Seven ranges, from Extremely Low to Very Superior
The IQ scale is a standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The Wechsler tests divide it into seven levels, from Extremely Low to Very Superior. Half of all people score between 90 and 109.
| Score | Range name | Percentile | % of people |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 and above | Very Superior | 98th and above | 2.3% |
| 120 to 129 | Superior | 91st to 98th | 6.8% |
| 110 to 119 | High Average | 75th to 91st | 16.1% |
| 90 to 109 | Average | 25th to 75th | 49.5% |
| 80 to 89 | Low Average | 9th to 25th | 16.1% |
| 70 to 79 | Borderline | 2nd to 9th | 6.8% |
| 69 and below | Extremely Low | 2nd and below | 2.3% |
The share column comes from the normal curve, so the scale is symmetrical: the same share sits at each end.
What each range means
Average (90 to 109) is where half of everyone lands, and the average IQ sits at its centre: 100 on every modern test.
High Average starts at 110. A score of 115 is one standard deviation above the mean and higher than about 84 in 100 people.
In the Superior range, an IQ of 120 is higher than about 91 in 100 people, and 125 reaches the top 5%.
Very Superior begins at 130, the top 2% and the line Mensa uses for entry. Three standard deviations up, 145 is about 1 in 740 people. Near 160 most tests run out of hard puzzles, which is why claims for the highest IQ ever recorded are disputed.
Below 70, a score alone never settles anything: a diagnosis needs a full clinical assessment, not a test result.
Which range counts as a good IQ score depends on what you need it for, from school support to a society that admits the top 2%.
The percentile column is rounded. The IQ percentile calculator gives the exact figure for any score, on scales with a standard deviation of 15, 16 or 24. Not every test counts 15 points per step: older Stanford-Binet editions used 16, so the same ability gives a slightly higher number there.
Our own test reports a range rather than one number, because 32 puzzles cannot pin an IQ to a single point. The page on how the 90% range is worked out shows the method.
How scores spread out
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