What Are the COMLEX Score Percentiles?

COMLEX-USA works differently from the USMLE when it comes to percentiles. NBOME does not print a percentile on your score report. Instead, once each testing cycle ends, it estimates percentiles and publishes them through its Percentile Score Converter (NBOME, percentile scores). We ran the converter for the most recent complete cycles; the tables below are its output.

By Dr. Sahith Valluru, Director of Strategic Operations and Professor. For The Boards Professor, founded by Dr. Sean Moazezi, DO. Published October 21, 2026, updated October 28, 2026.

1. Know what an NBOME percentile is

NBOME describes the percentile as your rank in relation to other candidates who took the same Level for the first time during the same testing cycle. Your three-digit score is a scaled standard score, not a count of questions answered correctly (NBOME, examination scores). Because each cycle has its own group, the same three-digit score can map to different percentiles in different years. NBOME usually updates percentiles in July or August once a cycle is complete.

2. Look up Level 2-CE

Level 2-CE passes at 400. These percentiles are for the June 2025 to April 2026 cycle:

Source: NBOME Percentile Score Converter, queried October 21, 2026. For candidates testing from June 2026, NBOME offers interim percentiles for the 2026-2027 cycle; it labels them preliminary until the cycle closes on April 24, 2027.

Reading the table: a 525 sat at about the middle of the 2025-2026 group (51st percentile), and the passing score of 400 was the 8th percentile. Near the middle, every 25 points moves you about 10 percentile places.

3. Look up Level 3

Level 3 passes at 350 (NBOME). These percentiles are for calendar year 2025:

Level 3 scores spread more widely than Level 2-CE scores: a 575 was the 52nd percentile on Level 3 but the 71st on Level 2-CE. Do not compare the two Levels using the same three-digit number. Level 3 also changes format on January 13, 2027, when it becomes a one-day exam, so expect the next cycles' percentiles to be built on the new exam.

4. Understand why Level 1 has no current percentile

COMLEX Level 1 has reported only pass or fail since May 10, 2022. NBOME's converter therefore offers Level 1 percentiles only up to the 2021-2022 cycle. As with USMLE Step 1, any current Level 1 percentile chart describes old three-digit scores.

5. Use the converter yourself

• Open the NBOME Percentile Score Converter.
• Enter your three-digit score.
• Choose the exam Level.
• Choose the date range that contains your test date, not the most recent one.
• Select Convert. The percentile appears on the right.

Choosing the wrong date range is the most common mistake: a score from an earlier cycle should be read against that cycle's group.

6. Read the performance profile with care

NBOME notes that the discipline and blueprint profiles on your report are less reliable than the total score and are not additive, so you cannot add them up to predict a total or a pass. Use them to find patterns, not to recalculate your result (NBOME).

7. Plan around the numbers

This part is our advice. If you are taking both COMLEX and USMLE, remember that the two scales are unrelated: there is no official conversion between a COMLEX score and a USMLE score. Set separate targets for each, and build one study plan that covers both. Our COMLEX tutoring page and the Level 2-CE and Level 3 pages explain how we do that.

Level 2-CE score ranges at a glance

Percentile ranges come from NBOME's converter at each band's edges.

What Level 2-CE scores mean for residency

NRMP's Charting Outcomes for U.S. DO seniors in the 2026 Main Residency Match reports the median COMLEX Level 2-CE score of matched and unmatched applicants by specialty. Across all specialties, the median was 532 for DO seniors who matched and 503 for those who did not.

Specialties with fewer than 90 matched DO seniors are left out because their medians rest on very small groups. A median is the middle matched applicant, not a cut-off.

Worked example: using the converter

Say you scored 560 on Level 2-CE in the 2025-2026 cycle. The table above puts 550 at the 62nd percentile and 575 at the 71st, so 560 sits in the mid-60s; the converter gives the exact figure. Against NRMP's data, 560 is above the matched median for internal medicine (530) and family medicine (493) and close to obstetrics and gynecology (563).

Should a DO student also take Step 2 CK?

NRMP's DO report also gives the median Step 2 CK score for DO seniors who took it: 247 for those who matched and 240 for those who did not. Whether to take it is a strategic call that depends on the specialty and the programs you are applying to. This is our view: if your target programs are mostly ACGME programs that historically took MD graduates, a USMLE score removes one reason to pass on your application. See COMLEX Level 2-CE vs Step 2 CK.

