What is a pop report?

A population (pop) report is a grading company's count of how many copies of a specific card it has assigned each grade. PSA, BGS, and CGC each publish their own. It is the closest thing to a known supply figure for graded cards.

Why does the gem rate matter?

The gem rate is the share of all graded copies that achieved the top grade (PSA 10 or BGS 9.5/10). A low gem rate means the card is hard to grade perfectly, so high-grade copies are scarce and usually command a steep premium.

Does a small population guarantee high value?

No. A low population only matters if there is demand. A card nobody collects can have a tiny pop and still be cheap. Scarcity multiplies value only when paired with a desirable card and an active market.

How is cumulative share useful?

Cumulative share from the top down tells you how many copies grade at or above a given level. If only 5% of copies are PSA 10 but 30% are PSA 9 or better, you can judge how rare a true gem is versus a near-gem.

Should I trust pop reports as exact supply?

Treat them as a floor, not an exact count. Reports lag, exclude raw and ungraded copies, and cards can be cracked and resubmitted. They are a strong signal of relative scarcity but not a perfect inventory.

TCG Card Pop Report & Market Math Calculator

A grading company’s population report is the best public proxy for how many copies of a card exist at each grade. This tool turns those raw counts into the percentages and scarcity ratios investors actually use to judge a card.

How it works

Given the population at each grade, the tool computes simple shares:

total       = sum of all grade counts
share[g]    = count[g] / total × 100
cumulative  = running total from the top grade downward
gem rate    = count[10] / total × 100
high-grade  = (count[10] + count[9]) / total × 100

The gem rate is the headline scarcity figure: a 3% gem rate means only three in every hundred graded copies reached the top grade.

Example and notes

Suppose a card has 50 copies at PSA 10, 200 at PSA 9, 150 at PSA 8, and 100 spread across PSA 6-7, for a total of 500. The gem rate is 50 / 500 = 10%, and PSA 9-or-better is 250 / 500 = 50%. That combination — a moderate gem rate with a large near-gem pool — usually means PSA 10 copies trade at a large multiple over PSA 9. Always weigh these numbers against demand: scarcity without a market does not make money.