IQ Score Chart: Ranges, Percentiles and Labels

An IQ score on its own is just a number. To make sense of it, you need to know how scores are spread across the population and what each range is usually called. This chart puts all of that in one place, along with a short explanation of where the numbers come from and how to read them carefully.

The IQ score chart

IQ scores follow a bell-shaped curve with an average of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The table below shows how people are distributed across the usual ranges. Percentiles show what share of people score below a given point.

| IQ range | Percentile | Share of people | Common label | |---|---|---|---| | 130 and above | 97.7th and above | about 2.3% | Very high | | 120 to 129 | 90.9th to 97.7th | about 6.8% | High | | 110 to 119 | 74.8th to 90.9th | about 16.1% | High average | | 90 to 109 | 25.2nd to 74.8th | about 49.5% | Average | | 80 to 89 | 9.1st to 25.2nd | about 16.1% | Low average | | 70 to 79 | 2.3rd to 9.1st | about 6.8% | Low | | Below 70 | below 2.3rd | about 2.3% | Very low |

The shares add up to 100% once rounding is allowed for, and the table is symmetrical: as many people score between 110 and 119 as between 80 and 89. That symmetry is built into the scale by design.

A closer look at the top and bottom of the scale

Scores become rare quickly as you move away from the middle. Here is how uncommon some specific results are:

| IQ score | Percentile | People scoring higher | |---|---|---| | 115 | 84.1st | about 1 in 6 | | 120 | 90.9th | about 1 in 11 | | 125 | 95.2nd | about 1 in 21 | | 130 | 97.7th | about 1 in 44 | | 135 | 99.0th | about 1 in 102 | | 140 | 99.6th | about 1 in 261 | | 145 | 99.87th | about 1 in 741 |

The same rarity applies in the other direction: a score of 70 is as uncommon as a score of 130, and 55 is as uncommon as 145.

Scores far from the average are also the hardest to measure. Few people in any norm group score at the extremes, so tests have less data to anchor those results, and the margin of error grows. Many professionally administered tests treat scores above 145 or below 55 with extra caution for this reason.

Where the labels come from

The labels in the chart are descriptive, not diagnostic. Different test publishers use slightly different words and cut-off points. One publisher might call 120 to 129 "superior" while another calls it "high" or "well above average". The labels in this chart are plain-language versions of the most common conventions.

Two things are worth keeping in mind:

• Labels are not identities. A label describes performance on a set of tasks on one occasion. It says nothing about character, creativity or the knowledge a person has built up.
• Clinical categories need clinical assessment. Terms related to intellectual disability or giftedness are determined by qualified professionals using in-person testing and other information, such as everyday functioning. No online test can make that call.

Why the 85 to 115 band matters

The range from 85 to 115 is exactly one standard deviation on either side of the average, and it holds about 68% of people. If you score anywhere in that band, you are in the large middle of the distribution. Widen it to 70 to 130, two standard deviations on either side, and you cover about 95% of people.

This is why differences of a few points in the middle of the scale rarely mean much. Moving from 102 to 107 sounds like progress, but both scores sit comfortably in the average range, and the gap is often within the test's own margin of error.

Reading your score against the chart

When you place your own score on the chart, read it as a range rather than a point. Every test has some measurement error. A score of 118 with a likely range of 112 to 124, for example, straddles the "high average" and "high" categories. The honest summary is "probably above average, possibly well above average".

It also helps to check what the test is comparing you with. Scores are always relative to a norm group, usually people of a similar age. A test with a small, outdated or unrepresentative norm group can place you higher or lower on this chart than you belong. For more on how norms are built, see our guide to average IQ. For converting a score into a precise percentile, see IQ percentiles.

Quick reference

• Average: 100, with half of people above and half below.
• Most people: about 68% score between 85 and 115.
• High: 120 and above, roughly the top 9%.
• Very high: 130 and above, roughly the top 2.3%.
• Very rare: 145 and above, roughly 1 in 740 people.

See where you fall on the chart

The IQTestScale test measures fluid reasoning, spatial thinking, working memory and quantitative reasoning in about 20 minutes. Your result shows your score with its likely range and your percentile, so you can see exactly where you sit on this chart. It is a self-assessment for personal insight, not a clinical evaluation.

Take the IQ test