Answers.Body: <p>I took the following data from the September 2013 Golden Database<sup>1</sup> and "active" players are players with a USCF membership expiration date later than January 1, 2013<sup>2</sup>.  All ratings are regular ratings.  Note that players have an established rating after completing 25 games.</p>
  
  <h3>USCF Active Players</h3>
  
  Established Ratings
  
  <pre><code>46,574 Players
  1315.99 Mean Rating
  1390 Median Rating
  </code></pre>
  
  Provisional Ratings
  
  <pre><code>33,692 Players
  537.09 Mean Rating
  410 Median Rating
  </code></pre>
  
  <h3>All USCF Rated Players</h3>
  
  Established Ratings
  
  <pre><code>252,989 Players
  1165.77 Mean Rating
  1148 Median Rating
  </code></pre>
  
  Provisional Ratings
  
  <pre><code>303,153 Players
  631.46 Mean Rating
  576 Median Rating
  </code></pre>
  
  <h3>Distribution of active, established USCF ratings</h3>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/BWjat.png" alt="Active USCF ratings"></p>
  
  <p>Note that unrated players were discarded and that no checks were done on the data (duplicate entries, placeholders, etc.).</p>
  
  <h3>Distribution of ratings by age</h3>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zflWp.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>
  
  <p>This image comes from the uschess forums.</p>
  
  <p>1: The Golden Database is a database provided to USCF affiliates and TD's that includes the names, ratings, and expiration dates.  It can be downloaded from the USCF website<br>
  2: I picked January 1, 2013 as an arbitrary cutoff date.  If there's a better and easy check for whether or not a player is active I'm happy to add additional data or update these stats.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-08-26T20:26:14.017Z
Answers.Text: Unfortunately the USCF does not make a scholastic/adult determination available, but the data is clearly a bi-modal distribution, most likely reflecting the fact that scholastic ratings are much lower than adult ratings.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Andrew
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-08-26T20:24:32.023Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-09-26T15:03:30.807Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2013-09-26T15:03:30.807Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Andrew
Answers.Body: <p>An updated rating distribution graph:</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5y7MX.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>
  
  <p>The data is from the Golden Database.  It uses data from just current members with established (non provisional) ratings.  Note that only "regular" ratings are shown, not Quick ratings or blitz ratings.  </p>
  
  <p>The overall shape of the graph, of course, is almost identical to the first one, with data from 2013.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-07-25T18:23:17.790Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-07-25T18:23:17.790Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Mr. Ed C
Answers.Body: <p>(I assume in the following discussion that by "average" you mean median, not mean.)</p>
  
  <p>It depends on whether you are just looking at active players (who have played a tournament recently) or all players, and on whether you are just looking at just adults or players of all ages.</p>
  
  <p>The latest rating distribution chart for the USCF I could find was from 2004 <a href="http://archive.uschess.org/ratings/ratedist.php" rel="nofollow">(here)</a>. You can see from it that at that time the 50th percentile was about 1050 for all players, or 1280 when just adults are considered. (USCF ratings have inflated a bit in the last decade so they are probably a bit higher now.) This is for all members, not just active ones; the median rating for active players would be higher, probably by 150 points or so from looking at the graph <a href="http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/2008/06/06/131" rel="nofollow">here</a>.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-07-10T12:27:08.563Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-07-10T12:27:08.563Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: dfan
Answers.Body: <p>While the numbers drift and have to be adjusted from time to time, the average USCF rating is supposed to be 1500.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-07-10T11:03:26.250Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-07-10T11:03:26.250Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tony Ennis
Answers.Body: <p>If by average, you mean a number, then there is a number in the middle. If by average, you mean a player who wins half and loses half, it is not in the middle. Chess champions almost always win. To win half the time, you must be one of the best.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-09-22T03:50:10.873Z
Answers.Text: "then there is a number in the middle."  No kidding.  He's asking for that number.
Answers.UserDisplayName: D M
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-09-22T03:03:33.790Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-09-22T03:03:33.790Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Roland Booker
Answers.Body: <p>The average is the sum of list values divided by the number of list entries. Unfortunately, since list values do not contain equivalent information, averaging them does not reduce error. A 500 rating losing to grandmasters with a single draw denotes much greater proficiency than many wins against players who have only just learned how the pieces move (I refuse to embarrass people by citing names). I have found that when players know each other's rating, the lower rated player lets up while the higher rated fights like a demon (peruse any tournament crosstable).
    Ratings are manipulated by players who lose unimportant games and by organizations (CCF, dare to deny it!) who pin ratings because of accidental outcomes. Ratings are inappropriately used (by almost all organizers) to assign prize classifications. 
    Average rating does not contain any information for the whole list. However, for a particular event, players tend to perform relatively in accordance with their ratings. This is not because the ratings are accurate, but because the players want them to be so (I want it, and I don't know any player who doesn't).</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-09-22T03:55:14.787Z
Answers.Text: When he asked "what is the average rating", he wasn't looking for the definition of "average", he was looking for a number.  The rest of this is just rambling that doesn't answer the question.
Answers.UserDisplayName: D M
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-09-22T02:40:49.630Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-09-22T02:40:49.630Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Roland Booker
Body: <p>I'm not sure if there exists an average, but what could be considered an average rating range in these systems?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2021-10-18T20:59:49.420Z
Comments.Text: Related: https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/36883/what-is-the-mean-and-standard-deviation-for-mens-and-then-womens-standard-fide
Comments.UserDisplayName: BCLC
Tags: <rating><elo><uscf>
Title: What are the average Elo and USCF ratings?
ThreadText: # What are the average Elo and USCF ratings?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2013-07-10)
  
  I'm not sure if there exists an average, but what could be considered an average rating range in these systems?
  
