How the career score works
The career score is one number from 0 to 100 for the career after the show. It adds 5 parts. Each part has a fixed number of points.
Grammy Awards and studio albums count from the end of the show. Certified units and chart entries count the releases from the start of the show on, so a winner's first single counts and an earlier career does not. For a singer with more than one season, "the show" is the first season in which the singer was a finalist or a semifinalist. A season that ended in a taped round counts only for a contestant with no other season.
The parts
| Part | Figure | Full points at | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified units | Certified album units (RIAA) + Certified single units (RIAA) | 100,000,000 | 25 |
| Billboard charts | Hot 100 entries + Billboard 200 albums (times 3) | 120 | 25 |
| Grammy Awards | Grammy nominations + Grammy wins | 30 | 20 |
| Studio albums | Studio albums | 12 | 10 |
| Current interest | Wikipedia pageviews | 3,000,000 | 20 |
From a figure to points
A part uses a log scale. The points grow quickly for the first certifications, chart entries or views, and slowly near the top. A figure at or above the cap gets the full points of the part. The caps are near the figures of the most successful singers, so the top careers still differ. The floors and caps are fixed, so a score changes only when the singer's own figures change.
- Certified units (25 points): 1,000,000 gives 5.8 points; 10,000,000 gives 15.4 points; 50,000,000 gives 22.1 points.
- Billboard charts (25 points): 1 gives 3.6 points; 10 gives 12.5 points; 60 gives 21.4 points.
- Grammy Awards (20 points): 1 gives 4 points; 3 gives 8.1 points; 20 gives 17.7 points.
- Studio albums (10 points): 1 gives 2.7 points; 6 gives 7.6 points.
- Current interest (20 points): 30,000 gives 8.5 points; 300,000 gives 14.2 points; 2,000,000 gives 19 points.
Missing figures
A figure that research found to be absent counts as 0: no certification, no chart entry, no Grammy nomination. A singer with a part that is not yet researched gets no score. A singer whose sources differ on a figure gets no score until the dispute is resolved. A singer without an own Wikipedia article has no views, so that part counts 0.
Now 688 of 693 finalists have a score.
Who is ranked
The rankings, the comparisons and every count of finalists cover the finalists of each season: the first group on each season page.
A season page also lists contestants who left in a taped round and have a documented career. Such an act sang in a broadcast episode of the season and left before the semifinalists and finalists. It has an encyclopedia article of its own, and that article or the season article ties the act to the season. When the facts for the career score are documented, its profile shows the score and its parts, as a finalist profile does. These acts have no place in the rankings or the comparisons, and no finalist count or median includes them.
The weights
The weights are an editorial choice of Encore Index. Certified units and charts together give half of the score. Grammy Awards and current interest give a fifth each, and studio albums a tenth. No measure decides the score alone.
The top 10
| 1 |  Carrie UnderwoodS4 · Winner | 92 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  Kelly ClarksonS1 · Winner | 87 |
| 3 |  Camila CabelloThe X Factor S2 · Third place | 72 |
| 4 |  Chris DaughtryS5 · Eliminated 4th | 69 |
| 5 |  Fantasia BarrinoS3 · Winner | 63 |
| 6 |  Jennifer HudsonS3 · Eliminated 7th | 60 |
| 7 |  Scotty McCreeryS10 · Winner | 57 |
| 8 |  Fifth HarmonyThe X Factor S2 · Third place | 55 |
| 9 |  MandisaS5 · Eliminated 9th | 54 |
| 10 |  Adam LambertS8 · Runner-up | 53 |