Evaluating the AUC for an ROC curve (2004-07-27)

This page has moved to my new website.

Someone asked me where I got the following guidance for Area Under the Curve (AUC) for a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve.

• 0.50 to 0.75 = fair
• 0.75 to 0.92 = good
• 0.92 to 0.97 = very good
• 0.97 to 1.00 = excellent.

I cannot find where I got these numbers. It must be a sign of senility on my part. I'll keep looking, but if anyone else knows of justification for this or any other rule, let me know.

I did find a web page (gim.unmc.edu/dxtests/roc3.htm) that suggested this rule

• .90-1 = excellent (A)
• .80-.90 = good (B)
• .70-.80 = fair (C)
• .60-.70 = poor (D)
• .50-.60 = fail (F)

but the evenness of the intervals strikes me as rather arbitrary. I'll keep looking.