An experiment was conducted to estimate the energy value of soybean meal (SBM) relative to corn and determine the effects of increasing amounts of SBM in nursery pig diets. A total of 2,233 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050, Hendersonville, TN), initially 24.2 lb body weight (BW), were placed in 92 pens with 20 to 27 mixed gender pigs per pen. After weaning, pigs were fed common diets for 21 d and then assigned to treatments in a randomized complete block design with BW as the blocking factor. Treatment diets consisted of 21, 27, 33, or 39% SBM, obtained by changing the amount of feed-grade amino acids (AA) and corn, and were fed for 21 d. Soybean meal NE value used in diet formulation was 947 kcal/lb. There were 23 replicates per treatment. Pigs were weighed and feed disappearance measured to calculate average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), feed efficiency (F/G), and caloric efficiency (CE). Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with block as a random effect and treatment as a fixed effect. Single degree-of-freedom contrasts were constructed to test the linear and quadratic effects of increasing SBM. There was a tendency (P = 0.090) for a quadratic response for ADG, with an improvement observed up to 33% SBM. There was a tendency (linear, P = 0.092) for a decrease in ADFI as dietary SBM increased. Pigs fed diets with increasing SBM had a tendency (quadratic, P = 0.066) for an improvement in F/G up to 33% SBM then returned to control values when 39% SBM was fed. There was an improvement (linear, P = 0.001; quadratic, P = 0.065) in CE with increasing SBM. Using CE as a means to estimate the energy content of SBM relative to corn, a value of 105.4% of corn energy or 1,277 kcal/lb NE was determined using all 4 data points. When removing the CE value of the 39% SBM treatment due to the quadratic tendency and just using the linear portion of the CE response, SBM was estimated to have 121.1% of corn energy or 1,468 kcal/lb NE. In conclusion, the results of the current study suggest that feeding SBM up to 33% improves ADG, F/G, and CE. The energy value of SBM is estimated between 105 and 121% of corn, much greater than the current suggested value of 78% of corn. This has important ramifications as it increases the value of SBM in diet formulation.