Where 125 sits on the bell curve
This score is 25 points above the average of 100, or 1.67 standard deviations. The shaded part of the curve, everyone who scores lower, covers about 95.2% of people.
What an IQ of 125 means
125 sits in the middle of the Superior range, halfway between one and two standard deviations above the mean. It is the score where you leave the top 10% and enter the top 5%.
On the IQ score scale, the Superior range runs from 120 to 129. Range names come from the Wechsler scales; they are labels for parts of the curve, not hard lines, so 124 and 126 reflect almost the same performance.
Whether 125 counts as a good score depends on the comparison: against everyone, or against the people you study or work with.
How rare is an IQ of 125?
If scores follow the standard bell curve, this is how many people you would expect to reach this score or higher:
- In a class of 30: about 1.4
- In an office of 250: about 12
- In a town of 10,000: about 478
- In a city of 1 million: about 47,790
125 compared with nearby scores
| IQ | Percentile | Range | How rare |
|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | 84th | High Average | 1 in 6.3 |
| 120 | 91st | Superior | 1 in 11 |
| 125 | 95th | Superior | 1 in 21 |
| 130 | 98th | Very Superior | 1 in 44 |
| 135 | 99.02nd | Very Superior | 1 in 102 |
"How rare" counts people at that score or higher.
125 and the usual reference points
- 25 points above 100, the average by definition.
- 10 points above 115, one standard deviation above average (about the 84th percentile).
- 5 points below 130, two standard deviations above average and the usual Mensa line (top 2%).
- 20 points below 145, three standard deviations above average (about 1 in 741).
How much to trust a single score
No test measures IQ exactly. Clinical tests such as the Wechsler scales report a confidence interval of roughly 5 points either side, so a measured 125 is best read as "probably between 120 and 130". Short online tests carry wider ranges, which is why our free test shows a 90% range next to every result.
Scores also move between sittings. Tiredness, stress and practice with the puzzle types can each shift a result by a few points, so the range name tells you more than the exact number.
Frequently asked questions
Is 125 a good IQ score?
Yes. An IQ of 125 is in the Superior range (120 to 129) and higher than about 95% of people. About 1 in 21 people score 125 or higher.
What percentile is an IQ of 125?
An IQ of 125 is at about the 95th percentile. On the standard scale (mean 100, standard deviation 15) it is +1.67 standard deviations from the average.
How rare is an IQ of 125?
About 1 in 21 people score 125 or higher, which is 4.8% of the population.
Is 125 close to Mensa level?
It is 5 points below the usual Mensa line of 130, the top 2%. Because any single score has a margin of error of several points, a 125 is not far from that line, but only a supervised test counts for admission.
How accurate is an online IQ score of 125?
Treat it as a range, not an exact number. Clinical tests report a confidence interval of roughly 5 points either side, and short online tests have wider ranges, so read any single result as a band rather than an exact point.
Nearby IQ scores
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