How to read a PSA pop report for Pokémon cards

A population report counts how many copies of a card a grading company has graded at each grade. PSA's lingo defines its Pop Report as the publication that reports “the graded population or census of any particular PSA graded card.” For Pokémon the numbers are large and move fast: Sports Illustrated, reporting GemRate's annual data in January 2026, said PSA graded nearly 20 million items in 2025, more than 11 million of them trading cards, most of them Pokémon. This page explains each column, shows the gem-rate arithmetic, and works through three cards. Every count was read on October 16, 2026.

Where PSA population figures appear

The columns, one at a time

• Population. How many cards PSA has graded at exactly that grade.
• POP Higher. How many it has graded above that grade. On the Charizard table below, the MINT 9 row's POP Higher is 489 — exactly the PSA 10 count.
• Half grades (“+”). PSA's population search page says it keeps half-point grades, 1.5 through 8.5 only, on their own line. Because half grades stop at 8.5, the only grade above a PSA 9 is a PSA 10.
• Qualifiers (“Q”). Also a separate line. PSA describes a qualified card as one that meets all the criteria for a grade but fails the standard in one area, such as OC (off-center), ST (stain), PD (print defect), OF (out of focus) or MK (marks).
• Authentic. PSA's first line covers whole grades 1 to 10 and “Authentic” designations, which carry no number grade.

Because half grades and qualifiers sit on other lines, POP Higher can be larger than the rows printed above it. On the Charizard table, PSA 10 and PSA 9 add up to 8,966, but the PSA 8 row's POP Higher is 9,534. The 568 cards in between have no row on that table; given the lines PSA describes, they are most likely 8.5s. The same gap runs down the page, which matters when you work out a total.

The gem-rate formula

“Gem rate” is the share of graded copies that came back GEM-MT 10:

The answer depends on the total you divide by, so use one consistent rule: count every number-graded card, half grades included, and leave out Authentic cards, which carry no grade. On a CardFacts table the quickest way to get that total is the POP Higher figure on the Authentic row, which counts every card graded above Authentic.

1. Pick the exact card. Holo, reverse holo, 1st Edition and promo versions are separate entries; PSA gives the 1st Edition Base Set Charizard its own CardFacts page.
2. Read the PSA 10 population.
3. Get the total graded: the Authentic row's POP Higher on CardFacts, or the PSA total on a PriceCharting pop page.
4. Divide, and write down the date and the source. Every count here is a snapshot.

Worked example 1: 1999 Base Set Charizard-Holo #4

PSA's CardFacts page for the 1999 Nintendo Pokémon Game Charizard-Holo #4 showed these counts on October 16, 2026:

• Total graded: 106,314 (the Authentic row's POP Higher). The rows printed above add up to only 105,221; the other 1,093 are cards on lines the table doesn't show.
• Gem rate: 489 ÷ 106,314 × 100 = 0.46%. Dividing by the printed rows instead (489 ÷ 105,221) also rounds to 0.46%, so the choice barely matters here.
• 9-or-better rate: (489 + 8,477) ÷ 106,314 × 100 = 8.4%.
• 9s per 10: 8,477 ÷ 489 = 17.3 PSA 9s for every PSA 10.
• A small mismatch: the census heading on the same page showed 490 PSA 10s against 489 in the table; PSA says the census is a work in progress to be used only as a guide.

Worked examples 2 and 3: two 2019 Cosmic Eclipse full arts

CardFacts had no page for these modern cards, so the counts below come from the PSA column of PriceCharting's population pages, read on October 16, 2026. PriceCharting says its counts are updated monthly and that half grades are counted in the whole grade below.

• Pikachu #241: gem rate 3,690 ÷ 14,642 × 100 = 25.2%; 9 or better 78.1%; 2.1 PSA 9s per PSA 10.
• Mimikyu #245: gem rate 1,048 ÷ 3,916 × 100 = 26.8%; 9 or better 80.6%; 2.0 PSA 9s per PSA 10.

PSA's own cert pages give a newer check. The cert page for one PSA 9 Pikachu #241 (cert 141920615) showed a PSA Pop Higher of 3,744, and one for a PSA 9 Mimikyu #245 (cert 121484786) showed 1,072. Since only a 10 sits above a 9, those are live PSA 10 counts: 54 and 24 more than PriceCharting's monthly figures. Don't mix the two in one sum — 3,744 ÷ 14,642 would give 25.6%, a live numerator over an older total. Take both numbers from the same source on the same day.

1. Rows PSA prints: 489 at PSA 10 and 8,477 at PSA 9 on the 1999 Charizard-Holo #4 table, read October 16, 2026.
2. POP Higher on the PSA 8 row: 9,534 — 568 more than the two rows above it. Those 568 cards are graded above 8 but are not on the 9 or 10 rows; PSA keeps half grades (most likely 8.5s here) and qualifiers on separate lines.
3. Gem rate bars: PSA 10 ÷ total graded. Charizard 489 ÷ 106,314 = 0.46%; Pikachu #241 3,690 ÷ 14,642 = 25.2%; Mimikyu #245 1,048 ÷ 3,916 = 26.8%. Bar widths are drawn to these shares.
4. Sources differ: the Charizard counts are PSA CardFacts; the two Cosmic Eclipse counts are the PSA column on PriceCharting's monthly pop pages, which fold half grades into the whole grade below.

What the numbers say, and what they don't

• Era changes everything. Fewer than half a percent of graded Unlimited Charizards are 10s, against about a quarter of these two 2019 full arts. SI's report put PSA's 2025 Pokémon gem rate at approximately 50%, so even a modern card can sit well below the overall figure.
• The 9-to-10 ratio shows how hard the top grade is. Seventeen PSA 9s per 10 on the Charizard against about two on the full arts.
• Counts reflect what people chose to submit. PSA's Joe Orlando notes that the figures “merely represent the ones that have been graded” and that most people do not submit lower-grade cards, so the lower grades are under-counted.
• A pop is not a rarity or value score. CGC's report disclaimer says population reports are not a measure of value or rarity and should not be relied on for purchases or investments. PSA's own search page warns that some population data may not reflect accurate numbers for certain varieties.
• Each grader counts only its own slabs. PriceCharting's page lists 445 CGC 10s for the same Pikachu #241, which are not part of PSA's 3,690. The population reports guide covers SGC, CGC and Beckett reports.

Checklist before you quote a pop number

1. Name the exact card, number and variant.
2. Write the date next to every count.
3. Say whose count it is — PSA CardFacts, a PSA cert page or a monthly mirror — and keep to one source per calculation.
4. Use total graded (half grades in, Authentic out) as the denominator, and show it.
5. Check POP Higher for the grade you are buying or selling: on a PSA 9, it is the number of 10s.
6. Before deciding to grade, compare gem rates for the same era, then price the outcomes with PSA 9 vs PSA 10 and PSA fees and turnaround.