Main facts about the average IQ and IQ scale
- You have an average IQ if your score ranges between 85 and 115.
- The average IQ in America is 98. People with the highest average IQ live in Massachusetts (104.3), while citizens of Mississippi have the lowest average IQ (94.2).
- The country with the highest average IQ is Japan (106.48).
- 95% of the population falls into the average IQ segment between 70 and 130.
What is the average IQ globally?
The average IQ score for adults in the world is 100 (based on David Wechsler’s most common test). At the same time, the scientist established that the standard deviation from this score is 15.
This means you have an average IQ if your score is between 85 and 115 (within 15 points of 100 in either direction).
What about scores that are higher or lower than the standard deviation? What is a normal IQ? Is an IQ of 80 low? No, it is in a second range of deviation.
- Everything from 70 to 85 is also considered an average but low average.
- And everything from 115 to 130 is a high average.
What is a high IQ and a low IQ, then? And what do they mean?
- A score over 130 is in the top 2% of the population. It’s considered high and means you may be gifted or even a genius.
- A score under 70 is considered low and can indicate a developmental disability.
What is the average IQ in the USA?
The US average IQ is 98, which makes the United States the 31st country on the list of average IQs globally.
Which are the states with the highest average IQ in the US? These are:
- Massachusetts (104.3)
- New Hampshire (104.2)
- North Dakota (103.8)
And what are the states with the lowest average IQ in America? These include:
- Mississippi (94.2)
- Louisiana (95.3)
- California (95.5)
Moreover, according to the Flynn Effect, the American average IQ keeps rising at about 3 points per decade. This happens because of improved nutrition during pregnancy, changes in education systems, better family support, and healthcare.
Quick stats on the highest average IQ by country
Do average IQ scores differ across countries? As you’ve already understood, yes.
According to research by the Ulster Institute, there are three countries with the highest average IQ:
- Japan (106.48)
- Taiwan (106.67)
- Singapore (105.89)
The average Chinese IQ is 104.1, placing it in the fourth place of countries with high IQs.
What countries have the lowest IQ in the world?
If education, nutrition, and healthcare improvements positively influence the average US IQ, in some cases, regions lacking these resources can rank lower on the scale.
Reports state that the countries with the so-called “lowest IQ”.
- Nepal (42.99)
- Liberia & Sierra Leone (45.07)
- Guatemala (47.72)
However, IQ isn’t everything. Joy Ismail, PhD, shares her opinion, “Intelligence is a measure of overall cognitive function, including memory, language, problem-solving, planning, and attention. IQ tests only measure a very restricted set of cognitive processes and, therefore, are poor indicators of intelligence. In the recent decade, we have understood — as scientists and as people — that there are many types of intelligence and learning styles. Some individuals excel at problem-solving tasks, while others possess remarkable memory capacities, and still others exhibit savant-like musical abilities. None of these is superior to the other, and IQ is no longer a satisfactory measuring stick for intelligence or ability.”
Average human IQ: Insights by age, gender, and race
- The average IQ is 100 for ages 20-24 and 99 for ages 25-44. It drops to 97 for ages 45-54, 94 for ages 55-64, 90 for 65-69, 86 for ages 70-74 and 79 for ages 75+.
- There’s no statistically important difference between average IQ in men and women.
- A hot climate might negatively influence intelligence development and average IQ.
- The average IQ for East Asians is about 106. For Whites, it’s about 100. For Native American people, it’s about 85. And in sub-Saharan African people, it’s 70.
Average IQ in the world. How accurate is it?
People in most countries have an average IQ of 70 to 107. But the scores only show that one approach to testing intelligence isn’t suitable for everyone.
Social, economic, and political factors affect people’s performance when measuring average IQ in different countries of the world.
Moreover, if we look at other types of intelligence tests by country, we can see that the same countries rarely made it to different top 10 lists.
Who has the highest IQ ever?
As of 2024, YoungHoon Kim from South Korea has the highest recorded IQ, with an impressive score of 276.
What is the highest IQ in the US? American writer Christopher Michael Langan has an IQ of between 195 and 210, which makes him the smartest person in the country.
By the way, what is IQ?
Have you ever thought about what this means and how this term came about?
IQ stands for intelligence quotient. It measures a person’s ability to reason and solve problems. “A quotient of what?” you might ask.
Well, we need to take a short journey into the history of intelligence tests to answer this question.
How was IQ measured in the past?
Scientists have tried to design generalized intelligence tests since the late 1800s, but in 1905, a Frenchman named Alfred Binet created the first modern-day IQ test. Binet wanted to evaluate children’s cognitive abilities by comparing their mental and biological age.
How did Binet figure out their mental age? He asked them general knowledge questions that an average child their age could answer correctly.
If a 6-year-old succeeded on all questions that most 7-year-olds answered correctly and then got stumped, the child’s mental age was 7. If a 7-year-old succeeded on all questions that most 8-year-olds answered correctly, their mental age was 8.
