What is a good IQ score?
What IQ scores mean, how they're spread across the population, and why a single number always comes with a margin of error.
IQ scores are scaled so the average adult scores 100 and the standard deviation is 15. That scaling is the whole trick. An IQ isn’t a count of right answers. It tells you how far above or below the average you are, compared with a reference group of people your age.
The bands most tests use
| IQ | Percentile | Common label |
|---|---|---|
| 130 and above | 98th and above | Very superior |
| 120–129 | 91st–97th | Superior |
| 110–119 | 75th–90th | High average |
| 90–109 | 25th–73rd | Average |
| 80–89 | 9th–23rd | Low average |
| Below 80 | Below 9th | Below average |
About two-thirds of people score between 85 and 115, and about 95% between 70 and 130.
So what counts as “good”?
Anything from 90 to 109 is average by definition, and nearly half of all adults land there. 110 or above puts you in the top quarter. 120 or above puts you in the top tenth. 130 or above is the usual cut-off for “gifted” programs and for Mensa, which admits people in the top 2%.
Why every score is really a range
No test measures perfectly. A 30-question online test has more measurement error than a two-hour clinical assessment, and an honest report says so. That’s why ClearIQ shows a 90% range next to your score: if your estimate is 112 with a range of 104–120, your true score is very likely somewhere in that band.
Be wary of any site that quotes your score to a single point with no range, or that only ever reports scores above 120.
Can your score change?
Scores are fairly stable in adulthood, but a single attempt moves a few points depending on sleep, focus and familiarity with the puzzle types. If you retest, look at the trend across attempts rather than any single number. ClearIQ gives every retest brand-new puzzles for this reason.
Take the ClearIQ test to see where you land.