IQ 109

109 is in the upper half of the average range, 6 points below the 115 edge. In a class of 30 that is roughly 22 people at or below you and 8 above, which is about as ordinary as a score gets.

Within this range, scores a few points apart are closer together than the test's own margin of error. A 106 and a 112 could easily be the same person on different days.

This is the shared result of most of the people you know, from colleagues to friends to family. Nothing about it is a barrier to the things people usually care about.

Put 109 next to 100 and the difference is 0.60 of a standard deviation. On timed abstract puzzles that shows as being a touch quicker or more accurate; outside the test, other things matter far more.

You can follow complex instructions, learn new software, manage money and pick up a trade or profession. The ceiling on those is set far more by practice and interest than by a few IQ points.

Where a score like this shows is mainly in speed on unfamiliar, timed problems. Given time, familiar material and a clear goal, people across the average range reach the same answers.

A total of 109 averages several abilities together. Most people are stronger in some than others, and the practical wins come from building around the strong ones:

• Lean on structure. Checklists, notes and routines free up working memory for the hard part of a problem.
• Go deep in one area. Expertise lets people reason quickly in their own field whatever their overall score.
• Protect sleep and focus. Both beat cramming for anything you need to remember.

On a bell curve with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, about 27% of people score 109 or higher. Applied to whole populations:

Compare the neighbours: 104 or higher is about 1 in 3, 109 or higher is 1 in 4, and 114 or higher is 1 in 6. Each point up here adds roughly 9% to the rarity.

What your 109 could really be. If you retook a well-made test, landing at 104 or at 114 would be unremarkable. That is the difference between beating 60.5% and 82.5% of people, and short online tests are noisier still.

Which scale was it on? A 109 reported on an SD 16 scale converts to about 108 on the usual SD 15 scale, and one from an SD 24 scale (seen in some Cattell-style results) to about 106. Check which scale your score report used.

Nobody famous has a verified IQ in most cases, and retrospective estimates are only made for a narrow group.

Our historical estimates start at 115, so nobody sits close to 109. That is not because famous people score higher. Estimates are only attempted for people with extraordinary records, which leaves ordinary scores unrepresented.

A few degree, university and job profiles on this site carry IQ benchmarks close to 109. Treat the education figures as rough estimates from admissions-test data rather than measured IQs.

The scores one and five points either side of 109, plus the round numbers from 100 to 150, side by side. Tap any score for its full page.

People with an IQ of 109 typically score about 1120 on the SAT and about 21 on the ACT composite. Scores vary a lot from person to person, so the range shows where about four in five land.