The short answer: any score above 100 is above average
IQ scores are designed so that 100 is always the population average. If you score above 100, you performed better than more than half the population on the cognitive tasks in the test. If you score below 100, more than half performed better than you. Neither is a life sentence — it's a snapshot of your cognitive performance on a specific day.
But "good" is more nuanced than a single number. Here's what each range actually means — and what the research says about it.
The IQ score chart: every range explained
145+ — Profoundly gifted (top 0.1%)
Fewer than 1 in 1,000 people score here. This is the realm of people like Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, and Terence Tao. At this level, abstract reasoning comes with unusual speed and depth — patterns in mathematics, language, and systems that most people can't perceive become obvious. Notable: Feynman claimed his IQ was "only" 125. IQ is not the whole story of genius.
130–144 — Gifted (top 2%)
This is the threshold most researchers use to define "intellectually gifted." If you score 130+, you're in the top 2% of the population. This corresponds roughly to a 1 in 50 occurrence. Research consistently shows that people in this range learn faster, form more complex mental models, and outperform peers in virtually every cognitive domain. Mensa requires a score in this range for membership.
120–129 — Superior intelligence (top 9%)
A score between 120 and 129 places you in the top 9% — a range where most professionals in cognitively demanding fields cluster. Studies of elite law school graduates, medical researchers, and senior engineers consistently find average IQs in this band. If you score here, you have significant cognitive advantages even if you don't consider yourself "gifted."
110–119 — High average (top 25%)
This range contains about 16% of the population. It represents strong cognitive ability — fast learning, good abstract reasoning, comfortable with complex concepts. Most university graduates and many successful professionals sit here. This is an unambiguously "good" IQ score in any practical sense.
90–109 — Average (50% of the population)
The average range by definition. About half the population scores between 90 and 110. The average IQ in the United States is approximately 98; in the UK it's approximately 100. Scoring here means you're performing exactly as the typical person does on cognitive tasks — which is enough to succeed in the vast majority of careers and life situations.
80–89 — Low average (bottom 25%)
About 16% of the population scores in this range. This doesn't indicate a learning disability or a limitation on life success — it means cognitive performance on standardized tasks is below average. Many people in this range thrive through practical intelligence, social skills, and persistence that IQ tests don't capture.
Below 70 — Intellectual disability territory
Below 70 is where clinical classifications of intellectual disability begin. Only 2.5% of the population scores here. This is a clinical threshold used by psychologists and educators — not a statement about human worth.
What does a "good" IQ score depend on?
Context matters enormously. A score of 110 might be average for a PhD program in mathematics but exceptional in a different profession. Research by Frank Schmidt and John Hunter, published in Psychological Bulletin, found that IQ is the single best predictor of job performance across all occupations — but the strength of that relationship varies by job complexity.
For highly complex jobs (surgeons, researchers, top lawyers), the correlation between IQ and job performance is around 0.58. For simple, routine jobs, it drops to around 0.23. In other words: for cognitively demanding work, a higher IQ gives a meaningful advantage. For work requiring consistency and reliability over raw intellectual horsepower, other traits matter more.
What IQ score do you need for different careers?
Research gives us rough averages by profession (these are averages with wide distributions — exceptions exist everywhere):
- Physician / Lawyer / Engineer — average ~125
- University professor — average ~130
- Accountant / Manager — average ~118
- Nurse / Sales manager — average ~112
- Police officer / Electrician — average ~104
- General population — average ~100
Important caveat: these are averages within professions, not requirements. Many people in every profession score 15–20 points above or below the average for their field.
Does a good IQ score predict success?
Yes — to a meaningful but limited extent. The research consensus is that IQ accounts for roughly 20–25% of the variance in life outcomes like income, career achievement, and educational attainment. That leaves 75–80% explained by other factors: conscientiousness, emotional intelligence, luck, opportunity, network, and effort.
The most striking study on this is the Terman Longitudinal Study, which tracked high-IQ children (135+) for decades. The highest achievers in the group were distinguished not by their IQ (which was uniformly high) but by ambition, persistence, and social adjustment.
Can IQ change? Is a good score permanent?
IQ is relatively stable in adulthood — but "relatively" is doing real work in that sentence. Several factors can temporarily or permanently shift scores:
- Sleep deprivation: losing just one night's sleep can reduce scores by 5–15 points temporarily
- Stress and anxiety: high anxiety burns cognitive resources, reducing apparent IQ
- Education: each year of formal education is associated with a gain of roughly 1–5 IQ points
- Exercise: regular aerobic exercise increases hippocampal volume and produces measurable cognitive gains
- The Flynn Effect: IQ scores have risen ~3 points per decade globally for over 80 years, proving that intelligence is far more malleable than once believed
How accurate is an online IQ test?
Not all online IQ tests are equal — most are entertainment products with no psychometric validity. A well-designed test like BrainScale, calibrated against standardized clinical assessments, can achieve a correlation of ~0.87 with full clinical evaluations. That makes it genuinely useful for understanding your cognitive profile, even if it can't fully replicate the controlled conditions of a clinical assessment.
The best online tests measure the same four domains as clinical tools: fluid reasoning, working memory, processing speed, and verbal comprehension.
Conclusion: what is a "good" IQ score?
Any score above 100 is above average. Any score above 115 puts you in the top 16% globally. Any score above 130 puts you in the top 2%. But more important than the number is what you do with your cognitive capacity — and the research is clear that motivation, strategy, and effort are at least as important as raw IQ in determining what you achieve.
Curious where you stand? Take the BrainScale IQ test free — 40 questions, instant results, complete cognitive breakdown.