As a result, the formula was:
IQ score = biological age — mental age
Psychologist William Stern agreed with many of Binet’s ideas but thought that dividing mental age by biological age would be a more accurate comparison.
This calculation meant that if a 7-year-old could solve tasks as well as the average 7-year-old, they scored 7/7, which was an IQ score of 1.
On the other hand, a 7-year-old who performed at a level of the average 8-year-old had a score of 8/7 or an IQ of 1.1, which is a little higher than average IQ.
As a result, the word “quotient” came from how scientists calculated early IQ scores.
How do IQ scores work for children today?
Psychologist Lewis Terman further improved the test and suggested multiplying the division result by 100 to eliminate the decimal point.
Hence, an IQ score of 1 became 100 (which sounds much cooler), and an IQ of 1.1 became an IQ of 110. The test became known as the Stanford-Binet test and is still one of the most popular for measuring IQ.
Now you see what quotient means in IQ and know one method to calculate it:
IQ= Mental age/Biological age x 100
However, this test was designed with questions to test children and can’t create something like an IQ score chart by age for adults.
For example, if someone says a 50-year-old performs like an 80-year-old, they won’t take it as a compliment. New tests with more challenging tasks work differently to see how adults perform them at different ages, on average, and how IQ declines with advanced aging.
How do IQ tests work in adults?
Note that IQ tests measure cognitive abilities only (yes, it isn’t about overall intelligence).
This means that when you open the tab stating, “What is your IQ? Check it now!”, you evaluate such parameters:
- Skills and knowledge acquired throughout life
- Verbal and nonverbal abilities
- Ability to reason to perform new tasks that you can’t do automatically
- Ability to analyze and interpret real-world quantitative information
- Ability to make sense of abstract information and solve problems
At the same time, IQ test scores are pretty complicated and depend on many factors, from test-taking skills to how licensed psychologists interpret the results.
Yes, only licensed psychologists should administer IQ tests, so if you decide to take an online IQ test, don’t rely too much on the score because it’s most likely inaccurate.
What should I know about the IQ scale?
There’s a good chance you fall into the average IQ segment — 95% of the population scores between 70 and 130. But IQ scores are just numbers that supposedly show how good you are at solving specific puzzles.
You might score differently on different tests, but your scores probably still fall in the average IQ range, whether on the low or high spectrum.
More specifically, you likely have an average IQ in the USA or whichever country you live in, meaning you scored the same as most people where you live.
Is the IQ level meaning the same for everyone?
As we’ve already mentioned, the results of IQ tests depend on interpretation.
For example, researchers have found that women perform slightly better on some verbal tasks, and men perform better on some spatial ability tests.
If a specialist who interprets results believes that spatial ability is more important for IQ or is biased against women, they may give men a higher score. The same goes for racial differences and other biases, which is frustrating, but it happens.
Can people change their IQ scores?
Have you ever thought about whether your IQ is set in stone or if it’s something you can boost? Here’s the answer!
While it might seem like intelligence is a permanent gauge of your smarts, the reality is more flexible. Your brainpower can alter in a few ways, and here are the most common things that may influence your IQ level.
Education and lifestyle changes
Sadly, it doesn’t mean going to fancy places to discover more about the world around you. But if you can improve your cognitive skills through solving mathematical problems or learning poems by heart, you may score higher on some IQ tests.
Similarly, negative lifestyle changes can lead to a lower IQ score. If you abuse substances (or toxic relationships) like alcohol or drugs, you’re literally killing brain cells.
This interferes with your cognitive skills and with acquiring new skills and knowledge. Hence, IQ scores will decrease.
Aging
Interestingly, scientists found that teenagers who passed IQ tests in early adolescence improved their scores by 20 points on average four years later!
Also, your IQ can improve as you acquire more skills and knowledge over time, and your brain actively develops until your mid-20s or 30s.
However, age can also negatively affect IQ level, meaning the older you become, the higher the chance of getting a lower score if you don’t train your mental skills.
Moreover, older adults are more vulnerable to dementia, which profoundly affects their mental abilities.
FAQ about IQ range
Why is the concept of average American IQ so popular?
Standardized tests make IQ relatively easy to measure, unlike emotional intelligence or creativity. As people love comparing numbers, especially when arguing about who’s the smartest, showing off good IQ scores is an easy way to do that.
How does IQ score meaning impact everyday life?
IQ tests help us understand a few things about ourselves:
- Learning style
- Problem-solving skills
- Cognitive strengths
- Areas for improvement
- Adaptability
- Multitasking ability
However, if a person lacks emotional intelligence, someone else who has difficulties with problem-solving but has high social intelligence may be a better leader.
Managing interactions and resolving conflicts are important skills that IQ tests can’t measure.
Also, creative thinking — that you can’t estimate with an IQ score — might give you an advantage when it comes to fine art, music, and other creative pursuits.