A Level 2-CE timeline

Worked example: the same score in two cycles

Because NBOME computes percentiles per cycle, a score's percentile can move from one year to the next. That is why you should always choose the date range that contains your test date in the converter. When programs or advisors quote a COMLEX percentile, ask which cycle it came from before comparing it with yours.

Level 2-CE versus Level 3 at the same score

From NBOME's converter. The same number means less on Level 3 than on Level 2-CE, so never carry a Level 2-CE target over to Level 3.

A target-setting checklist for DO students

• Find your specialty's matched median Level 2-CE score in NRMP's DO report.
• Convert it to a percentile with NBOME's converter for the current cycle.
• Set a target band around it, not a single number.
• Take COMSAE practice tests under real timing and track the trend.
• If you also take Step 2 CK, set a separate USMLE target; the scales are unrelated.

See NRMP's DO report and our scores by specialty guide.

Level 2-CE score by score

Percentiles from NBOME's converter. Margin above the 400 passing score is shown because, for many DO students, a comfortable pass matters more than the percentile.

Reading the score report itself

Your COMLEX report shows the three-digit standard score, the pass or fail result and a graphical performance profile by discipline and blueprint area. NBOME explains that the three-digit score is a standard score derived from the number of questions answered correctly, with every scored question counting equally, and that it does not equal the raw number correct (NBOME). The percentile is not on the report; you look it up afterwards.

When are COMLEX scores released?

NBOME does not release scores one by one. Each level has testing windows, and everyone who tests in a window gets results on the same release date (NBOME testing windows and score release dates). For Level 1 and Level 2-CE, release usually comes two to six weeks after the window closes; for Level 3, eight to ten weeks. The next releases for 2026-2027:

From NBOME’s release calendar, checked October 28, 2026. NBOME can change dates; the linked page is the authority.

Level	If you test between	Scores released
Level 1	Sep 24 – Oct 23, 2026	Nov 5, 2026
Level 1	Oct 24 – Nov 25, 2026	Dec 8, 2026
Level 1	Nov 26 – Dec 31, 2026	Jan 12, 2027
Level 1	Jan 2 – Jan 27, 2027	Feb 9, 2027
Level 1	Jan 28 – Mar 5, 2027	Mar 23, 2027
Level 1	Mar 6 – Apr 10, 2027	Apr 22, 2027
Level 2-CE	Oct 10 – Nov 10, 2026	Nov 24, 2026
Level 2-CE	Nov 12 – Dec 4, 2026	Dec 17, 2026
Level 2-CE	Dec 5, 2026 – Jan 8, 2027	Jan 21, 2027
Level 2-CE	Jan 9 – Feb 12, 2027	Feb 25, 2027
Level 2-CE	Feb 13 – Mar 17, 2027	Mar 30, 2027
Level 2-CE	Mar 18 – Apr 24, 2027	May 6, 2027
Level 3	Sep 14 – Oct 10, 2026	Nov 19, 2026
Level 3	Oct 26 – Nov 14, 2026	Jan 7, 2027
Level 3	Nov 30 – Dec 19, 2026	Feb 11, 2027
Level 3	Jan 13 – Feb 6, 2027	Apr 8, 2027

Three things to plan around:

• Pick the window, not just the day. Testing on the first day of a window means a longer wait than testing on the last. If a deadline matters, choose a date inside a window whose release comes in time.
• Your percentile comes later still. NBOME computes percentiles from the whole cycle and usually updates them in July or August (NBOME percentile scores). For Level 2-CE in the 2026-2027 cycle, NBOME offers interim percentiles for candidates testing after August 25, 2026, labelled preliminary.
• Level 3 changes format in January 2027. From January 13, 2027 it becomes a one-day exam, and the 2027 windows above are the first under the new format.

Getting from the score you have to the one you need

A percentile tells you where you stand; it does not tell you what to fix. When DO students come to us after a low Level 2-CE, we start with the performance profile, sort misses by competency and discipline, and set the next practice checkpoint on the same scale. Matthew’s retake is a fair example of how far a structured plan can move a score:

“After failing my initial attempt with a 361, I knew I needed a different approach.”

Matthew D., COMLEX Level 2-CE

One-on-one COMLEX tutoring with The Boards Professor costs $349 per 50-minute session, online by live video (Zoom or Google Meet). Read how Level 2-CE tutoring works, or book a free intro consult.