There is no single MPRE passing score.
NCBE reports every result on a scale from 50 to 150, and each jurisdiction sets its own minimum: required scores run from 75 to 86, with 21 jurisdictions requiring an 85 and 20 requiring an 80 — nearly even.
Two jurisdictions, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico, do not require the MPRE at all.
Here is the full table, plus score validity and transfers.
What score do you need to pass the MPRE?
There is no single passing score.
NCBE reports every MPRE result as a scaled score from 50 (low) to 150 (high), and each jurisdiction sets its own minimum on that scale — NCBE reports the scores, but the admitting authority decides what passes.
The requirement itself is near-universal: the MPRE is required for bar admission in every U.S. jurisdiction except Wisconsin and Puerto Rico, and Connecticut and New Jersey also accept successful completion of a law school course on professional responsibility in lieu of a passing score.
As for the number: per NCBE's jurisdiction pages as of October 2026, required minimums run from 75 to 86.
The lowest, 75, applies in eight jurisdictions including Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia; the highest, 86, applies in California and Utah.
In between, the field splits nearly evenly — 21 jurisdictions require an 85 and 20 require an 80, so no single number describes the country.
Confirm the score before you schedule around it
MPRE passing scores by state: the full table
Every jurisdiction NCBE lists appears below — all 56 of them — with the minimum scaled score its admitting authority requires, per NCBE's jurisdiction pages as of October 2026.
| Jurisdiction | Minimum MPRE score |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 75 |
| Alaska | 80 |
| Arizona | 85 |
| Arkansas | 85 |
| California | 86 |
| Colorado | 85 |
| Connecticut | 80 — or a law-school professional responsibility course |
| Delaware | 85 |
| District of Columbia | 75 |
| Florida | 80 |
| Georgia | 75 |
| Guam | 80 |
| Hawaii | 85 |
| Idaho | 85 |
| Illinois | 80 |
| Indiana | 80 |
| Iowa | 80 |
| Kansas | 80 |
| Kentucky | 80 |
| Louisiana | 80 |
| Maine | 80 |
| Maryland | 85 |
| Massachusetts | 85 |
| Michigan | 85 |
| Minnesota | 85 |
| Mississippi | 75 |
| Missouri | 80 |
| Montana | 80 |
| Nebraska | 85 |
| Nevada | 85 |
| New Hampshire | 79 |
| New Jersey | 75 — or a law-school professional responsibility course |
| New Mexico | 80 |
| New York | 85 |
| North Carolina | 80 |
| North Dakota | 85 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 80 |
| Ohio | 85 |
| Oklahoma | 80 |
| Oregon | 85 |
| Palau | 75 |
| Pennsylvania | 75 |
| Puerto Rico | Not required |
| Rhode Island | 80 |
| South Carolina | 77 |
| South Dakota | 85 |
| Tennessee | 82 |
| Texas | 85 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 75 |
| Utah | 86 |
| Vermont | 80 |
| Virginia | 85 |
| Washington | 85 |
| West Virginia | 80 |
| Wisconsin | Not required |
| Wyoming | 85 |
Read as a distribution, the board splits this way: 21 jurisdictions require 85 and 20 require 80; eight sit at 75; one each at 77 (South Carolina), 79 (New Hampshire) and 82 (Tennessee); and two at the top at 86.
The exam itself is scored on a 50–150 scale, so every minimum on the board sits in the lower half of the scale.
Which states do not require the MPRE?
Two: Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.
NCBE's jurisdiction page for each lists the MPRE as not required, and NCBE's own overview of the exam counts them as the only two U.S. jurisdictions that leave it out of admission.
A near-miss category matters too.
Connecticut and New Jersey post minimums of 80 and 75, but NCBE notes both accept successful completion of a law school course on professional responsibility in lieu of a passing score — an alternative those two jurisdictions run, and whose details are theirs to confirm.
Where the MPRE does apply, how it fits with the rest of a state's admission process is the territory of the bar admission requirements by state guide.
How long is an MPRE score valid?
Deliberately, this is the question this page answers least well.
NCBE's jurisdiction pages state each jurisdiction's minimum score, but the pages we read in October 2026 do not lay out score-validity windows jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and our research did not capture them — so there is no validity table here, and we will not invent one.
One example is on the record: Louisiana requires a scaled score of 80 on the MPRE, and its passing score is valid for five years from the date of the examination.
Beyond Louisiana, treat validity as an open question and ask it directly — the bar admission authority where you intend to apply can say whether a score from an earlier exam still counts.
Transferring MPRE scores to another jurisdiction
The exam is national, so a score can travel — but NCBE's reporting moves it, not the exam itself.
If your score needs to reach a jurisdiction beyond the one that first received it, you order an MPRE Score Report from NCBE, and each report costs $30.
Two things keep that from being automatic portability.
Each jurisdiction sets its own cut score on the 50–150 scale, so a result that cleared one minimum can miss another.
And the validity question above comes with the score: our research captured no validity windows beyond Louisiana's, so whether an older result still counts is something to confirm with the destination jurisdiction.
Confirm both before you pay for the report.
Career information, not legal advice. MPRE minimums are set jurisdiction by jurisdiction; confirm yours with the bar admission authority where you intend to practice, and with NCBE for score reporting and transfers.