Minimum ASVAB score for each branch in 2026
Type your AFQT and pick diploma or GED: the calculator compares it with the floor each branch publishes on its recruiting site.
Army minimum
31
Your AFQT 33 meets it.
| Branches whose published minimum you meet | 4 / 4 |
| Category IIIB | 31 - 49 |
Navy: navy.com refused automated reading on the day of the check, so no figure is shown. Space Force: its site asks for a “qualifying ASVAB score” without a number.
| Branch | Minimum | Your AFQT |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 31 | Meets the minimum |
| Air Force | 31 | Meets the minimum |
| Navy | not published | No figure published |
| Marine Corps | 31 | Meets the minimum |
| Coast Guard | 32 | Meets the minimum |
| Space Force | not published | No figure published |
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · official sources read on October 22, 2026 · published formulas and tables
The minimum ASVAB score is a minimum AFQT percentile, and each branch sets its own. Read on the recruiting sites on October 22, 2026: the Army asks 31, the Air Force 31 with a high school diploma and 50 with a GED, the Marine Corps 31 or 50 with a GED or nontraditional diploma, and the Coast Guard 32. The Space Force asks for a qualifying ASVAB score without giving a number. For the Navy, navy.com refused automated reading on the day of the check, so this site publishes no figure rather than copy one it cannot verify. An AFQT of 31 corresponds to a sum of 183 on AR + MK + 2VE, and 50 to a sum of 202. Federal law adds two rules: at least 31 for anyone without a high school diploma, and a cap on recruits between 10 and 30.
The minimums, branch by branch
Each figure below was read on the recruiting site of the branch, which is the reference a recruiter uses with applicants. The Army site gives 31 and describes a preparatory course for applicants from 21. The Air Force site gives 31 for seniors and graduates and 50 for GED holders. The Marine Corps site gives 31, or 50 with a GED or nontraditional diploma. The Coast Guard site gives 32 and notes that officer programs have other test requirements. The Space Force site asks for a qualifying ASVAB score and an age of 17 to 42.
| Branch | Minimum AFQT | GED | Sum AR + MK + 2VE | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 31 | no separate figure | 183 | read |
| Air Force | 31 | 50 | 183 | read |
| Navy | not published | site refused reading | ||
| Marine Corps | 31 | 50 | 183 | read |
| Coast Guard | 32 | no separate figure | 184 | read |
| Space Force | not published | read |
The rules of the law
Section 520 of title 10 of the United States Code applies to every service. It caps active duty recruits whose AFQT falls from the 10th to the 30th percentile at 4 percent of the year's enlistments, a limit the Secretary of Defense may raise up to 20 percent at a service's request. It also requires a person who is not a high school graduate to score at or above the 31st percentile, while forbidding a refusal based only on the lack of a diploma when the enlistment is needed to meet strength requirements. The branch floors are set within these rules.
Do your scores reach 31?
AFQT percentile
32
| Composite AR + MK + 2VE | 184 |
| VE counts twice | 2 × 46 = 92 |
| Points to reach 50 | 18 on the sum (9 on VE alone) |
Diploma or GED
The education credential changes the floor in two branches. With a GED, the Air Force and the Marine Corps ask an AFQT of 50 instead of 31, a sum of 202 instead of 183, which is a large gap: about nineteen points of sum, or ten points of VE. The GED page works through that case. The Army and the Coast Guard pages read for this site give one figure without a separate GED floor; a recruiter can tell you whether another rule applies to your credential.
Minimum is not the target
Meeting the floor makes you eligible to apply, not to the job you want. Jobs read line scores, and some programs set their own AFQT or composite thresholds well above the branch floor. Applicants in Category IIIA, from 50, may qualify for incentives. If your AFQT is close to 31, aim higher before your first test, since retests follow waiting periods of one month, one month, then six months. The good score page and the line score calculator show what lies beyond the floor.
What is missing on this page
Three figures are not published here. The Navy minimum, because navy.com refused automated reading on the day of the check and no other official Navy page could be read. A Space Force number, because its site gives none. Job minimums for the Army and the Marine Corps, because their current lists could not be read in full. Third party pages print numbers for all of them, often different from one site to the next, and some contradict the branches: one listed the Coast Guard at 36 while its own site says 32. When a figure matters for your decision, the recruiter's printout prevails.
Before you book the test
A recruiter often starts with a short screening, such as the AFQT Predictor Test, before sending an applicant to a MEPS. Its score is a prediction only. If your practice results put you near the floor of the branch you want, use the weeks before the real test on the subtests that move the AFQT, AR, MK, WK and PC, and keep VE in mind since it counts twice. Then check the printed AFQT against the table above the day you get it.