What Is a Good ATS Score?
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What is a good ATS score?
A good ATS score is generally 80 or above, with 90+ recommended for competitive roles and anything below about 60 needing real work. The score estimates how well a resume parses, matches a specific job's keywords, and reads — so it is a prioritization signal for fixes, not a guaranteed interview.
If you have run your resume through an ATS checker, you have seen a number — 72, 81, maybe a stark 54 — and immediately asked the obvious question: is that good? It is a fair thing to want a clear answer to, because the score feels like a grade, and a grade implies a passing mark. The honest version is a little messier, and worth understanding, because chasing the number for its own sake is one of the most common ways people waste time on a resume.
Here is the short version up front: most checkers treat 80 and above as a good score, 90+ as excellent and worth aiming for on competitive roles, and anything under about 60 as a signal that something real is broken. But those thresholds are guidance, not gospel — different tools score the same resume differently, and the score is always calculated against one specific job description. This page explains what the number actually measures, what each band means and what to do about it, how to lift a low score in the right order, and the caveat nobody selling a checker likes to say out loud: a high score does not guarantee an interview.
What a "good" ATS score actually is
Across the common free and paid checkers in 2026, the working consensus lands in roughly the same place. A score of 80 or higher is generally considered good — it means your resume parses cleanly, covers the expected sections, and matches a healthy share of the target job's keywords. For competitive, oversubscribed roles, 90+ is the level to aim for, because when hundreds of qualified people apply, a strong match is the price of being in the conversation at all. Below about 60, the score is telling you something structural is wrong: a formatting element the parser cannot read, a resume aimed at the wrong kind of role, or a near-total absence of the job's core terms.
So when people search "is 70 a good ATS score" or "is 72 a good ATS score," the most accurate answer is: it is borderline — fine, not great, and almost always improvable in twenty minutes. A 70-79 typically means the resume parses and is on-topic but is missing some of the job description's keywords or leans on weak, generic bullets. It rarely means anything is broken. It means there is easy room left on the table. Treat 80 as the line you want to clear and 90 as the stretch goal for jobs you really want.
One framing helps more than any threshold: the score is a prioritization signal, not a verdict. It exists to tell you where the next ten minutes of editing will do the most good — not to certify your resume or rank you as a candidate. A 78 with a clear list of missing keywords is more useful than an 88 with no explanation, because the 78 tells you exactly what to fix next.
What an ATS score actually measures
An ATS score is a single number rolled up from several different checks, and knowing the components tells you how to move it. Most checkers weight some mix of the following five things.
Crucially, every checker weights these differently and uses its own keyword list and parser, which is why the same resume can score 68 on one tool and 84 on another. The number is an estimate of fit, not a reading from the employer's actual system — most ATS checkers are third-party tools, not the Workday or Greenhouse instance the company really uses. That is the single most important thing to internalize: the score is directional, not absolute.
How to read each score band — and what to do
Because the components and weightings differ by tool, read the band rather than obsessing over the exact integer. Here is what each range usually means and the right move for it.
90-100: Excellent
The resume parses cleanly and matches the job well. There is little left to gain from the checker itself. Do a final human read for tone, truthfulness, and flow, confirm every keyword you added is something you can genuinely speak to in an interview, and move on — re-scoring endlessly past 90 is a poor use of time.
80-89: Good (the working target)
Solid and competitive for most roles. You are clearing the bar. If you are applying to a highly contested job, skim the missing-keyword list for a few high-value terms you legitimately qualify for and add them; otherwise, this is a fine place to stop and submit.
70-79: Borderline
This is the band most "is 72 a good score?" searches fall into. The resume is on-topic and parses, but it is leaving easy points on the table — usually missing job-description keywords or weak, generic bullets. Twenty minutes of targeted editing typically moves it into the 80s. Start with the keyword gaps the checker flags.
60-69: Needs work
Real gaps exist. Either the keyword match is thin (the resume may be aimed at a role it does not closely fit) or a formatting issue is degrading parsing. Check for parsing problems first, then close the biggest keyword gaps. If the resume genuinely does not match the role, that is useful information too.
Below 60: Failing
Something structural is wrong. The most common causes are a formatting blocker that breaks parsing (tables, columns, text in images, an unusual file type) or a resume targeted at the wrong type of role entirely. Fix the parsing blocker before you touch anything else — keyword tweaks are pointless if the parser cannot read the document.
How to improve a low ATS score — in the right order
The order matters, because fixing things out of sequence wastes effort. Work through these three stages top to bottom.
First, fix formatting blockers. If parsing is broken, nothing else counts, because the system cannot read the keywords you so carefully added. Convert any multi-column or table-based layout to a single column, remove text boxes, headers/footers, and images, put your contact details in the body rather than a header, use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills), and export as a text-based PDF or .docx — not a scanned image or an exotic format. A quick test: copy-paste your resume into a plain text editor. If the result is jumbled or missing chunks, the ATS sees the same mess.
Second, add the missing job-description keywords — honestly. Read the posting and mirror its exact language for skills, tools, certifications, and the job title, wherever those things are genuinely true of you. If the job says "Google Analytics" and you wrote "web analytics tools," use both. This is almost always the fastest single lever on the score. The hard rule: only add terms you can defend in an interview. Keyword-stuffing things you cannot do gets you read and then exposed.
