2026 USMLE Score Percentiles: Step 2 CK and Step 3
USMLE score percentiles show how a three-digit score compares with a recent reference group. Under the current official norms, a Step 2 CK score of 250 is at the 47th percentile, 260 is at the 74th percentile, and 270 is at the 94th percentile. For Step 3, 230 is at the 56th percentile, 240 is at the 80th percentile, and 250 is at the 93rd percentile.
Percentile rank is not the same as a residency Match probability. It describes performance within the USMLE reference group; it does not account for specialty, applicant type, clinical performance, letters, experiences, interviews, program preferences, or the rest of an application. Step 1 is reported pass/fail for current examinations, so this guide covers current Step 1 reporting and score percentiles for Step 2 CK and Step 3.
DO students can compare these figures with the COMLEX score percentiles guide.
Quick answer
USMLE Score Percentiles at a Glance
The current Step 2 CK mean is 250 (SD 15) for first-time examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools in the 2024–2025 academic year. The current Step 3 mean is 227 (SD 15) for the same type of reference group in calendar year 2025. These are means, not universal targets or program cutoffs.
A mean need not equal the median, or 50th percentile, because score distributions are not necessarily perfectly symmetric. These figures also use different time windows. Therefore, a Step 2 CK score of 250 can be the reported 2024–2025 mean while ranking at the 47th percentile in the current three-year norm cohort.
Step 2 CK lookup
2026 USMLE Step 2 CK Score Percentiles
The current Step 2 CK norm table is based on 67,934 first-time examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools who tested from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025. A percentile rank is the percentage of examinees in that reference group who scored lower than the listed score.
This explorer uses only the five-point score anchors published by USMLE. The current passing score of 218 falls between 215 (2nd percentile) and 220 (4th percentile); USMLE does not publish an exact percentile for 218.
| Step 2 CK score | Percentile rank | Interpretation note |
|---|---|---|
| 280 | 100th | Official anchor; not a Match guarantee |
| 275 | 98th | Official anchor |
| 270 | 94th | Official anchor |
| 265 | 85th | Official anchor |
| 260 | 74th | Official anchor |
| 255 | 60th | Official anchor |
| 250 | 47th | Official anchor; 2024–2025 mean was 250 |
| 245 | 34th | Official anchor |
| 240 | 24th | Official anchor |
| 235 | 16th | Official anchor |
| 230 | 10th | Official anchor |
| 225 | 6th | Official anchor |
| 220 | 4th | Official anchor |
| 218 | Not published | Current passing score; lies between the 215 and 220 anchors |
| 215 | 2nd | Official anchor; below the current passing standard |
Source: USMLE Score Interpretation Guidelines, updated April 29, 2026. USMLE publishes five-point anchors, so it does not publish an exact percentile for the current passing score of 218.
What Is a Good Step 2 CK Score?
There is no universal “good” Step 2 CK score. A score should be interpreted against the examinee’s applicant group, target specialty, program list, clinical record, letters, experiences, and other application factors. In the current official norm table, 250 is at the 47th percentile, 260 is at the 74th, and 270 is at the 94th. Those percentiles describe a reference-group position; they do not promise an interview or Match outcome.
Students aiming to improve their baseline can review the Step 2 CK 260+ study-plan guide and the Step 2 CK resource guide. These resources support study planning; they do not guarantee a particular score.
Residency context
How Does Step 2 CK Relate to Residency Matching?
The National Resident Matching Program’s 2026 Charting Outcomes reports include Step 2 CK scores alongside other applicant characteristics. Among consenting U.S. MD seniors, applicants who matched to their preferred specialty generally had higher median Step 2 CK scores than applicants who did not. This is an association—not a cutoff, guarantee, or prediction for an individual applicant.
NRMP publishes separate reports for U.S. MD seniors, U.S. DO seniors, U.S.-citizen IMGs, and non-U.S.-citizen IMGs. Use the report for the relevant applicant group, review the full score distribution and sample size, and interpret scores alongside the rest of the application. NRMP explicitly states that its historical resource is not designed to predict success or failure in the Match.
