Prepared by IQInsight · Updated
What counts as a high IQ?
Test manuals label 120–129 superior (WAIS-IV) or very high (WISC-V), and 130 and above very superior or extremely high. In everyday use, a “high IQ” means one of these two ranges: together about 9.1% of people.
| IQ | WAIS-IV level | Higher than | How common |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110 | High average | about 75% | 1 in 4 |
| 115 | High average | about 84% | 1 in 6 |
| 120 | Superior | about 91% | 1 in 11 |
| 125 | Superior | about 95% | 1 in 21 |
| 130 | Very superior | about 98% | 1 in 44 |
| 135 | Very superior | about 99.0% | 1 in 102 |
| 140 | Very superior | about 99.6% | 1 in 261 |
| 145 | Very superior | about 99.87% | 1 in 741 |
Mensa admits people who score in the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, roughly 130 on an SD-15 scale. Many school gifted programmes use a similar cutoff of around 130, though criteria vary and rarely rest on one score. Some tests use a larger standard deviation, which makes the same rank look like a bigger number; see IQ on different scales.
What is a normal IQ?
100 is the exact average by design: tests are scaled so that the average person of a given age scores 100. The average range, 90–109, holds about 50% of people, and about 68% score between 85 and 115.
A score of 110 is above average, labelled high average, but is not usually called a high IQ. See the guides to 100, 105 and 110.
What is a low IQ?
Scores of 80–89 are labelled low average and include about 16% of people. 70–79 is labelled borderline on the WAIS-IV or very low on the WISC-V, about 6.8%. 69 and below is extremely low, about 2.3%.
A score below about 70 is one part of how intellectual disability is assessed, but it is never enough on its own. A diagnosis also requires significant difficulties with everyday adaptive skills that began during development, assessed by a qualified professional.
A low result on an online test is not a diagnosis. Tiredness, distraction, test anxiety, language and unfamiliarity with this kind of puzzle can all pull a score down. If a result worries you, a psychologist can assess it properly with a normed test.
All IQ ranges at a glance.
| IQ range | WAIS-IV level | Share of people |
|---|---|---|
| 130 and above | Very superior | about 2.3% |
| 120–129 | Superior | about 6.8% |
| 110–119 | High average | about 16% |
| 90–109 | Average | about 50% |
| 80–89 | Low average | about 16% |
| 70–79 | Borderline | about 6.8% |
| 69 and below | Extremely low | about 2.3% |
For the bell curve and a percentile for every score, see IQ score ranges & chart.
Does a high IQ mean success?
On average, higher scores go with better results at school and at work, and IQ is one of the stronger single predictors psychologists have for those outcomes. But it leaves most of the difference between individuals unexplained. Knowledge, effort, health, opportunity and interests matter too. A high score describes test performance, not what a person will achieve.
The number most often attached to “genius” is a different question, with a more surprising history: see what IQ is considered genius.