up from a fixed table, the sum of your AR, MK and 2 × VE that lands on 50 never changes; the ASVAB score chart shows the whole conversion.
Average standard score and average line score
Each subtest is reported as a standard score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 in the same reference population. Officially: About half the population scores at or above a Standard Score of 50 and about 16% of the population scores at or above a Standard Score of 60.
(Understanding ASVAB Scores, officialasvab.com). So a subtest score in the low 50s is average, 60 is roughly the top sixth, and 70 is near the top two percent.
Army line scores such as GT and ST are rescaled from the same standard scores to a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 20 (Table 2.7 of the DMDC report), so 100 is the population average for every composite. Job thresholds sit above it. Among the 119 verified Army MOS on this site, GT requirements run from 85 to 110 with a median of 90, and ST from 85 to 112 with a median of 100. The most used line score is ST, named by 46 jobs. The median GT job is 14H Air Defense Enhanced Early Warning Operator (MM ≥ 91 and GT ≥ 90). The GT score page computes GT from your AR and VE and lists every threshold.
How recruits actually score: FY2020 enlistees by AFQT category
The Department of Defense does not publish an average AFQT for recruits; it publishes the share of new enlistees in each AFQT category. These are the non-prior-service active component enlisted accessions for 1 October 2019 through 30 September 2020, from Table B-5. Non-Prior Service (NPS) Active Component Enlisted Accessions, FY20 of the Population Representation in the Military Services: Fiscal Year 2020 Summary Report. Space Force accessions were not reported separately that year.
| Service | Cat. I (93–99) | Cat. II (65–92) | Cat. IIIA (50–64) | Cat. IIIB (31–49) | Cat. IV (10–30) | At or above 50 | Enlistees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 6.13% | 32.81% | 24.12% | 34.61% | 2.31% | 63.06% | 55,397 |
| Navy | 7.75% | 36.99% | 25.42% | 29.8% | 0% | 70.16% | 39,117 |
| Marine Corps | 4.78% | 37.04% | 27.68% | 30.49% | 0% | 69.49% | 27,764 |
| Air Force | 8.83% | 46.25% | 26.39% | 17.64% | 0% | 81.47% | 26,040 |
| All DoD | 6.78% | 37.06% | 25.53% | 29.59% | 0.86% | 69.37% | 148,318 |
Source: Table B-5. Non-Prior Service (NPS) Active Component Enlisted Accessions, FY20: By Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) Category, Service, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity, Office of People Analytics (OPA), Department of Defense; checked 2026-09-17, snapshot in this site's evidence folder. Percentages are the report's own and may not add to 100 because of rounding and an "unknown" column. The report's footnote: AFQT scores are percentiles that are normalized to the 1997 American youth population. For example, a score of 92 represents the 92nd percentile and means that 92% of the youth population scored at or below that score. It is standard to report these AFQT score percentiles in the categories listed below: Cat. I: 100–93; Cat. II: 92–65; Cat. IIIA: 64–50; Cat. IIIB: 49–31; Cat. IV: 30–10; Cat. V: 9–1.
Read against the population, recruits are clearly above average: 69.37% scored 50 or better, compared with 50% of the reference population by definition, and only 0.86% entered in Category IV. The spread between branches is real. Air Force enlistees were the most concentrated in the upper categories (55.08% in Categories I and II), while the Army accepted the largest share of Category IIIB (34.61%). None of this changes any branch's published floor, which is on the minimum ASVAB score page; it tells you where the people who actually shipped tended to land.
