Navy Ratings List for 2026: All 89 Jobs and Their ASVAB Score Requirements

The Navy has 89 enlisted ratings. Your recruiter will hand you a list, and unless you already know what an Aviation Boatswain's Mate does versus a Cryptologic Technician Networks operator, that list is useless.

Ratings are the Navy's word for enlisted jobs. Each has its own ASVAB composite requirement, and many have two paths to qualify. The trick most recruits miss: the Navy organizes its career field community-first, rating-second. Pick your deployment environment before you pick the specific job. Life on a submarine is nothing like life on a carrier flight deck even with the same rating title.

This navy ratings list organizes all 89 jobs by community, lists the composite formula and minimum score for each, flags every FY2026 bonus, and explains two paths most recruits never hear about: PACT (the low-score door into the fleet) and Nuclear Field with NAPT (the high-score path to the biggest bonus in the military).

Run your subtest scores through the free ASVAB calculator to see which ratings you already qualify for. Pair it with the Navy ASVAB score guide for AFQT minimums.

By the end of this navy ratings list you'll know which ratings you qualify for today, which you could qualify for with focused study, and which subtests deliver the highest return on study time.

How Navy ASVAB Scoring Works: AFQT vs Composite Scores

A Cryptologic Technician Networks job needs a composite of 255. The maximum AFQT is 99. Both numbers are real, both come from the same ASVAB.

The Navy uses a two-tier scoring system. The AFQT is your percentile from VE+AR+MK and decides whether the Navy will take you. The line score composite is a raw sum of standard subtest scores and decides which rating you can hold.

For 2026 the AFQT minimums are 35 for Tier I (diploma or 15+ college credits), 50 for Tier II (GED), and 26-30 for the Future Sailor Preparatory Course academic track. Hit the minimum and you're in. The composite determines what you do once you're in.

Standard subtest scores run roughly 20 to 80, with 50 as the population average. A composite of 222 means averaging 55-56 across four subtests. A composite of 255 means hitting close to 64 on each. The math gets steep fast.

Many ratings list two qualifying formulas. You only need to hit ONE. Your recruiter runs both and picks whichever puts you over the line. Heavy on EI and GS but light on MC opens different doors than the reverse profile.

For percentile mechanics, see the AFQT score breakdown. To preview which composites you hit, plug subtest scores into the free line score calculator.

1. Aviation Community Ratings (14 Jobs)

The aviation community has the widest score range on the ship. The lowest aviation job needs a 102 composite. The highest needs 222. Both work on the same flight deck.

Aviation splits into three sub-clusters. Flight deck ops (ABE/ABF/ABH, AO) launch, recover, and arm aircraft. Maintenance (AD, AM, AME, AT, AE, AS, PR) keeps them mission-ready. Aircrew and ops (AW family, AIRR, AC, AG, AZ) fly, control, and administer the air wing.

AIRR carries one of the highest bonuses in the Navy at $30,000 ATF. AIRR school attrition runs ~60% on swim and rescue quals, so the bonus rewards finishing, not enlisting.

The 222 cluster (AC, AE, AT) keys off AR+MK+EI+GS, the same composite the surface electronics community uses. Hit it and you're cross-qualified for several technical paths, which gives you negotiating leverage at the recruiter's office.

2. Surface Combat Systems and Deck Ratings (12 Jobs)

Watched a destroyer deployment video? You've seen all twelve of these ratings on screen. They fight the ship.

Surface combat systems and deck crew destroyers, cruisers, frigates, LCS, and amphibs. Deck (BM, QM) handles seamanship, mooring, small boats, and underway replenishment. Combat systems (FC, GM, OS, TM, MN) runs the weapons. Sonar (STG) tracks underwater threats. Damage control (DC, HT) keeps the ship floating.

STS is technically a submarine rating but the qualification path mirrors STG closely enough to list here. The submarine variant adds citizenship and clearance requirements.

QM at VE+AR=96 is the lowest barrier on the surface side. Reading charts, tracking position, standing watch with the captain on the bridge. If your AFQT lands in the high 40s and you want to drive the ship, QM is the door.

3. Engineering and Propulsion Ratings (8 Jobs)

A Navy ship is a 9,000-ton machine that has to make its own electricity, water, and steam in the middle of the ocean. These eight ratings make that work.

Steam and diesel propulsion = MM. Gas turbines = GSM (mechanical) and GSE (electrical). Electrical systems = EM and IC. Small craft and auxiliary engines = EN. Parts fabrication at sea, the literal machine shop, = MR.

Engineering ratings have one of the highest re-enlistment rates in the surface fleet. Skills transfer, civilian demand at every power plant, shipyard, refinery, and HVAC firm is steady. An MM with eight years of steam plant experience walks into a $90K civilian operator job without re-training.

4. Intelligence, Cryptologic, and Cyber Ratings (10 Jobs)

The hardest rating to qualify for in the Navy is Cryptologic Technician Networks. Composite 255 on AR+2MK+GS, roughly the 95th percentile across three subtests simultaneously. The job is offensive cyber ops at NSA Fort Meade.

This community works for Navy Information Forces and partners with NSA and U.S. Cyber Command. Six rating families live here: five CT variants plus CWT, IS, IT (with submarine variant ITS), and the new RW (Robotics Warfare Specialist) that stood up in 2024.

IS at VE+AR=107 is the sleeper pick. Reachable composite, carrier strike group intelligence work, TS/SCI on the Navy's dime, six-figure defense-contractor transfer at separation.

