MPRE Score Percentiles: Estimates, Stability, and Passing Scores

MPRE score percentiles are not printed on your score report, but the National Conference of Bar Examiners publishes enough national data each year to estimate where any scaled score falls. The 2024 median was 96, so a score around that mark puts you in the middle of all test-takers nationally. A 75 sits near the 13th percentile, an 85 near the 27th, a 100 just above average, and anything at 120 or higher lands in the top 10 percent.¹

Estimated Percentiles by Scaled Score

MPRE scaled scores run from 50 to 150. The numbers below use the 2024 national mean of 96.6 and standard deviation of 19.0, applied through a normal distribution approximation.¹

Scaled score 75: roughly 13th percentile
Scaled score 80: roughly 19th percentile
Scaled score 85: roughly 27th percentile
Scaled score 90: roughly 36th percentile
Scaled score 96: roughly 50th percentile (the median)
Scaled score 100: roughly 57th percentile
Scaled score 105: roughly 67th percentile
Scaled score 110: roughly 76th percentile
Scaled score 115: roughly 83rd percentile
Scaled score 120: roughly 89th percentile
Scaled score 130: roughly 96th percentile

A few patterns are worth pulling out. The most common passing threshold, 85, sits well below the national median, which means most test-takers clear that bar on their first attempt in jurisdictions that use it. A score of 100 is only slightly above average, not the 75th-to-80th percentile range sometimes quoted in older prep materials. And the top decile begins somewhere around 120.

Why These Numbers Are Estimates

NCBE does not release an official percentile-to-score table. It publishes the mean, median, standard deviation, and highest and lowest scores for each administration, and leaves readers to work out the rest. The 2024 figures showed a mean of 96.6, a median of 96, a standard deviation of 19.0, a high of 146, and a low of 55.¹

Treat the percentile figures above as ballpark rankings rather than exact placements. The real distribution is not perfectly bell-shaped, and small shifts occur between administrations. The scaled score itself is meaningful on its own terms, because NCBE adjusts for difficulty differences between test forms. A scaled 95 represents the same level of knowledge whether you took an easier or harder version of the exam.² The scoring scale was originally calibrated in March 1999 with a mean set at 100; actual test-taker averages have drifted a few points below that anchor since.

Where Your Percentile Sits Relative to Passing

Percentile rank matters mostly as a cushion above the cutoff your jurisdiction uses. Minimum passing scores range from 75 to 86 depending on where you want to be admitted.³

A 75 cutoff puts the passing line near the 13th percentile. Jurisdictions at this floor include several southeastern states, the District of Columbia, and some U.S. territories.¹
Cutoffs of 79, 80, or 82 fall between roughly the 18th and 24th percentiles. A large number of states cluster in this band.
An 85 cutoff, the most common single threshold, is around the 27th percentile. Roughly 20 jurisdictions use it, including several large legal markets.
An 86 cutoff is the highest in the country, required by two states.⁴

If you are applying to more than one jurisdiction, the practical target is the highest cutoff among them. Passing at 86 clears you everywhere the MPRE is required. Two jurisdictions do not require the exam at all, and two others accept a law school professional responsibility course as a substitute.³ Confirm your jurisdiction’s current number through NCBE or your state bar, because high courts and boards of bar examiners occasionally update these rules.

How Stable Percentiles Are From Year to Year

National MPRE averages hold steady enough that a percentile estimate from one year generally applies to the next. The 2024 mean of 96.6 was consistent across all three administrations that year: 97.1 in March, 97.0 in August, and 95.6 in November.¹ Recent years have hovered in the same neighborhood.

So a percentile derived from current statistics should remain a reasonable guide for upcoming test cycles. If you scored a 110 last August, it was roughly a 76th-percentile performance then, and a 110 on your next sitting will almost certainly mean something close to the same.

1
National Conference of Bar Examiners. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) – 2024 Statistics
2
National Conference of Bar Examiners. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) – 2025 Statistics
3
National Conference of Bar Examiners. Which Jurisdictions Require the MPRE
4
National Conference of Bar Examiners. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) – 2020 Statistics