How Many Points Do You Need to Stay Up in the Premier League?
The short answer, from the League’s own final tables: in the 18 seasons from 2008/09 to 2025/26, 40 points was always enough to finish clear of 18th place, 38 was enough in 16 of them, and the club that finished 18th ended on 33.4 points on average. The highest total that went down was 39. The lowest that stayed up was 32, and that club had four points deducted.
Every number on this page comes from the Premier League’s published final standings, read on 8 October 2026, which start with the 2008/09 season. Totals include any points deduction applied that season. Below the data there is a calculator for the points a club still needs, and a section on how relegation bets settle. No tips, no odds, no predicted line-ups.
The survival line, season by season
Three clubs go down, so the line that matters is the gap between 17th and 18th. The club in 18th is the best-placed relegated side, and anyone who finishes above it on points stays up.
| Season | 17th (stayed up) | Pts | 18th (relegated) | Pts | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008/09 | Hull City | 35 | Newcastle United | 34 | 1 |
| 2009/10 | West Ham United | 35 | Burnley | 30 | 5 |
| 2010/11 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 40 | Birmingham City | 39 | 1 |
| 2011/12 | Queens Park Rangers | 37 | Bolton Wanderers | 36 | 1 |
| 2012/13 | Sunderland | 39 | Wigan Athletic | 36 | 3 |
| 2013/14 | West Bromwich Albion | 36 | Norwich City | 33 | 3 |
| 2014/15 | Aston Villa | 38 | Hull City | 35 | 3 |
| 2015/16 | Sunderland | 39 | Newcastle United | 37 | 2 |
| 2016/17 | Watford | 40 | Hull City | 34 | 6 |
| 2017/18 | Southampton | 36 | Swansea City | 33 | 3 |
| 2018/19 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 36 | Cardiff City | 34 | 2 |
| 2019/20 | Aston Villa | 35 | Bournemouth | 34 | 1 |
| 2020/21 | Burnley | 39 | Fulham | 28 | 11 |
| 2021/22 | Leeds United | 38 | Burnley | 35 | 3 |
| 2022/23 | Everton | 36 | Leicester City | 34 | 2 |
| 2023/24 | Nottingham Forest | 32 | Luton Town | 26 | 6 |
| 2024/25 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | Leicester City | 25 | 13 |
| 2025/26 | Tottenham Hotspur | 41 | West Ham United | 39 | 2 |
Averages over the 18 seasons: 17th place 37.2 points, 18th place 33.4 points. Nottingham Forest’s 32 in 2023/24 is after a four-point deduction; on results alone they had 36.
Is 40 points enough? What each total would have done
“Forty points” is the number most often quoted as safety. On this record it is a cautious line rather than the real one. The table counts, for each total, the seasons in which it would have finished clear of 18th on points, and the seasons in which it would have finished level, where goal difference and the other tie-breaks decide.
| Final total | Clear of 18th | Level with 18th | Points per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 34 points | 6 of 18 | 5 | 0.89 |
| 35 points | 11 of 18 | 2 | 0.92 |
| 36 points | 13 of 18 | 2 | 0.95 |
| 37 points | 15 of 18 | 1 | 0.97 |
| 38 points | 16 of 18 | 0 | 1.00 |
| 39 points | 16 of 18 | 2 | 1.03 |
| 40 points | 18 of 18 | 0 | 1.05 |
The line moves more than the averages suggest
The last three seasons cover almost the whole range. Luton Town went down in 18th on 26 points in 2023/24 and Leicester City on 25 in 2024/25; in 2025/26 West Ham United went down on 39. In 2010/11 two clubs went down on 39, Birmingham City and Blackpool, while Wolverhampton Wanderers stayed up on 40. The gap between 17th and 18th was a single point in four seasons and 13 points in 2024/25.
Promoted clubs in the bottom three
Comparing each season’s twenty clubs with the season before shows which relegated clubs had just come up. In 2023/24 and in 2024/25 all three promoted clubs went straight back down. In 2025/26 one of the three did. That is a record of what happened, and it says nothing on its own about a particular club this season.
Relegation points calculator
Pick a target total. The calculator works out what is still needed from the remaining games of a 38-match season and compares the target with every 18th-place total since 2008/09.
