What is a good GMAT score?

The short answer

A good GMAT score is not one fixed number. GMAC frames the question in terms of percentiles and notes that a score above 605 places you in the competitive top 30% of test takers (accessed 2026-08-07). What counts as good for you also depends on the programs you are targeting and the range they tend to admit. So the honest short answer is that good is relative, and the useful questions are which percentile you want and which schools you are aiming at.

The 205 to 805 scale

Before the benchmarks make sense, you need the scale they sit on. The GMAT Focus Total Score runs from 205 to 805, and each section is scored from 60 to 90 (accessed 2026-08-07). The total is built from your section performance, so a strong section can pull the whole score up. Knowing these endpoints stops you from reading a Focus number as if it were an old 200 to 800 result, which would badly distort your sense of where you stand.

The percentile anchors

Percentiles turn a raw total into a rank among test takers. In GMAC's January 2024 concordance table, built on 2017 to 2022 data, a total around 545 to 555 sits near the 50th percentile, 605 near the 75th, and 655 near the 90th (accessed 2026-08-07). Read against those anchors, a score above 605 lands in the top 30% of test takers (accessed 2026-08-07). So the middle of the scale is roughly the median, and each step up from there buys a larger jump in rank than the last.

Setting a target from your programs

To set your own target, start from the schools rather than the scale. Look up the typical total range each program reports, then aim for the upper end of that range instead of its midpoint. Because a total above 605 already reaches the top 30% of test takers (accessed 2026-08-07), many strong applicants aim at or above that mark. Turn your target into a section by section plan, and you end up with a goal that is specific to you rather than a generic idea of a good score.

Sources

Every source below was accessed on the listed date. Pages — especially department admissions pages — change without notice; the links go to the live versions.

1. Evolving the Score Scale with the GMAT Focus Edition — GMAC. Accessed 2026-08-07.
2. GMAT Total Score Concordance Table (January 2024, 2017–2022 data) — GMAC. Accessed 2026-08-07.
3. What Is A Good GMAT Score? — GMAC. Accessed 2026-08-07.