IQ scores explained
What is a good IQ score?
A single number is easy to over-read. This page explains what IQ scores are scaled against, what the conventional ranges are called, and how much weight any one score deserves — including the estimate from a quick online test.
What an IQ score actually is
An IQ score is not a count of correct answers. It is a comparison: your performance on a set of reasoning tasks is placed against the performance of a large reference group of people in your age range. The raw score gets converted onto a scale built so that the middle of that group sits at 100.
That is why the same raw performance can produce different scores on different tests, and why a score only means something alongside the test it came from. It also means an IQ score describes performance on particular reasoning tasks — pattern recognition, verbal relationships, working with numbers and space — rather than a person's worth, effort, creativity, or practical judgement.
What the average IQ is
By design, the average IQ score is 100. Major standardized tests are scaled so scores cluster around 100 in a bell curve, with a standard deviation of 15 points. In practice that means:
- About two thirds of people score between 85 and 115 — one standard deviation either side of the average.
- About 95 in 100 score between 70 and 130.
- Scores above 130 or below 70 are each reached by roughly 2 in 100 people.
Because the scale is anchored to the middle of the group rather than to a fixed set of questions, "average" is not a verdict — it is the most common place to land.
IQ score ranges
These are the conventional labels used to describe bands on the 100-average, 15-point scale. Different test publishers word them slightly differently, and the boundaries are descriptive conventions rather than hard lines — a 119 and a 121 are far closer than two different labels suggest.
| Score range | Usual label | How common |
|---|---|---|
| 130 and above | Very superior | Roughly the top 2 in 100 scores. |
| 120–129 | Superior | Roughly the top 9 in 100 scores. |
| 110–119 | High average | Above the middle of the distribution. |
| 90–109 | Average | Where about half of all scores fall. |
| 80–89 | Low average | Below the middle of the distribution. |
| 70–79 | Borderline | Interpreted only by a qualified professional. |
| 69 and below | Extremely low | Interpreted only by a qualified professional. |
Scores in the lowest bands are only meaningful as part of a full assessment by a qualified professional, alongside other information about a person. A number on its own is not a diagnosis of anything.
How percentiles work
A percentile says what share of the reference group scored at or below a given score. A score of 100 sits at about the 50th percentile — the middle. A score of 115 sits near the 84th percentile, and 130 near the 98th.
Percentiles are bunched in the middle and stretched at the edges. Ten points near 100 move you past far more people than ten points near 140, which is why small differences around the average matter much less than they feel like they should.
So what counts as a good score?
A good IQ score for an adult
Anything from roughly 85 to 115 is squarely in the typical range for adults, and 100 is exactly average by design. Scores above 115 are higher than most, and above 130 are uncommon. Because adult scores are already compared against other adults, there is no separate adult scale to convert to.
Do IQ scores change with age?
The score is age-adjusted: you are compared with people in your own age band, so getting older does not mechanically raise or lower it. Scores do move somewhat over a lifetime, and childhood scores are less stable than adult ones — but there is no "good score by age" table, because the age comparison is already built into the scale.
Why one number is a weak summary
Any single score carries a margin of error, and it can be pushed around by sleep, stress, practice with similar puzzles, distraction, and how familiar the format feels. Two honest attempts a week apart can differ by several points without anything about you having changed. A range is a fairer read than a point.
What an online estimate can and can't tell you
The IQ test on this site is a short, self-administered reasoning quiz. It is not a proctored, standardized IQ assessment, it is not normed against a reference population, and it cannot be used for diagnosis, education placement, or any formal purpose. It gives an estimated range based on how many puzzles you solve.
What it is good for: a few minutes of pattern, logic, verbal, and spatial puzzles, and a rough sense of which of those feels easiest. If you need a real assessed score — for school, work, or clinical reasons — that has to come from a qualified professional administering a standardized test.
Other self-tests here
Reasoning is one narrow slice. If you're curious about how you read and handle emotion, the EQ test scores four dimensions of emotional intelligence, and the mood check-in is a gentler read on how today is actually going.