Trend: share of enlistees at or above 50, FY2010–FY2020
Categories I through IIIA combined, all Services, from Table D-8. Non-Prior Service (NPS) Active Component Enlisted Accessions by Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) Category, FYs 1973–2020 of the same report. The peak in this window was FY2012 at 78.79%.
| FY | Cat. I | Cat. II | Cat. IIIA | Cat. IIIB | Cat. IV | At or above 50 | Enlistees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 7.59% | 40.21% | 26.39% | 25.61% | 0.2% | 74.19% | 160,511 |
| 2011 | 7.73% | 41.6% | 27.96% | 22.56% | 0.14% | 77.29% | 153,314 |
| 2012 | 7.38% | 42.23% | 29.18% | 20.93% | 0.2% | 78.79% | 154,427 |
| 2013 | 6.82% | 39.87% | 28.38% | 24.52% | 0.08% | 75.07% | 164,674 |
| 2014 | 6.76% | 39.49% | 29.48% | 23.7% | 0.23% | 75.73% | 138,902 |
| 2015 | 6.46% | 39.11% | 29.14% | 24.77% | 0.3% | 74.71% | 145,270 |
| 2016 | 6.41% | 38.24% | 28.12% | 26.44% | 0.32% | 72.77% | 151,390 |
| 2017 | 6.41% | 37.52% | 27.93% | 27% | 0.81% | 71.86% | 159,583 |
| 2018 | 6.6% | 38.04% | 26.43% | 27.8% | 0.75% | 71.07% | 163,582 |
| 2019 | 6.41% | 37% | 25.36% | 30.15% | 0.77% | 68.77% | 163,574 |
| 2020 | 6.78% | 37.06% | 25.53% | 29.59% | 0.86% | 69.37% | 148,318 |
Source: Table D-8. Non-Prior Service (NPS) Active Component Enlisted Accessions by Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) Category, FYs 1973–2020, Office of People Analytics (OPA), Department of Defense; "at or above 50" is Categories I, II and IIIA added together. Later fiscal years are published by the Office of People Analytics in a different format and are not transcribed here.
Is an average score enough?
For enlistment, usually yes: an AFQT of 50 clears every diploma-holder minimum recorded on this site and every alternative-credential minimum too. For a job, the population average is the wrong yardstick, because MOS thresholds are set in line scores. A GT of 100 is average for the reference population but below the median GT requirement of 90 here. The good score page explains how to judge a score against the branch and the job; the score calculator turns your report's standard scores into AFQT and every Army line score and checks each verified MOS.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average ASVAB score?
There are three honest answers. For the population the test is normed on, the average AFQT is 50 by construction: An AFQT score of 50 indicates that the examinee scored as well as or better than 50% of the nationally-representative sample. For people who actually enlisted, the distribution is higher: in fiscal year 2020, 69.37% of new active-duty enlistees across the Department of Defense scored 50 or above. For a specific job, "average" means the typical line score threshold, which is on the Army score guide and each MOS page.
Is a 50 on the ASVAB good?
An AFQT of 50 is the population median and clears every published enlistment minimum for high school diploma holders, and every GED minimum recorded on this site. It is below what most recruits scored in FY2020: only about 30.6% of Department of Defense enlistees that year scored under 50. Whether it is good for you depends on the branch and the job; jobs are decided by line scores, not AFQT.
What is the average AFQT score of recruits?
The Department of Defense reports recruits by AFQT category rather than as a single average. In FY2020, 6.78% of new enlistees were Category I (93–99), 37.06% Category II (65–92), 25.53% Category IIIA (50–64), 29.59% Category IIIB (31–49) and 0.86% Category IV (10–30). The Air Force had the highest share at or above 50 (81.47%) and the Army the lowest (63.06%).
What is the average standard score on each subtest?
Standard scores are built with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 in the 1997 reference population. About half the population scores at or above a Standard Score of 50 and about 16% of the population scores at or above a Standard Score of 60. A subtest standard score of 60 is therefore roughly the 84th percentile, and 70 roughly the 98th.
What is an average GT or line score?
Army line scores are scaled to a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 20 in the reference population, so 100 is average for that population. Job thresholds sit above that: among the 119 verified Army MOS on this site, the median GT requirement is 90 and the median ST requirement is 100. Meeting the population average does not by itself meet a typical job threshold.