Rice Purity score meaning
Your score is 100 minus the items you ticked. Here is what each range usually says, and what it does not.
What is a good Rice Purity score?
There is no good or bad Rice Purity score. The number only counts how many of 100 experiences you have had: a high score means fewer, a low score means more. The two averages with a real source are 62 (1924) and 65 (Houston, 2017), so a score in the 60s is close to both, but neither is a target.
Every score range explained
The Rice Thresher publishes the test but no meanings for the score, so every scale you see online is somebody's reading. Ours rests on one fact you can check: the items run from mild to far, ten per section, so the score shows roughly how far down the list someone has gone.
- 100UntouchedYou have not done anything on the list yet. Not even holding hands romantically counts.
- 99 to 90Barely startedA few items from the top of the list, usually dating, a first kiss or one drink.
- 89 to 75Getting startedKissing and dating, maybe a party or two.
- 74 to 60In the middleMost of the first two sections plus some of the later ones: alcohol, some touching, maybe more. The two averages we can source both fall in this band (62 in 1924, 65 in 2017).
- 59 to 45ExperiencedUsually means sex is on the list, along with parties and a few rules bent.
- 44 to 30Seen a lotSeveral items from the sex sections plus alcohol or drugs.
- 29 to 15Very experiencedMost sections have several ticks, including some of the further items.
- 14 to 0Close to the bottomAlmost everything on the list. The far end covers health and legal risks too, so a low number is not a target to chase.
Our reading of the scale, not an official key. Nobody publishes official score meanings.
Every score from 100 to 0
Tap any score to see its range.
How the sections map to the score
Our 100 items sit in ten sections of ten. If someone ticked items strictly in order, these would be the scores at the end of each section. Real people skip around, so treat this as a map, not a rule.
| Items | Section | Score if everything above is ticked |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 10 | Dating and kissing | 90 |
| 11 to 20 | Getting closer | 80 |
| 21 to 30 | Solo and screens | 70 |
| 31 to 40 | Going further | 60 |
| 41 to 50 | Alcohol and parties | 50 |
| 51 to 60 | Smoking and drugs | 40 |
| 61 to 70 | Rules and the law | 30 |
| 71 to 80 | Sex | 20 |
| 81 to 90 | More about sex | 10 |
| 91 to 100 | The far end | 0 |
What does a Rice Purity score not tell you?
- It does not weigh anything. A kiss and a felony cost one point each. A 2012 Thresher editor made the same point about French kissing and heroin[1].
- It does not say who you are. Someone with a score in the 90s and someone in the 30s can be equally happy, kind or sensible.
- It is not a target. The test was never meant as a checklist, and parts of the far end carry real health and legal risks.
Rice Purity score for virgins
By our count, 23 items on our list describe having sex: the whole Sex section (71 to 80), items 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89 and 90, and items 93, 94, 96, 97 and 99. Item 83 (a pregnancy scare) and item 88 (cheating) do not require it. If you have never had sex, those cannot apply, so the lowest score you could get is 23. Everything else on the list (kissing, touching, oral sex, alcohol, drugs, school and the law) still counts, so a virgin can score anywhere from 100 down to 23.
What about the average?
The only averages with a named source are 62 (119 Rice women, 1924) and 65 (Houston test takers on one day in August 2017)[2]. Neither is a national figure. What the sources actually say about the average.
More about your score
- How the Rice Purity Test is scored, point by point
- Is the Rice Purity Test accurate?
- Will you score the same on the official test?
- Scores for teens, and the clean version
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Rice Purity score?
There is no good or bad score. The number only counts how many of 100 experiences you have had. A high score is not a prize and a low score is not a failure.
Is there an official score scale?
No. The Rice Thresher publishes the test but no score meanings. Every scale you see online, including ours, is somebody's reading of the number. Ours is built on the order of the items: the list runs from mild to far, so a score shows roughly how far down the list someone has gone.
What does a score of 100 mean?
You ticked nothing. Not even holding hands romantically or going on a date.
What does a score of 0 mean?
You ticked every item, including the far end and the question mark. It is rare, and the far end includes health and legal risks, so it is not something to aim for.
Is 50 a good Rice Purity score?
It is neither good nor bad. On our scale 50 sits in "Experienced": usually it means sex is on the list along with parties and a few rules bent.
What Rice Purity score is bad?
None. A low score means more items ticked, not a worse person. The only caution is that some of the far-end items carry real health and legal risks.
What is the score range of the Rice Purity Test?
From 100 (nothing ticked) to 0 (all 100 ticked), in whole points. Each item is worth exactly one point.
What is a good Rice Purity score for my age?
No published source gives scores by age, so nobody can honestly say what is typical for a 16 or 18 year old. Younger people tend to have ticked fewer items simply because they have had less time.
What score can a virgin get?
Anything from 100 down to 23 on our list. Twenty-three items describe having sex, so someone who has never had sex cannot tick those.
What is the average score by age?
We have found no published source that breaks scores down by age, so we do not give one. Any site showing averages by age without a named source is guessing.
Why did my friend get a different score on another site?
Versions differ. Ours covers the same ground as the 2012 Thresher test in our own words, and other sites use older lists or their own edits. Scores can differ slightly between versions, but not by a different result.