Where 140 sits on the bell curve
This score is 40 points above the average of 100, or 2.67 standard deviations. The shaded part of the curve, everyone who scores lower, covers about 99.6% of people.
What an IQ of 140 means
140 is two and two-thirds standard deviations above the mean, about 1 in 260 people. In Lewis Terman's 1916 classification for the Stanford-Binet, scores above 140 were labelled 'near genius or genius'; modern tests no longer use that label.
The Very Superior range runs from 130 to 160 and beyond. Range names come from the Wechsler scales; they are labels for parts of the curve, not hard lines, so 139 and 141 reflect almost the same performance.
Whether 140 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 140?
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: fewer than one
- In an office of 250: about 1
- In a town of 10,000: about 38
- In a city of 1 million: about 3,830
140 compared with nearby scores
| IQ | Percentile | Range | How rare |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 | 98th | Very Superior | 1 in 44 |
| 135 | 99.02nd | Very Superior | 1 in 102 |
| 140 | 99.62nd | Very Superior | 1 in 261 |
| 145 | 99.87th | Very Superior | 1 in 741 |
| 150 | 99.96th | Very Superior | 1 in 2,300 |
"How rare" counts people at that score or higher.
140 and the usual reference points
- 40 points above 100, the average by definition.
- 25 points above 115, one standard deviation above average (about the 84th percentile).
- 10 points above 130, two standard deviations above average and the usual Mensa line (top 2%).
- 5 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 140 is best read as "probably between 135 and 145". Unsupervised 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 140 a good IQ score?
Yes. An IQ of 140 is in the Very Superior range (130 to 160) and higher than about 99.6% of people. About 1 in 261 people score 140 or higher.
What percentile is an IQ of 140?
An IQ of 140 is at about the 99.62nd percentile. On the standard scale (mean 100, standard deviation 15) it is +2.67 standard deviations from the average.
How rare is an IQ of 140?
About 1 in 261 people score 140 or higher, which is 0.38% of the population.
Is 140 a genius IQ?
Older classifications called 140 and above 'near genius or genius', but modern tests such as the WAIS-IV simply call 130 and above Very Superior. 140 is higher than about 99.6 in 100 people.
How accurate is an online IQ score of 140?
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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