League strength
Only the top three divisions are official (sanctioned by U.S. Soccer: MLS, USL Championship, USL League One and MLS Next Pro). Everything below is amateur soccer with no official tiers, which is exactly why we measure it. Summer leagues (USL2, NPSL, The League for Clubs) have one season a year built largely around college and U23 players; year-round leagues (UPSL, APSL and regional leagues such as the Cosmopolitan Soccer League) play fall and spring with adult rosters.
MLS is the benchmark. The gap to MLS is how many goals per game an average team in the league would lose by against an average MLS team on a neutral field. Every league's average is estimated from the games its teams play against other leagues: the U.S. Open Cup and its qualifying rounds, the USL Cup, the National Amateur Cup and state cups.
| League | Gap to MLS | Top |
|---|---|---|
| Major League Soccer | benchmark | +5.99 |
| USL Championship | -1.52 | +4.19 |
| USL League One | -2.60 | +3.12 |
| MLS Next Pro | -3.33 | +2.55 |
| National Premier Soccer League | -4.66 | +2.32 |
| USL League Two | -4.68 | +3.02 |
| The League for Clubs | -4.92 | +2.11 |
| United Premier Soccer League | -5.43 | +2.04 |
| American Premier Soccer League | -5.79 | +1.54 |
How the leagues connect
Cup games between teams from different leagues. These are the only games that set how the leagues compare, so thin links mean wide uncertainty.
Regional leagues
Leagues seen only through Open Cup qualifying share one pooled average.
| League | Teams | Gap to MLS |
|---|---|---|
| SSL (regional) | 1 | -3.98 |
| HFA (regional) | 1 | -4.05 |
| AMSA (regional) | 1 | -4.47 |
| APL (regional) | 1 | -4.89 |
| FSSL (regional) | 1 | -4.91 |
| NCSL (regional) | 2 | -5.09 |
| PFL (regional) | 2 | -5.24 |
| MWPL (regional) | 9 | -5.24 |
| BSSL (regional) | 4 | -5.26 |
| SWPL (regional) | 8 | -5.27 |
| MPPL (regional) | 1 | -5.32 |
| CPL (regional) | 5 | -5.36 |
| GSSL (regional) | 2 | -5.45 |
| Mountain Premier League (regional) | 22 | -5.45 |
| GSLSL (regional) | 3 | -5.50 |
| OVPL (regional) | 5 | -5.51 |
| SPL (regional) | 3 | -5.58 |
| MSSL (regional) | 1 | -5.58 |
| MUSL (regional) | 2 | -5.60 |
| TLS (regional) | 1 | -5.63 |
| GCSL (regional) | 1 | -5.70 |
| SRATS (regional) | 2 | -5.72 |
| DCPL (regional) | 2 | -5.73 |
| USSL (regional) | 5 | -5.74 |
| SFSFL (regional) | 4 | -5.74 |
| NVSL (regional) | 1 | -5.75 |
| WSL (regional) | 1 | -5.75 |
| GPSL (regional) | 1 | -5.75 |
| SISL (regional) | 1 | -5.76 |
| ADASL (regional) | 1 | -5.76 |
| PSLC (regional) | 1 | -5.79 |
| DSA (regional) | 2 | -5.95 |
| TSSA (regional) | 1 | -6.18 |
| Cosmopolitan Soccer League · D1 (NYC regional) | 12 | -6.71 |
| Cosmopolitan Soccer League · D3 (NYC regional) | 11 | -6.76 |
| Cosmopolitan Soccer League · D4 (NYC regional) | 10 | -6.76 |
| Cosmopolitan Soccer League · D2 (NYC regional) | 14 | -6.76 |
| Cosmopolitan Soccer League · CSL (NYC regional) | 1 | -7.35 |