2026 Step 2 CK medians by specialty
| Preferred specialty | Median Step 2 CK | Middle 50% (Q1–Q3) |
|---|---|---|
| Anesthesiology | 255 | 247–263 |
| Child Neurology | 251 | 240–260 |
| Dermatology | 258 | 251–266 |
| Emergency Medicine | 249 | 240–258 |
| Family Medicine | 244 | 233–254 |
| Internal Medicine | 254 | 243–262 |
| Internal Medicine/Pediatrics | 255 | 246–262 |
| Interventional Radiology (Integrated) | 255 | 246–264 |
| Neurological Surgery | 256 | 249–264 |
| Neurology | 252 | 242–261 |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology | 253 | 244–261 |
| Orthopaedic Surgery | 259 | 250–266 |
| Otolaryngology | 261 | 250–266 |
| Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical | 247 | 240–258 |
| Pediatrics | 249 | 239–259 |
| Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation | 251 | 241–259 |
| Plastic Surgery (Integrated) | 259 | 250–265 |
| Psychiatry | 247 | 236–256 |
| Radiation Oncology | 251 | 238–261 |
| Radiology-Diagnostic | 257 | 249–265 |
| Surgery-General | 255 | 245–262 |
| Thoracic Surgery (Integrated) | 260 | 256–265 |
| Vascular Surgery (Integrated) | 256 | 248–264 |
Source: NRMP 2026 Charting Outcomes for U.S. MD Seniors. These are historical medians for a specific consenting applicant group—not recommended scores, program thresholds, or universal targets.
Applicants can explore the 2026 NRMP Step 2 CK Exam Baseline and review the MedBoardTutors residency Match guide for broader application context.
Step 3 lookup
2026 USMLE Step 3 Score Percentiles
Step 3 is the final examination in the USMLE sequence and is used by state medical licensing authorities. Passing Step 3 alone does not satisfy every licensure requirement. The current Step 3 norm table is based on 64,576 first-time examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools who tested from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025.
| Step 3 score | Percentile rank | Interpretation note |
|---|---|---|
| 275 | 100th | Official anchor; not a fellowship guarantee |
| 270 | 100th | Official anchor |
| 265 | 100th | Official anchor |
| 260 | 99th | Official anchor |
| 255 | 97th | Official anchor |
| 250 | 93rd | Official anchor |
| 245 | 88th | Official anchor |
| 240 | 80th | Official anchor |
| 235 | 69th | Official anchor |
| 230 | 56th | Official anchor |
| 225 | 43rd | Official anchor |
| 220 | 31st | Official anchor |
| 215 | 20th | Official anchor |
| 210 | 12th | Official anchor |
| 205 | 7th | Official anchor |
| 200 | 4th | Current passing score and official anchor |
Source: USMLE Score Interpretation Guidelines, updated April 29, 2026. Step 2 CK and Step 3 scores are not directly comparable even when the three-digit numbers are identical.
What Is a Good Step 3 Score?
The answer depends on why the result is being evaluated. The official mean among first-time examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools was 227 with an SD of 15 in 2025. A score of 230 is at the 56th percentile, 240 is at the 80th, and 250 is at the 93rd.
For many examinees, passing is the immediate objective. USMLE states that Step 3 is usually taken during the first or second year of postgraduate training. Its role in residency or fellowship selection varies by applicant and program; the cited sources do not establish a universal fellowship score target. See the USMLE Common Questions for official timing context.
If a first attempt did not go as planned, see the MedBoardTutors guide to preparing after a failed Step 3 attempt and confirm current retake rules with USMLE.
Current standards
What Are the Current USMLE Minimum Passing Scores?
Step 1 is reported as pass/fail for examinations administered on or after January 26, 2022. The current Step 2 CK passing standard is 218 for examinations administered on or after July 1, 2025, and the current Step 3 passing standard is 200 for examinations administered on or after January 1, 2024.
| Exam | Current minimum result | Applies to exams on or after |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Pass/fail reporting | January 26, 2022 |
| Step 2 CK | 218 | July 1, 2025 |
| Step 3 | 200 | January 1, 2024 |
Current Step 1 score reports do not include a percentile.
The standard increased from 198 for exams on or after January 1.
The standard increased from 214 for exams on or after July 1.
Verify future changes on the official USMLE Examination Results and Scoring page.
Does USMLE Step 1 Have Percentiles?
Current Step 1 results do not include a three-digit score or percentile. Exams administered on or after January 26, 2022 are reported as pass or fail. Historical numeric scores may remain on transcripts for older examinations, but they should not be presented as current Step 1 percentile benchmarks.
