ASVAB scores, three kinds on one report

• Standard scores, one per subtest. They compare you with a national reference group on that subtest alone; the scale is in the table above.
• The AFQT. One percentile built from four subtests. This is the number that decides whether you can enlist.
• Line scores. Sums of subtests that each branch uses to place you in jobs, such as the Army GT. They are on line scores.

When someone asks "what did you get on the ASVAB?", they almost always mean the AFQT.

The Armed Forces Qualification Test score comes from four subtests: Arithmetic Reasoning, Math Knowledge, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension go in together as one Verbal Expression (VE) score.

The result runs from 1 to 99 and is a rank, not a share of right answers. An AFQT of 70 means you scored as well as or better than 70 percent of the reference group, not that you answered 70 percent of the questions. The comparison group and its year are in the table above.

The AFQT floors the branches publish:

• Army: 31
• Marine Corps: 31, with more for some specialties
• Air Force: 31 with a high school diploma (seniors and graduates); 50 with a GED
• Coast Guard: 32

The Navy and the Space Force publish no single number; the full list with sources is on ASVAB scores by branch.

Not exactly. Many sites print a formula with Verbal Expression counted twice and call it official, but officialasvab.com, which runs the test, does not publish the weights. Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension are also converted into a scaled VE score first, and this site found no published table for that step.

So every "AFQT calculator" online is an estimate built on assumptions. Only the figure printed on your score report is real.

Recruiters group AFQT percentiles into categories: Category I 93–99, II 65–92, IIIA 50–64, IIIB 31–49, IVA 21–30, IVB 16–20, IVC 10–15, V 1–9.

Category IV is also capped by statute: under 10 U.S.C. § 520, recruits with an AFQT of 10 to 30 may make up at most 4% of a service's enlistments in a fiscal year, and a recruit without a high school diploma needs at least 31. In practice that keeps scores below 31 rare among new recruits.

It depends on the door you want to open:

• To enlist at all: clear your branch's AFQT floor (scores by branch).
• For the job you want: clear its line-score minimums, which are often the harder bar (jobs by score).
• For incentives: higher AFQT categories can matter for enlistment incentives; see the note on categories in the table above.

The highest AFQT is 99. An "average" AFQT has a precise meaning: a percentile of 50 is the middle of the reference group by construction.

For enlistment, a score can be used for 2 years from the test date, and a retest is needed once that window closes.

Score that counts: on the Army's wording, your most recent score, not your best, so a retest can lower your standing. Retake when you have actually studied, not to try your luck. The waits between attempts are on retakes.