CTN at 255 is the ceiling. CWT at 239 second. Nuclear at 252 single-composite third. Every other technical rating on this navy ratings list tops out at 222.

5. Submarine Service Ratings (Including SECF)

A surface Culinary Specialist needs a composite of 88. The submarine version needs 200. Same job, same paycheck. The submarine demands 112 more composite points to feed people inside it.

Every submarine rating is citizenship-required, security-cleared, and cross-trained in damage control and atmosphere control. Submarine ratings either share a surface name with an 'S' suffix (CSS, LSS, MMS) or live entirely inside the community (FT, STS, MMA).

The score gap exists because of the environment. Crew of ~140, nuclear-powered, no resupply for 60-90 days, zero margin for error. Every submariner cross-trains in damage control, atmosphere management, and basic reactor safety regardless of rating. The composite is the Navy's proxy for that cognitive load.

Every submarine rating requires U.S. citizenship and a Secret-or-higher clearance. Foreign national parent, unresolved drug history, or certain financial issues close the community regardless of ASVAB score. The ASVAB gets you into the testing pool. The investigation decides whether you wear the dolphins.

6. Nuclear Field Ratings and the NAPT Exam

The Navy nuclear program offers the highest enlistment bonus on the planet: $40,000 up front, capped at $75,000 with reenlistment. It also has the most complicated qualification pipeline in the DoD: the ASVAB, then a second test called the NAPT.

The Nuclear Field has three ratings: MMN (Machinist's Mate Nuclear), EMN (Electrician's Mate Nuclear), ETN (Electronics Technician Nuclear). All three share A-school, Power School (six months, Charleston SC), and Prototype Training (six months, Charleston or Saratoga Springs NY). After Prototype you assign to submarines or carriers based on fleet need.

Two qualification paths exist: Alpha (NFa) and Bravo (NFb).

Nuclear is the closest enlisted path to an engineering degree. Power School covers thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, reactor theory, chemistry, and math at a pace equivalent to a full associate's in nuclear engineering. Transcripts transfer to civilian universities. Reactor operators clear $130,000-$180,000 in commercial nuclear power within six months of separating.

For Nuclear, the highest-leverage subtests are AR and GS, both feeding the AR+MK+EI+GS composite. See Arithmetic Reasoning study tips and General Science study tips.

7. Medical, Admin, Supply, and Support Ratings (10 Jobs)

Scoring in the 50-65 AFQT range with your recruiter pushing open contract? Stop. Specific ratings here need lower scores than open contract requires, and they're real career paths.

HM supports Marines through Fleet Marine Force assignments. LS runs supply chains afloat and ashore. YN runs admin. MA does law enforcement and security on every base and ship.

CS at VE+AR=76 is the lowest barrier to enlistment in the Navy. Same paycheck, GI Bill, VA loan, and retirement clock as anyone else on the ship. To enlist now and figure the rest out later, CS, RS, and LS are your lowest-friction doors.

8. Special Warfare Ratings (5 Jobs)

Every Navy SEAL passed an ASVAB. The composite they needed was 108 on VE+AR. That's barely above the passing score for an Army cook. The hard part wasn't the test.

Special warfare spans five ratings. SO (SEAL) and SB (SWCC) sit under Naval Special Warfare Command. EOD handles ordnance disposal across all branches. ND does salvage and underwater construction support. UCT builds underwater structures for shore facilities.

Pipeline attrition runs 60-80% depending on the school. The ASVAB gets you to BUD/S, EOD school, NDS, or SWCC selection. The test does not predict whether you'll finish. Physical screening, mental resilience, and team chemistry decide that. Pick by environment: SO and SB are direct-action shooters, EOD defuses ordnance for every branch, ND and UCT live underwater. For MC-specific prep, see the Mechanical Comprehension study tips.

9. Naval Construction Force and Seabees (7 Jobs)

The Marines fight wars. The Seabees build the runways the Marines land on. If you've watched a Pacific deployment, the people pouring concrete in humidity were Seabees, not contractors.

The Naval Construction Force runs seven ratings parallel to civilian construction trades. Active battalions operate from Gulfport, MS and Port Hueneme, CA. Seabees deploy with Marine units, into disaster zones, and to remote bases for runway, port, and base construction.

BU, EO, and SW share the 145 composite. Useful if you have broad construction interest but haven't picked a trade. The Navy assigns between them partly by aptitude testing at A-school and partly by fleet need. If you have civilian construction experience, bring documentation; direct-rating opportunities exist. CE and UT at 201 are the technical tracks: high-voltage power and water/HVAC. Both transfer cleanly to journeyman civilian licenses after one enlistment.

PACT Undesignated Path and FY2026 Bonus Summary

If you don't qualify for any rating composite on this navy ratings list, the Navy has PACT (Professional Apprenticeship Career Track). You enlist undesignated, ship to a fleet command, and pick a rating at the 12-month mark.

PACT splits into three apprenticeship tracks by environment.

If you qualify for a high-bonus rating, get it written into your contract before you ship. Bonuses are renegotiated quarterly. Below is the FY2026 stack as of April 2026.

ATF = Advanced Training Field. SG = Surface General. 5YO = Five-Year Obligation. AECF = Advanced Electronics/Computer Field. EBSR = Enlistment Bonus Specific Rating. The MEPS contract names every component separately; totals only add up if every box is checked.

Use the free ASVAB calculator to check your subtest scores against these community composites before your next recruiter conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions