ASVAB scoring
How ASVAB scores work: AFQT, standard scores and line scores
The ASVAB gives you several different scores, and they are easy to mix up. This page explains the three that matter: the AFQT percentile that decides whether you can enlist, the subtest standard scores, and the line scores each branch uses to match you to a job.
Your AFQT score
The AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test) score is the one that decides whether you qualify to enlist at all. It is built from only four of the nine subtests: Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), Word Knowledge (WK) and Paragraph Comprehension (PC).
In shorthand, the formula is 2VE + AR + MK (where VE, the verbal score, comes from WK + PC and is double-weighted).
The result is reported as a percentile from 1 to 99 - it shows the percentage of a national reference group of 18-to-23-year-olds (1997 study) you scored at or above. So an AFQT of 60 does not mean you got 60% of questions right - it means you scored as well as or better than about 60% of that reference group.
AFQT categories
The military groups AFQT percentiles into categories. Higher categories give you more enlistment and bonus options; the lowest category is not eligible to enlist.
| AFQT category | Percentile range |
|---|---|
| I | 93-99 |
| II | 65-92 |
| IIIA | 50-64 |
| IIIB | 31-49 |
| IVA | 21-30 |
| IVB | 16-20 |
| IVC | 10-15 |
| V | 1-9 |
Standard scores vs percentile
Each individual subtest is also reported as a standard score, and this is where most confusion starts. Subtest standard scores are scaled to a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10, so most people fall roughly between 30 and 70. A subtest standard score of 50 is average.
That is a completely different scale from the AFQT, which is a percentile from 1 to 99. A standard score of 50 on a subtest is not the same as an AFQT of 50. When a branch quotes a minimum AFQT, it means the percentile - not a subtest standard score.
Line scores / composites
Getting in the door is the AFQT. Getting the job you want is the line scores. Each branch combines several subtest standard scores into its own composites (also called line scores) and matches those against the requirements of each role. The same subtests can be combined in different ways for different jobs, which is why one applicant can qualify for some roles and not others with the same overall result.
Because each branch names and builds its composites differently, the detail lives on the branch pages:
- Army line scores and sample jobs
- Air Force line scores and sample jobs
- Navy line scores and sample jobs
- Marine Corps line scores and sample jobs
- Coast Guard line scores and sample jobs
- Space Force line scores and sample jobs
- Army National Guard line scores and sample jobs
Test logistics
| Where you take it | a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS - there are 65 across the US and Puerto Rico) or a satellite Military Entrance Test (MET) site |
|---|---|
| Cost | administered at no cost as part of the military enlistment process (you take it through a recruiter) |
| Retakes | Wait 1 calendar month to retake it the first time, another month for a second retake, then 6 months for any retake after that. |
| How long scores last | Scores can be used for enlistment for up to 2 years from the test date. |
For where each branch sets its minimum AFQT, see the minimum ASVAB score by branch page, or start at the ASVAB hub.