IQ 188
Profoundly Gifted
Quick answer
Yes, and it is extremely rare. An IQ of 188 is higher than all but about 1 in 450 million people.
That is 28 points beyond the ceiling most major tests publish, so the number itself is less certain than its rarity suggests.
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Where 188 falls on the bell curve
This wider chart runs to 200 so 188 can be shown in place. The curve is so thin out here that the share of people beyond the marker is invisible at this scale.
IQ 188: beyond what most tests can measure
A 188 is 28 points past the ceiling most major tests publish. The model rarity, about 1 in 450 million, describes about 18 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.
No test has enough people in its norm sample to check its accuracy at 188. In a 2,200-person sample the bell curve expects effectively nobody at 188 or higher.
How claims like "188 IQ" arise
Most very high numbers you see online come from one of a few sources, and knowing which one produced a 188 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 11.3-year-old got a ratio IQ of 188. Modern deviation IQs do not work this way.
- 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.
- 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
37 of the historical profiles on this site carry an estimate of 160 or more, and 1 reaches 188 or higher. Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci are the classic examples. Their numbers are retrospective judgements based on their work, not test scores.
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 188 or higher?
On a bell curve with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, about 0.00000022% of people score 188 or higher. Applied to whole populations:
| Where | Population | IQ 188 or higher |
|---|---|---|
| UK | about 68 million | fewer than one (0.15 expected) |
| US | about 335 million | about 1 |
| World | about 8.1 billion | about 18 |
You would need the whole US to expect about one person at 188 or higher.
About 1 in 1.1 billion people would score exactly 188, meaning between 187.5 and 188.5 on a continuous scale. In the UK that is fewer than one person.
The figures are bell curve estimates for whole populations, children included, and rounded. Real tests are normed separately and will differ a little.
How rare is an IQ of 188?
Going from 183 to 188 makes a score 7.1 times rarer, and going on to 193 multiplies the rarity by another 7.9. Near 188, each single point adds about 50% to the rarity.
What your 188 could really be. Even a good supervised test has a margin of error of roughly 5 points either side, and far more at this height. A true score from 183 to 193 would span rarities from 1 in 63 million to 1 in 3.5 billion.
Which scale was it on? A 188 reported on an SD 16 scale converts to about 183 on the usual SD 15 scale, and one from an SD 24 scale (seen in some Cattell-style results) to about 155. Check which scale your score report used.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 188
Estimates this high are reserved for a small group of scientists, artists and thinkers. These are the closest to 188. Treat these as informed guesses from biographies rather than results. Each profile sets out what its estimate rests on.
Fictional characters near 188
For fun, not science: fan estimates for the characters nearest 188, based on how they reason in their stories.
188 compared with nearby scores
The scores one and five points either side of 188, plus the round numbers from 100 to 150, side by side. Tap any score for its full page.
| IQ | Classification | Percentile | Score higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| IQ 10088 lower | Average | 50th | 50% |
| IQ 11078 lower | High Average | 74.8th | 25% |
| IQ 12068 lower | Superior | 90.9th | 9.1% |
| IQ 13058 lower | Gifted | 97.7th | 2.3% |
| IQ 14048 lower | Gifted | 99.62nd | 0.38% |
| IQ 15038 lower | Genius | 99.96th | 0.043% |
| IQ 1835 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999984th | 0.0000016% |
| IQ 1871 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.99999966th | 0.00000033% |
| IQ 1891 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.99999985th | 0.00000015% |
| IQ 1935 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.999999971st | 0.000000028% |
Is 188 a good IQ?
Yes, in the sense that it is extraordinarily high: about 1 in 450 million on the bell curve, 28 points past the ceiling of most major tests. The catch is precision. A single 188 is better treated as "well above 150" than as an exact score.
What percentile is an IQ of 188?
On the standard scale, 188 lands at about the 99.99999977th percentile: only 0.00000022% of people match or beat it. Percentiles depend on the scale, so check that your score report uses a standard deviation of 15 before comparing it with this page.
Is 188 genius level?
The genius label is informal, but 188 sits far above the 140 to 145 range where it usually starts. Real-world genius is judged by achievement, and the famous examples, from Newton to da Vinci, have estimated rather than measured IQs. No test measures 188 precisely.
What does an IQ of 188 mean?
It means you scored 5.87 standard deviations above average on the kind of reasoning an IQ test samples, which this site classes as Profoundly Gifted. Most tests cannot measure this high precisely. It measures reasoning on that test, not knowledge, creativity or character.
How rare is an IQ of 188?
Roughly 1 in 450 million people reach 188 or higher. Across the US that would be about 1 person, and across the world about 18. Exactly 188 is about 1 in 1.1 billion. Real tests have their own norms, so treat these as estimates.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 188?
Mental age only really applies to children. Old ratio tests divided mental age by real age, then multiplied by 100, so a 10-year-old with a ratio IQ of 188 would reason like a typical 18.8-year-old. Modern tests compare adults with people their own age instead.