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The national numbers.

The USMLE pass rates and score norms that define the playing field — national first-time pass rates for Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3, with year and source on every figure.

Unofficial guide. This site is independent — not affiliated with the AAMC, NBME, USMLE, LCME, or NRMP. These are national figures from the official published sources, summarized here with citations. Your school has its own cohort numbers, which it reports to you directly.

Step 1 first-time pass rates

Step 1 became pass/fail in January 2022, and the passing standard was raised from 194 to 196 at the same time. The "pass/fail effect" is visible below: the national first-time pass rate for U.S. MD students fell from 96% to 93% in one year.

YearU.S. MD first-timeU.S. DO first-time
202196%94%
202293%89%
202392%87%
202491%86%

Source: USMLE Performance Data, published by the USMLE program. "First-time" means first attempt; eventual pass rates are higher and are a different number — never conflate them.

Step 2 CK norms

Since Step 1 went pass/fail, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge is the score residency programs see — and its pass rate is far higher than Step 1's, while the mean score has stayed put.

MeasureFigurePeriod
U.S. MD first-time pass rate98%2022–2024
U.S. DO first-time pass rate96%2022–2024
Mean score (first-time takers)2492023–2024
Passing standard218Raised July 2025
Repeat-taker pass rate, U.S. MD74%2023–2024
Repeat-taker pass rate, U.S. DO72%2023–2024

Source: USMLE Performance Data. Note the repeat-taker drop: the pass rate falls to roughly three-quarters on a second attempt. Our read: first-attempt pass is a career variable, not just a school metric.

Step 3

MeasureFigurePeriod
U.S. MD first-time pass rate97%2024

Source: USMLE Performance Data. Step 3 is taken during residency — mentioned here for completeness; it doesn't affect your residency application.

The residency stakes. The 2024 NRMP Program Director Survey documents the applicant factors directors weigh when deciding whom to interview. That makes the first-attempt pass rate above more than a school statistic — it's the number that protects your application.

Source: NRMP 2024 Program Director Survey.

How to read these numbers

  • First-time vs. eventual. These are all first-attempt figures. Eventual pass rates (after retakes) are higher. When a school quotes its pass rate, ask which one it is.
  • Year matters. Never average across years in a way that hides a trend — the Step 1 table above shows why.
  • Distance from national, not a fixed bar. Regulators don't use a fixed pass-rate cutoff; they look at how far a school sits below the national rate. The same idea applies to you: what matters is where you are relative to the national picture, not whether you clear some magic number.

What to do with the numbers

Pass-likelihood estimator

Enter your MCAT and preclinical performance to get an estimated Step 1 pass likelihood and projected Step 2 CK range — benchmark-based, fully transparent about its limits.

Try the estimator →

Match explorer

See what Step 2 CK scores actually matched to each specialty in the 2024 NRMP Charting Outcomes — observed rates by score band, all 16 specialties.

Explore the match data →

Step exams

Back to the overview: what Step 1 (pass/fail) and Step 2 CK (scored) mean for you, and where the SI exam resources live.

Read the overview →

Sources

Figures as published through 2026-09-30. The NBME and NRMP publish new data on their own schedules; check the official sites for the latest editions.