How many points are needed to avoid relegation in the Premier League?

James Wilson Updated: 10 Feb 25 15:43

For a long time in the Premier League, conventional wisdom underlined the 40-point mark as the magical number teams were required to reach in order to avoid relegation.

If there is anything that has been proven in recent Premier League seasons, it is that the teams at the bottom of the top flight are getting weaker, with the threshold required for teams to keep themselves afloat lower than ever.

We take a look through the record books to examine the number of points needed for Premier League survival ahead of the business end of the 2024/25 campaign.

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How many points are needed to avoid relegation in the Premier League?

Since the establishment of a 20-team Premier League with a 38-match season in 1995/96, an average of 35.6 points has been enough to avoid relegation.

Considering each season is different, with the points totals varying year on year, the average tally for the 17th-placed team in the Premier League is 38.

What is the highest points total to be relegated from the Premier League?

The highest ever points total for a relegated team in Premier League history is 42, recorded by West Ham in the 2002/03 campaign.

There are only two other teams to have gone down from the Premier League with 40 or more points - Sunderland in 1996/97 and Bolton the following year.

What is the lowest points total to avoid relegation from the Premier League?

Last year, in the 2023/24 season, Nottingham Forest set a new record for the lowest points total of a team avoiding relegation from the English top flight with 32.

Prior to this, West Brom totalled the lowest amount of points in Premier League history whilst securing survival with 34 in 2004/05, as Bryan Robson's Baggies completed the 'Great Escape' with a final day victory over Portsmouth at the Hawthorns.