IQ 167
An IQ of 167 is higher than almost everyone: about 1 in 252,000.
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- 99.999th
- Percentile, at least
- 1 in 252,000
- Score 167 or higher
- Profoundly Gifted
- Classification
On the standard scale that is 4.47 standard deviations above average. No test has been checked against enough people to confirm a score this high.
An IQ of 167 falls in the profoundly gifted IQ range, which starts at 160. Find 167 on the IQ chart, or check how rare any score is with the IQ rarity calculator.
IQ 167: beyond what most tests can measure
A 167 is 7 points past the ceiling most major tests publish. The model rarity, about 1 in 252,000, describes about 32,000 people worldwide, which is far beyond anything a test has been checked against.
None of this means nobody is this able. It means a single number is not a reliable way to describe them.
Some tests publish extended norms above 160 for exceptional children. These rest on very small samples and on modelling, so they are best treated as rough rankings.
How claims like "167 IQ" arise
Most very high numbers you see online come from one of a few sources, and knowing which one produced a 167 tells you how much weight to put on it.
- Ratio IQ. Early childhood tests divided mental age by real age. A 6-year-old solving puzzles like a typical 10-year-old got a ratio IQ of 167. Modern deviation IQs do not work this way.
- Different scales. Some tests use a standard deviation of 24, so a 167 there is about 142 on the usual SD 15 scale.
- Repetition without a source. Numbers attached to celebrities are often copied from site to site with no test report behind them.
Famous estimates: Newton, da Vinci and the 160+ club
Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci are usually given estimates of 160 or more, and they are among 42 such profiles here. Only 14 go as high as 167. All are judgements from biographies, not test results.
Estimates this high mostly reflect how extraordinary the achievement was. That is a different thing from how someone would perform on a timed reasoning test.
How many people have an IQ of 167 or higher?
Scoring 167 or higher is a 0.0004% share of everyone. Scaled up to whole populations, that works out as:
| Where | Population | IQ 167+ |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 68 million | 270 |
| US | 335 million | 1,300 |
| World | 8.1 billion | 32,000 |
In a city of 500,000, you would expect about 2 people to score 167 or higher.
About 1 in 800,000 people would score exactly 167, meaning between 166.5 and 167.5 on a continuous scale. In the UK that is about 84 people.
These are model estimates: a bell curve applied to whole populations, including children, rounded. They are not census counts, and real test norms differ a little from one test to another.
How rare is an IQ of 167?
Compare the neighbours: 162 or higher is about 1 in 55,900, 167 or higher is 1 in 252,000, and 172 or higher is 1 in 1.3 million. Each point up here adds roughly 37% to the rarity.
What your 167 could really be. At this height the margin of error is wide. Just 5 points either way, 162 or 172, changes the model rarity from 1 in 55,900 to 1 in 1.3 million, which shows how fragile such numbers are.
Which scale was it on? A 167 reported on an SD 16 scale converts to about 163 on the usual SD 15 scale, and one from an SD 24 scale (seen in some Cattell-style results) to about 142. Check which scale your score report used.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 167
Estimates this high are reserved for a small group of scientists, artists and thinkers. These sit near 167. Every figure below is a retrospective estimate, not a measured score. Open a profile to see the evidence and how confident anyone can be.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's IQ (estimated 165+): Composer, 18th Century. 2 points below IQ 167.
- Archimedes' IQ (estimated 165+): Mathematician & Inventor, Ancient Greece. 2 points below IQ 167.
- Alexander von Humboldt's IQ (estimated 165+): Naturalist & Explorer, 19th Century. 2 points below IQ 167.
- Blaise Pascal's IQ (estimated 165+): Mathematician & Philosopher, 17th Century. 2 points below IQ 167.
- Paul Dirac's IQ (estimated 165+): Theoretical Physicist, 20th Century. 2 points below IQ 167.
Also estimated near 167: Ludwig Wittgenstein's IQ (estimated 160+), John Quincy Adams' IQ (estimated 155+).
Fictional characters near 167
Just for fun: the fictional characters whose fan-estimated IQs sit near 167.
- Sherlock Holmes' IQ (fan estimate 165): Sherlock Holmes (canon). 2 points below IQ 167.
See all historical IQ estimates or all fictional character IQs.
167 compared with nearby scores
Nearby scores and the round-number landmarks, so you can see how quickly the percentile changes around 167. Every row links to that score's page.
| IQ | Classification | Percentile | Score higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| IQ 100 | Average | 50th | 50% |
| IQ 110 | High Average | 74.8th | 25% |
| IQ 120 | Superior | 90.9th | 9.1% |
| IQ 130 | Gifted | 97.7th | 2.3% |
| IQ 140 | Gifted | 99.62nd | 0.38% |
| IQ 150 | Genius | 99.96th | 0.043% |
| IQ 162 | Profoundly Gifted | 99.998th | 0.0018% |
| IQ 166 | Profoundly Gifted | >99.999th | 0.00054% |
| IQ 167 | Profoundly Gifted | >99.999th | 0.0004% |
| IQ 168 | Profoundly Gifted | >99.999th | 0.00029% |
| IQ 172 | Profoundly Gifted | >99.999th | 0.000079% |
Questions about an IQ of 167
Is 167 a good IQ?
What percentile is an IQ of 167?
Is 167 genius level?
What does an IQ of 167 mean?
How rare is an IQ of 167?
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Next in IQ scores
More in IQ scores
- IQ 130 percentileThe usual gifted line
- IQ 140 percentileVery superior, rarer than 1 in 200
- SAT, ACT and GRE to IQConvert a test score to IQ
Related tools
- IQ rarity calculatorHow rare a score is, as 1 in N
- IQ chartEvery band and what it means
- IQ bell curvePlot a score on the distribution
Is your IQ above 167?
See where you land next to 167 with 25 visual reasoning questions.
25 questions · about 12 minutes
Percentiles and counts use a normal distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 15. Real tests have their own norms, confidence intervals and ceilings, so treat every figure here as an approximation, not a diagnosis. Two tests often give different numbers for the same person: here is why.
By the LifeScore Editorial Team. Reviewed October 2026. Editorial policy