LSAT Performance With Regional, Gender, Racial and Ethnic, Repeater, and Disability Breakdowns: 2018-2019 Through 2022-2023 Testing Years (TR 24-01)

The purpose of this report is to provide summary information about Law School Admission Test (LSAT) performance, including performance classified by country, United States region, gender, race and ethnicity, repeater status, and disability status, including trends on LSAT testing accommodations. Information on LSAT performance is summarized for the 5 testing years from 2018-2019 through 2022-2023.

The reader should bear in mind that these test takers chose to take the LSAT themselves and were not randomly chosen to be tested. Test takers voluntarily chose whether to respond to region, gender, and race and ethnicity questions, and they decided how they would respond. As a result, differences in LSAT performance across regional, gender, or race and ethnicity subgroups only apply to those who chose to take the LSAT and identified themselves as belonging to those subgroups.

Several high-level trends are included below. Download the full report (PDF) for additional insights and details.

General Trends

• The overall distribution of LSAT scores remained consistent across all 5 testing years with the exception of the 2020-2021 testing year, in which a slight increase in LSAT scores was observed.
• Average LSAT scores were slightly higher for test takers who tested between June and November compared to test takers who tested between January and May.

Trends Regarding Geographic Regions

• The percentage of test takers who took the LSAT in each region of the United States remained steady across the 5 testing years, although the percentage of test takers from the Northeast generally decreased while the percentage of test takers from the South Central and Southeast generally increased. The highest percentage of test takers tested in the Northeast region across all 5 testing years; the smallest percentage tested in the Northwest region.
• The performance of test takers from the various regions of the United States, on average, remained steady across the 5 testing years. Test takers in the New England and Northwest regions had the highest average scores, whereas test takers in the Southeast region had the lowest.

Trends Regarding Gender

• Introduced as a gender category in the 2019-2020 testing year, the Gender Diverse category saw the greatest growth of all gender categories in terms of the percentage of test takers self-identifying according to gender.
• Test takers identifying as gender diverse and test takers who did not indicate their gender scored higher, on average, than test takers identifying as either men or women.

Trends Regarding Race and Ethnicity

• Caucasian/White test takers made up the largest percentage of test takers over the 5 testing years. Black/African American test takers made up the second largest percentage.
• Average LSAT scores were highest for Asian test takers, Caucasian/White test takers, and test takers who did not indicate their race and ethnicity. Black/African American test takers and Puerto Rican test takers had the lowest average LSAT scores.

Trends Regarding Repeater Status

• The percentage of repeat test takers rose steadily across all 5 testing years, with 48.3% of test takers in the 2022-2023 testing year being repeaters.
• First-time test takers averaged around two fewer points on their LSAT score compared to repeat test takers.

Trends Regarding Disability Status and Testing Accommodations

• The number of total accommodation requests rose each year, with around 98% of accommodation requests being approved in the 2022-2023 testing year. Only 63% of test takers with approved accommodations took the LSAT.
• Accommodation requests relating to a diagnosis of ADHD made up the largest proportion of requests over the 5 testing years, at around 37% of all requests. Hearing accommodations made up the smallest, at around 1%.