Your club’s position
Result
- Points still needed
- 28 from 28 games
- Points per game needed
- 1.00
- Points per game so far
- 1.00
- Same pace over 38 games
- 38 points
- Wins needed with no draws
- 10
A total of 38 would have finished clear of 18th place in 16 of the 18 seasons from 2008/09 to 2025/26.
This is arithmetic on past tables, not a forecast. It does not know the fixture list, form, injuries or any points deduction still to come.
How relegation bets settle
A relegation market is a bet on final league position: the selection wins if the club finishes 18th, 19th or 20th. It settles once, when the final table is confirmed, and for 2026/27 the last matchday is Sunday 30 May 2027. Every other season-long market works the same way, and the dates, the title and top-four markets and the weekly season tracker are on our Premier League 2026/27 betting guide.
A deduction counts like a lost match
The final table includes deductions, and so does every total on this page. Portsmouth finished bottom in 2009/10 on 19 points, with nine points deducted after going into administration; without the deduction they would have had 28 and still finished bottom. In 2023/24 Everton lost six points and then a further two, and Nottingham Forest four, all for breaches of the Profitability and Sustainability Rules. From 2026/27 those rules are replaced by the Squad Cost Ratio, with a published starting sanction of six points. When a deduction lands, and why its timing matters for a bet already placed, is set out in points deductions and your bets.
“To be relegated” is not “to finish bottom”
These are separate markets on different positions. A club that finishes 19th wins a relegation bet and loses a bottom-place bet. The difference between the market names, and what each-way terms do in a twenty-club field, is in outright betting explained.
A relegation book adds up to 300%, not 100%
Three clubs go down, so the fair implied probabilities across all twenty add up to 300%. Testing a relegation book against 100% gives nonsense. Take the total and divide by three: what is left above 100% is the margin, so a book that sums to 321% carries 7%. How margin is built into an ordinary match price is shown by the margin calculator. A survival line from past seasons is a useful reference for reading a table in March. It is not a probability for any club, and it does not make a price good value.
Frequently asked questions
How many points do you need to stay up in the Premier League?
There is no fixed number, because the line is set by whoever finishes 18th. In the 18 seasons from 2008/09 to 2025/26, the club in 18th finished on 33.4 points on average, with a median of 34 and a range from 25 to 39. A total of 38 would have finished clear of 18th in 16 of those 18 seasons. A total of 40 would have finished clear in all of them.
Is 40 points enough to stay up?
In every season from 2008/09 to 2025/26 it was. The highest total that went down in those seasons was 39, reached by Birmingham City and Blackpool in 2010/11 and by West Ham United in 2025/26. Forty is a safe line on that record, not a rule, and in most seasons a lower total was enough: 18th place finished on 34 points or fewer in 11 of the 18 seasons.
What is the most points a relegated Premier League team has had?
Across the seasons covered by the League's published standings data, from 2008/09 to 2025/26, the highest relegated total is 39 points. Three clubs went down on it: Birmingham City and Blackpool in 2010/11, and West Ham United in 2025/26. Seasons before 2008/09 are not in that dataset, so this page makes no claim about them.
Do points deductions count in relegation bets?
Relegation markets settle on final league position, and a deduction that is applied before the market settles changes that position like any lost match. Nottingham Forest stayed up on 32 points in 2023/24 after a four-point deduction, the lowest total in the sample to survive. Portsmouth finished bottom in 2009/10 on 19 points, with nine points deducted after going into administration. From 2026/27 a breach of the Squad Cost Ratio rules starts at a fixed six-point deduction.
Is there a Premier League relegation calculator?
Yes, on this page. Enter games played, points so far and a target total, and it shows the points still needed, the points per game that requires, the pace the club is on now, and in how many seasons since 2008/09 that target would have finished clear of 18th place. It works on arithmetic and past tables, so it is not a prediction.
Sources and method
Final standings for every season from 2008/09 to 2025/26 were read on 8 October 2026 from the Premier League’s own tables, which publish points after any deduction and list the deductions applied. The League’s standings data starts with 2008/09, so earlier seasons are left out rather than taken from secondary sources. Averages, thresholds and the promoted-club comparison were computed by script from that data and checked by hand. The 30 May 2027 final matchday and the Squad Cost Ratio sanction are as published by the League and recorded on our Premier League 2026/27 guide. No operator is named and no price appears on this page.
- Premier League, final tables by season — premierleague.com
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