IQ 183
Profoundly Gifted
Quick answer
Yes, and it is extremely rare. An IQ of 183 is higher than all but about 1 in 63 million people.
On the standard scale that is 5.53 standard deviations above average. No test has been checked against enough people to confirm a score this high.
Not sure your number is right? Take the free IQ test and compare.
Where 183 falls on the bell curve
The marker shows 183 on a scale stretched to 200. Everyone to its right, about 1 in 63 million people, is too thin a sliver of the curve to draw.
IQ 183: beyond what most tests can measure
A 183 is 23 points past the ceiling most major tests publish. The model rarity, about 1 in 63 million, describes about 130 people worldwide, which is far beyond anything a test has been checked against.
Major individually administered adult tests typically report full-scale scores up to about 160. A reported number above that usually comes from extended norms, a different scale or extrapolation.
Real populations may not follow the bell curve perfectly in the far tails, so rarity figures this extreme are illustrations, not head counts.
How claims like "183 IQ" arise
Most very high numbers you see online come from one of a few sources, and knowing which one produced a 183 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 11-year-old got a ratio IQ of 183. Modern deviation IQs do not work this way.
- Historiometric estimates. Researchers such as Catharine Cox (1926) estimated IQs for famous people from biographies. Some of her adjusted estimates went above 200. They are educated guesses, not test results.
- Unnormed online quizzes. A test with no norm data can print any number. Very high outputs usually say more about the scoring than the person.
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 37 such profiles here. Only 1 goes as high as 183. 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 183 or higher?
If IQ follows the standard bell curve, 0.0000016% of people score 183 or higher. Here is what that share means across whole populations:
| Where | Population | IQ 183 or higher |
|---|---|---|
| UK | about 68 million | about 1 |
| US | about 335 million | about 5 |
| World | about 8.1 billion | about 130 |
You would need the whole UK to expect about one person at 183 or higher.
Exactly 183, counting anyone between 182.5 and 183.5, is about 1 in 170 million. In the US that is about 2 people, and in the UK fewer than one person.
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 183?
Compare the neighbours: 178 or higher is about 1 in 10 million, 183 or higher is 1 in 63 million, and 188 or higher is 1 in 450 million. Each point up here adds roughly 47% to the rarity.
What your 183 could really be. No test is precise this far out. Even a 5-point error band, from 178 to 188, spans a rarity gap of about 45 times, so the exact number matters much less than "very far above average".
Which scale was it on? Most modern tests use a standard deviation of 15, which is what this page assumes. If your 183 came from a test using an SD of 16, it is about 178 on the SD 15 scale. From an SD 24 scale, used by some Cattell-style reports, it is about 152.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 183
Estimates this high are reserved for a small group of scientists, artists and thinkers. These are the closest to 183. None of these are test scores. They are estimates from biographical evidence, and each profile explains its basis.
Fictional characters near 183
Just for fun: the fictional characters whose fan-estimated IQs sit closest to 183.
183 compared with nearby scores
How 183 stacks up against the scores just around it and the round numbers people usually ask about. Each score links to its own page.
| IQ | Classification | Percentile | Score higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| IQ 10083 lower | Average | 50th | 50% |
| IQ 11073 lower | High Average | 74.8th | 25% |
| IQ 12063 lower | Superior | 90.9th | 9.1% |
| IQ 13053 lower | Gifted | 97.7th | 2.3% |
| IQ 14043 lower | Gifted | 99.62nd | 0.38% |
| IQ 15033 lower | Genius | 99.96th | 0.043% |
| IQ 1785 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.99999th | 0.00001% |
| IQ 1821 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999977th | 0.0000023% |
| IQ 1841 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999989th | 0.0000011% |
| IQ 1885 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.99999977th | 0.00000022% |
Is 183 a good IQ?
Yes. 183 is far above average, about 1 in 63 million people on the bell curve. At this height, though, tests lose precision, so a single result of 183 is best read as "well above 150" rather than an exact figure you can compare point for point.
What percentile is an IQ of 183?
An IQ of 183 is at about the 99.9999984th percentile. That means it is higher than 99.9999984% of people, while 0.0000016% score the same or higher, about 1 in 63 million. The figure assumes the standard scale, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
Is 183 genius level?
Informally, yes, since 183 is far beyond the 140 to 145 range where popular genius labels begin. But genius in the historical sense means achievement, like Newton's or da Vinci's, and their famous numbers are estimates. No test measures 183 precisely.
What does an IQ of 183 mean?
An IQ of 183 means that on this kind of timed reasoning test you outscored about 99.9999984% of people. The label for it on this site is Profoundly Gifted. Most tests cannot measure this high precisely. It says nothing about your knowledge, creativity or character.
How rare is an IQ of 183?
183 or higher happens in about 1 in 63 million people. In the UK that is about 1 person. Scoring exactly 183, meaning 182.5 to 183.5 on a continuous scale, is about 1 in 170 million. Both figures come from the standard bell curve, not a census.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 183?
Mental age is an old idea used for children, not adults. Under the ratio method, IQ equalled mental age divided by real age, times 100, so an 8-year-old with a ratio IQ of 183 reasoned like a typical 14.6-year-old. Modern tests rank adults against their own age group.