  **Tags:** rating, elo, uscf
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Related: https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/36883/what-is-the-mean-and-standard-deviation-for-mens-and-then-womens-standard-fide  
  
  ---
  
  ## 6 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2013-08-26. Score: 18
  
  I took the following data from the September 2013 Golden Database1 and "active" players are players with a USCF membership expiration date later than January 1, 20132. All ratings are regular ratings. Note that players have an established rating after completing 25 games.
  
  ### USCF Active Players
  
  Established Ratings
  
  ```
  46,574 Players
  1315.99 Mean Rating
  1390 Median Rating
  
  ```
  
  Provisional Ratings
  
  ```
  33,692 Players
  537.09 Mean Rating
  410 Median Rating
  
  ```
  
  ### All USCF Rated Players
  
  Established Ratings
  
  ```
  252,989 Players
  1165.77 Mean Rating
  1148 Median Rating
  
  ```
  
  Provisional Ratings
  
  ```
  303,153 Players
  631.46 Mean Rating
  576 Median Rating
  
  ```
  
  ### Distribution of active, established USCF ratings
  
  ![Active USCF ratings](https://i.sstatic.net/BWjat.png)
  
  Note that unrated players were discarded and that no checks were done on the data (duplicate entries, placeholders, etc.).
  
  ### Distribution of ratings by age
  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/zflWp.png)
  
  This image comes from the uschess forums.
  
  1: The Golden Database is a database provided to USCF affiliates and TD's that includes the names, ratings, and expiration dates. It can be downloaded from the USCF website  
  2: I picked January 1, 2013 as an arbitrary cutoff date. If there's a better and easy check for whether or not a player is active I'm happy to add additional data or update these stats.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Unfortunately the USCF does not make a scholastic/adult determination available, but the data is clearly a bi-modal distribution, most likely reflecting the fact that scholastic ratings are much lower than adult ratings.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2014-07-25. Score: 4
  
  An updated rating distribution graph:
  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/5y7MX.png)
  
  The data is from the Golden Database. It uses data from just current members with established (non provisional) ratings. Note that only "regular" ratings are shown, not Quick ratings or blitz ratings.
  
  The overall shape of the graph, of course, is almost identical to the first one, with data from 2013.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2013-07-10. Score: 3
  
  (I assume in the following discussion that by "average" you mean median, not mean.)
  
  It depends on whether you are just looking at active players (who have played a tournament recently) or all players, and on whether you are just looking at just adults or players of all ages.
  
  The latest rating distribution chart for the USCF I could find was from 2004 [(here)](http://archive.uschess.org/ratings/ratedist.php). You can see from it that at that time the 50th percentile was about 1050 for all players, or 1280 when just adults are considered. (USCF ratings have inflated a bit in the last decade so they are probably a bit higher now.) This is for all members, not just active ones; the median rating for active players would be higher, probably by 150 points or so from looking at the graph [here](http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/2008/06/06/131).
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2013-07-10. Score: 2
  
  While the numbers drift and have to be adjusted from time to time, the average USCF rating is supposed to be 1500.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2017-09-22. Score: -2
  
  If by average, you mean a number, then there is a number in the middle. If by average, you mean a player who wins half and loses half, it is not in the middle. Chess champions almost always win. To win half the time, you must be one of the best.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_7**: "then there is a number in the middle."  No kidding.  He's asking for that number.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2017-09-22. Score: -3
  
  The average is the sum of list values divided by the number of list entries. Unfortunately, since list values do not contain equivalent information, averaging them does not reduce error. A 500 rating losing to grandmasters with a single draw denotes much greater proficiency than many wins against players who have only just learned how the pieces move (I refuse to embarrass people by citing names). I have found that when players know each other's rating, the lower rated player lets up while the higher rated fights like a demon (peruse any tournament crosstable).
  Ratings are manipulated by players who lose unimportant games and by organizations (CCF, dare to deny it!) who pin ratings because of accidental outcomes. Ratings are inappropriately used (by almost all organizers) to assign prize classifications.
  Average rating does not contain any information for the whole list. However, for a particular event, players tend to perform relatively in accordance with their ratings. This is not because the ratings are accurate, but because the players want them to be so (I want it, and I don't know any player who doesn't).
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_7**: When he asked "what is the average rating", he wasn't looking for the definition of "average", he was looking for a number.  The rest of this is just rambling that doesn't answer the question.  
  
  ---
  
  