SAT Scores and Family Income

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

Much has been written about the relationship between SAT scores and test-takers’ family income. Generally speaking, the wealthier a student’s family is, the higher the SAT score.

Let’s take a look at how income correlated with scores this year. About two-thirds of test-takers voluntarily report their family incomes when they sit down to take the SAT. Using this information, the College Board breaks down the average scores for 10 income groups, each in a $20,000 range.

First, here are the individual test sections:

Source: College Board

Source: College Board

Source: College Board

Here are all three test sections next to each other (zoomed in on the vertical axis, so you can see the variation among income groups a little more clearly):

Source: College Board

A few observations:

• There’s a very strong positive correlation between income and test scores. (For the math geeks out there, the R² for each test average/income range chart is about 0.95.)
• On every test section, moving up an income category was associated with an average score boost of over 12 points.
• Moving from the second-highest income group and the highest income group seemed to show the biggest score boost. However, keep in mind the top income category is uncapped, so it includes a much broader spectrum of families by wealth.