Low Average IQ: 80 to 89

An IQ of 80 to 89 is classified as low average. About 16% of people score in this range, roughly 1 in 6. It is within the normal range, a little below the middle.

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9.1st to 25.2nd
Percentile
1 in 6
16.1% of people
Low average
WAIS-IV label
70100130averageIQ 80 to 89
Low Average: 16.1% of people

What an IQ of 80 to 89 means

The range runs from about the 9th to the 25th percentile. The WAIS-IV, WISC-V and WAIS-5 all call it low average.

People in this range complete school, hold jobs across many fields and live fully independent lives. New, abstract material may take longer to learn, while familiar tasks are handled as well as anyone handles them.

Common characteristics

  1. Concrete thinking style

    Ideas land best when they are tied to real examples rather than theory.

  2. Prefers explicit instructions

    Clear steps and expectations make new tasks quicker to master.

  3. Learns through repetition

    New skills may need more practice at first, and then stick.

  4. Strong in familiar domains

    Experience builds real expertise, and in a known field performance can match anyone's.

Work and everyday life

People with low average scores succeed in skilled trades, care work, retail, administration, transport and many other fields.

In these jobs experience, reliability and people skills often matter more than a few IQ points.

What the label does not tell you

This range overlaps heavily with average: 88 and 92 are within normal measurement error of each other. Tiredness, stress, language and unfamiliar test formats can each move a score by several points.

IQ classifications are statistical bands on a scale with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Individual abilities vary a lot within each band, and intelligence is one factor among many in how life turns out.

What the research says

Job performance research (Schmidt and Hunter, 1998) finds general ability predicts how quickly people learn a job, with the strongest effects in complex roles. In routine and practical work, experience narrows the gap over time.

Labels differ between tests. This range is called low average on the WAIS-IV, low average on the WISC-V and low average on the Stanford-Binet 5. The classifications overview compares the systems, and the IQ chart lists each score range with its percentile.

Low Average IQ: common questions

What does an IQ of 80 to 89 mean?

An IQ of 80 to 89 is classified as low average. About 16% of people score in this range, roughly 1 in 6. It is within the normal range, a little below the middle. People in this range complete school, hold jobs across many fields and live fully independent lives. New, abstract material may take longer to learn, while familiar tasks are handled as well as anyone handles them.

What jobs suit people with an IQ of 80 to 89?

Skilled trades, care work, retail, administration, transport and other structured roles. Hands-on training usually works better than long theory-based courses.

How rare is an IQ of 80 to 89?

About 16.1% of people score 80 to 89, or roughly 1 in 6. In a room of 100 random people you would expect about 16 in this range.

What are the characteristics of Low Average intelligence?

Common markers include: concrete thinking style, prefers explicit instructions, learns through repetition, strong in familiar domains. These describe tendencies across groups of people, not rules for any one person.

Can IQ in the 80 to 89 range be improved?

Not by much, for most adults. Scores are fairly stable after childhood. Each extra year of education adds roughly 1 to 5 points on average (Ritchie and Tucker-Drob, 2018), and practising one test raises scores on that test, but no method reliably raises general intelligence by a large amount. Sleep, health, stress and testing conditions all move a single result by a few points.

What are the limitations of an IQ of 80 to 89?

This range overlaps heavily with average: 88 and 92 are within normal measurement error of each other. Tiredness, stress, language and unfamiliar test formats can each move a score by several points.

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Sources

  1. Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Pearson.
  2. American Psychiatric Association (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR).
  3. Gottfredson, L. S. (1997). Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life. Intelligence, 24(1), 79-132.
  4. Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (1996). Intelligence and job performance: Economic and social implications. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 2(3-4), 447-472.
  5. Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274.
  6. Lubinski, D. (2009). Cognitive epidemiology: With emphasis on untangling cognitive ability and socioeconomic status. Intelligence, 37(6), 625-633.
  7. Terman, L. M., & Oden, M. H. (1959). The Gifted Group at Mid-Life. Stanford University Press.
  8. Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2006). Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth after 35 years. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(4), 316-345.
  9. Ritchie, S. J., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2018). How much does education improve intelligence? A meta-analysis. Psychological Science, 29(8), 1358-1369.

Percentages use a normal distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 15. Methodology