Third, strengthen the bullets. Replace vague, generic lines with specific, quantified achievements. "Responsible for managing social media" is weak; "Grew Instagram following from 2K to 18K in 11 months by launching a weekly creator series" is strong — it carries keywords, a number, and an action in one line. This lifts the content-strength component and, more importantly, makes the resume convincing to the human who reads it after the ATS passes it through.
After each round, re-score — and always re-score against the specific job you are applying to. A resume that scores 88 for a marketing role may score 64 for a different posting, because the keyword set changed. The score is per-job, not a permanent property of your resume.
The honest caveat: a high score is not an interview
This is the part the tools selling you a score tend to underplay. A high ATS score means your resume is clean, well-structured, and well-matched to a job description's language. It does not mean you are qualified, that the timing is right, that the role is still open, or that you will beat the other well-matched applicants. The score measures the resume's readability and relevance — not your candidacy. People with 95 scores get rejected every day, and people with 70s get hired.
There is also the reality that most checkers are not the employer's real ATS. They are useful proxies that catch the big, common failure modes — broken parsing, missing keywords, weak bullets — and that is genuinely valuable, because those failure modes are exactly what silently sinks resumes. But do not mistake a green number for a job offer, and do not let a slightly-below-target score talk you out of applying to something you are clearly qualified for. The frequently-cited estimate that a large share of resumes are filtered out before a human sees them (the oft-quoted "75%" figure is a soft, widely-circulated approximation, not a hard measurement) is a reason to clear the parsing-and-keyword bar — not a reason to treat the score as destiny. Clear the bar, then let the substance of your experience do the rest.
The bottom line: what is a good ATS score?
Aim for 80 or higher, push for 90+ on competitive roles, and treat anything under 60 as a sign that something structural — usually formatting or a wrong-role mismatch — needs fixing before anything else. But hold those numbers loosely. Different checkers score the same resume differently, the score is always relative to one specific job description, and a high number proves your resume is clean and relevant, not that you have the interview. Use the score for what it is good at: telling you, quickly and concretely, where to spend your next ten minutes of editing.
If you want a score plus the specific fixes behind it — which keywords you are missing for a given posting, which formatting elements are breaking parsing, and which bullets are too weak — Resumly's free ATS checker gives you both the number and the prioritized list of changes, scored against the actual job you are targeting. It is free to start with no credit card, so you can fix the parsing blockers and keyword gaps first, then decide what else is worth your time. Get the resume clean and well-matched, and let your real qualifications carry it from there.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a good ATS score?
A good ATS score is generally 80 or above. Scores of 90+ are excellent and worth aiming for on competitive roles, 70-79 is borderline but usually easy to improve, and anything below about 60 signals a real problem — typically a formatting issue that breaks parsing or a resume aimed at the wrong role. The score is always calculated against one specific job description and is a prioritization signal for fixes, not a guaranteed interview.
Is 70 (or 72) a good ATS score?
A 70-72 is borderline — fine but not great, and almost always improvable. It usually means your resume parses cleanly and is on-topic, but it is missing some of the job description's keywords or leaning on generic bullets. Twenty minutes of targeted editing — adding the missing keywords you genuinely qualify for and strengthening a few bullets — typically lifts it into the 80s. It rarely means anything is broken; it means there are easy points left on the table.
Why do different ATS checkers give my resume different scores?
Because they are different tools, not the employer's actual ATS. Each checker uses its own parser, its own keyword list, and its own weighting of parsing, keyword match, section coverage, content strength, and readability. The same resume can score 68 on one and 84 on another. That is why the score should be read as a directional estimate and a prioritization signal — telling you what to fix next — rather than as an absolute grade.
What does an ATS score actually measure?
It rolls several checks into one number: how cleanly your resume parses (formatting), how well its text matches the target job's keywords, whether it includes the expected sections, how strong and specific the bullets are, and overall readability and length. Keyword match is usually the heaviest and most movable component, which is why the same resume scores differently against different job postings. The number estimates fit for one specific job, not your overall candidacy.
How do I improve a low ATS score fast?
Work in order. First fix formatting blockers — switch to a single-column layout, remove tables, text boxes, and images, use standard headings, and export as a text-based PDF or .docx — because broken parsing makes everything else pointless. Second, add the job description's missing keywords, but only ones you can honestly defend. Third, replace vague bullets with specific, quantified achievements. Then re-score against that exact job, since the score is per-posting.
Does a high ATS score guarantee an interview?
No. A high score means your resume is clean, well-structured, and well-matched to a job description's language — not that you are the strongest candidate, that the timing is right, or that you will beat other well-matched applicants. Most checkers are also not the employer's real ATS, just useful proxies. Clearing the parsing-and-keyword bar removes a common reason resumes get filtered out, but your actual qualifications, competition, and timing still decide the outcome.
Methodology
This comparison is based on publicly available pricing pages, product documentation and stated feature capabilities, verified as of June 17, 2026. Pricing and features change — always confirm current details on each vendor's site.
Resumly publishes this comparison; we've kept it factual and noted where competitors are genuinely strong. It reflects our interpretation of publicly available data.