Performance data
USMLE First-Time Pass Rates
The latest published USMLE performance data report the following first-time pass rates. Step 2 CK uses the 2024–2025 academic-year period; Step 1 and Step 3 use calendar-year 2025. These are group-level descriptions, not predictions of an individual examinee’s outcome.
| Exam | U.S. MD-granting schools | U.S. DO-granting schools | Non-U.S. schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | 93% | 89% | 75% |
| Step 2 CK | 98% | 96% | 90% |
| Step 3 | 96% | 97% | 88% |
Repeat-examination pass rates were lower in the same reporting periods. For Step 2 CK they were 70% for examinees from U.S. MD-granting schools, 69% for examinees from U.S. DO-granting schools, and 64% for examinees from non-U.S. schools. These categories describe the schools examinees attended; they are not citizenship categories.
Source: USMLE Performance Data. Beginning in 2025, examinees from Canadian schools are grouped with non-U.S. schools in these performance data.
Transparency
Sources and Methodology
The percentile values in this guide reproduce selected official five-point anchors from the USMLE Score Interpretation Guidelines, updated April 29, 2026. The Step 2 explorer uses only those published anchors and does not interpolate between them.
- Step 2 CK norm cohort: first-time examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools testing July 1, 2022–June 30, 2025; N=67,934.
- Step 3 norm cohort: first-time examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools testing January 1, 2023–December 31, 2025; N=64,576.
- In 2023 and 2024, the LCME group included U.S. and Canadian medical schools. Beginning in 2025, Canadian schools were removed from that norm group.
- These percentiles do not represent every USMLE examinee or every IMG.
- USMLE updates its norm table annually by removing older cohorts and adding newer ones, so percentile values can change.
- Step 2 CK and Step 3 scores are not directly comparable even though both use a three-digit scale.
Common searches
Frequently Asked Questions About USMLE Score Percentiles
What percentile is a 250 on Step 2 CK?
A Step 2 CK score of 250 is at the 47th percentile in the current official norm table. That means 47% of first-time examinees in the specified LCME-accredited-medical-school reference cohort scored lower than 250.
What percentile is a 260 on Step 2 CK?
A Step 2 CK score of 260 is at the 74th percentile in the current official norm table.
What percentile is a 270 on Step 2 CK?
A Step 2 CK score of 270 is at the 94th percentile in the current official norm table.
What percentile is a 240 on Step 3?
A Step 3 score of 240 is at the 80th percentile in the current official norm table.
Does Step 1 have a percentile?
Current Step 1 examinations do not report a percentile. Results have been reported as pass or fail for exams administered on or after January 26, 2022.
Can I retake a passed USMLE Step to improve my score?
No. USMLE does not allow a passed Step to be retaken solely to raise a score. Its narrowly defined exceptions include a medical-licensing-authority-sponsored retake after the applicant has completed the full USMLE sequence and met every other jurisdictional licensing requirement, once the jurisdiction’s time limit has expired. USMLE also describes an exception for someone who, when applying and testing, is enrolled in an LCME- or COCA-accredited MD or DO program; has passed Step 1 and/or Step 2 CK but not Step 3; expects to graduate six or more years after first passing Step 1 and/or Step 2 CK; and is otherwise eligible. If you have not yet passed Step 3 and you retake a previously passed Step 1 or Step 2 CK under an approved exception, failing the retake makes you ineligible to take Step 3. See the USMLE Bulletin eligibility rules and USMLE Common Questions.
How often do USMLE percentile rankings change?
USMLE updates the norm table annually by dropping older cohorts and adding newer ones. Always check the source date and cohort before relying on a percentile conversion.
Does a percentile predict whether I will match?
No. A percentile describes how a score compares with a defined reference group; it does not calculate an applicant’s probability of matching. NRMP likewise states that its historical Charting Outcomes resource is not designed to predict Match success or failure.
Bottom line
How to Use USMLE Percentiles in Your Study and Match Strategy
USMLE score percentiles are most useful as context. They can show how a Step 2 CK or Step 3 score compares with a recent reference group, but they cannot define an applicant’s competitiveness by themselves. Use the latest official norm table, select residency data for the correct applicant group and specialty, and interpret small score differences cautiously.
Then build the plan around the full picture: content mastery, clinical performance, letters, experiences, interviews, program fit, and a realistic application strategy—not one score in isolation.