IQ 187
Profoundly Gifted
Quick answer
Yes, and it is extremely rare. An IQ of 187 is higher than all but about 1 in 300 million people.
On the standard scale that is 5.80 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 187 falls on the bell curve
187 is plotted on a curve stretched to 200. The tail to its right is real but far too thin to see, which is the visual version of 1 in 300 million.
IQ 187: beyond what most tests can measure
Taken literally, the bell curve puts 187 at 1 in 300 million: not even one person in the UK and about 27 people worldwide. Treat that as an illustration of the model rather than a head count.
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.
None of this means nobody is this able. It means a single number is not a reliable way to describe them.
How claims like "187 IQ" arise
If someone tells you they have a 187, the first question is where the number came from. The usual answers:
- Ratio IQ. Early childhood tests divided mental age by real age. A 6-year-old solving puzzles like a typical 11.2-year-old got a ratio IQ of 187. Modern deviation IQs do not work this way.
- Different scales. Some tests use a standard deviation of 24, so a 187 there is about 154 on the usual SD 15 scale.
- 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.
Famous estimates: Newton, da Vinci and the 160+ club
Nobody in history has a measured IQ of 187. The highest estimates on this site, for figures such as Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci, come from reading their work and lives, not from tests. 37 profiles here are estimated at 160 or more.
Two people with identical estimates can have very different evidence behind them. Each profile explains what its estimate is based on and how confident anyone can be.
How many people have an IQ of 187 or higher?
Scoring 187 or higher is a 0.00000033% share of everyone. Scaled up to whole populations, that works out as:
| Where | Population | IQ 187 or higher |
|---|---|---|
| UK | about 68 million | fewer than one (0.23 expected) |
| US | about 335 million | about 1 |
| World | about 8.1 billion | about 27 |
You would need the whole US to expect about one person at 187 or higher.
Exactly 187, counting anyone between 186.5 and 187.5, is about 1 in 750 million. In the US that is fewer than one person, 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 187?
Compare the neighbours: 182 or higher is about 1 in 44 million, 187 or higher is 1 in 300 million, and 192 or higher is 1 in 2.3 billion. Each point up here adds roughly 49% to the rarity.
What your 187 could really be. At this height the margin of error is wide. Just 5 points either way, 182 or 192, changes the model rarity from 1 in 44 million to 1 in 2.3 billion, which shows how fragile such numbers are.
Which scale was it on? Most modern tests use a standard deviation of 15, which is what this page assumes. If your 187 came from a test using an SD of 16, it is about 182 on the SD 15 scale. From an SD 24 scale, used by some Cattell-style reports, it is about 154.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 187
Estimates this high are reserved for a small group of scientists, artists and thinkers. These are the closest to 187. None of these are test scores. They are estimates from biographical evidence, and each profile explains its basis.
Fictional characters near 187
Just for fun: the fictional characters whose fan-estimated IQs sit closest to 187.
187 compared with nearby scores
How 187 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 10087 lower | Average | 50th | 50% |
| IQ 11077 lower | High Average | 74.8th | 25% |
| IQ 12067 lower | Superior | 90.9th | 9.1% |
| IQ 13057 lower | Gifted | 97.7th | 2.3% |
| IQ 14047 lower | Gifted | 99.62nd | 0.38% |
| IQ 15037 lower | Genius | 99.96th | 0.043% |
| IQ 1825 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999977th | 0.0000023% |
| IQ 1861 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999995th | 0.00000049% |
| IQ 1881 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.99999977th | 0.00000022% |
| IQ 1925 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.999999956th | 0.000000043% |
Is 187 a good IQ?
Yes. 187 is far above average, about 1 in 300 million people on the bell curve. At this height, though, tests lose precision, so a single result of 187 is best read as "well above 150" rather than an exact figure you can compare point for point.
What percentile is an IQ of 187?
The percentile for an IQ of 187 is about the 99.99999966th, which is 5.80 standard deviations above the mean. In a class of 30, that means about 30 people scoring 187 or lower. If your test used a standard deviation of 16 or 24, the percentile would be different.
Is 187 genius level?
Informally, yes, since 187 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 187 precisely.
What does an IQ of 187 mean?
A 187 means your result on a timed reasoning test was 87 points above the average of 100, which this site labels Profoundly Gifted. Most tests cannot measure this high precisely. It reflects one test on one day, and it does not measure knowledge or character.
How rare is an IQ of 187?
About 1 in 300 million people score 187 or higher. In the UK that is fewer than one person, in the US about 1 and worldwide about 27. About 1 in 750 million score exactly 187. These are bell curve estimates, not census counts.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 187?
There is no real mental age for adults. The idea comes from early ratio tests for children: a 6-year-old with a ratio IQ of 187 would reason like a typical 11.2-year-old. Today's tests use deviation scores, which rank you against your own age group.