Systems and method relating generally to data processing, and more particularly to systems and methods for scaling messages in a data decoding circuit. In one embodiment, the systems and methods include applying a variable node algorithm, applying a check node algorithm, calculating a first number of errors, calculating a second number of errors, calculating a difference between the first and second number of errors, multiplying by scalar values to yield a scaled set of messages, and re-applying the variable node algorithm to the scaled set of messages.