Adolescents with high social status are more important than others in determining the delinquent involvement of the peer group. Yet relatively little is known about how delinquency and analogous acts and traits affect social status. We examine whether adolescents who display a capacity for delinquency enjoy greater social status (popularity/centrality). Two models of delinquency display are proposed to explain social status among adolescents: the illicit behaviour model and the delinquent potential model (which does not require any delinquent involvement). Data from the saturation sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health are used (n = 1,514). The results show that adolescents who display a potential for delinquency by associating with delinquent peers tend to have higher status while actual involvement in illicit acts (violence) hurts social status.