IQ 189
Profoundly Gifted
Quick answer
Yes, and it is extremely rare. An IQ of 189 is higher than all but about 1 in 670 million people.
Most tests cannot measure this high reliably, so read a 189 as "far above 150" rather than an exact number. The rarity comes from the bell curve model.
Not sure your number is right? Take the free IQ test and compare.
Where 189 falls on the bell curve
189 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 670 million.
IQ 189: beyond what most tests can measure
189 is 5.93 standard deviations above the mean. On a bell curve that works out to about 1 in 670 million people, which would mean fewer than one (0.10 expected) in the UK and about 12 worldwide. The bell curve is a model, though, and at this height it is doing most of the work.
No test has enough people in its norm sample to check its accuracy at 189. In a 2,200-person sample the bell curve expects effectively nobody at 189 or higher.
None of this means nobody is this able. It means a single number is not a reliable way to describe them.
How claims like "189 IQ" arise
If someone tells you they have a 189, the first question is where the number came from. The usual answers:
- Different scales. Some tests use a standard deviation of 24, so a 189 there is about 156 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.
- 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
Nobody in history has a measured IQ of 189. 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 189 or higher?
If IQ follows the standard bell curve, 0.00000015% of people score 189 or higher. Here is what that share means across whole populations:
| Where | Population | IQ 189 or higher |
|---|---|---|
| UK | about 68 million | fewer than one (0.10 expected) |
| US | about 335 million | fewer than one (0.50 expected) |
| World | about 8.1 billion | about 12 |
You would need the whole world to expect about 12 people at 189 or higher.
Exactly 189, counting anyone between 188.5 and 189.5, is about 1 in 1.6 billion. In the US that is fewer than one person, and in the UK fewer than one person.
Treat these as orders of magnitude, not census data. They apply the standard model to everyone, and individual tests have their own norms.
How rare is an IQ of 189?
Compare the neighbours: 184 or higher is about 1 in 93 million, 189 or higher is 1 in 670 million, and 194 or higher is 1 in 5.4 billion. Each point up here adds roughly 50% to the rarity.
What your 189 could really be. No test is precise this far out. Even a 5-point error band, from 184 to 194, spans a rarity gap of about 58 times, so the exact number matters much less than "very far above average".
Which scale was it on? Score reports do not always say. On the common SD 15 scale your 189 stands as it is. If the report used SD 16 it equals about 183, and if it used SD 24 about 156. The percentile follows the converted number.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 189
Estimates this high are reserved for a small group of scientists, artists and thinkers. These are the closest to 189. Every figure below is a retrospective estimate, not a measured score. Open a profile to see the evidence and how confident anyone can be.
Fictional characters near 189
Just for fun: the fictional characters whose fan-estimated IQs sit closest to 189.
189 compared with nearby scores
How 189 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 10089 lower | Average | 50th | 50% |
| IQ 11079 lower | High Average | 74.8th | 25% |
| IQ 12069 lower | Superior | 90.9th | 9.1% |
| IQ 13059 lower | Gifted | 97.7th | 2.3% |
| IQ 14049 lower | Gifted | 99.62nd | 0.38% |
| IQ 15039 lower | Genius | 99.96th | 0.043% |
| IQ 1845 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999989th | 0.0000011% |
| IQ 1881 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.99999977th | 0.00000022% |
| IQ 1901 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999999th | 0.000000099% |
| IQ 1945 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.999999981st | 0.000000019% |
Is 189 a good IQ?
Yes. 189 is far above average, about 1 in 670 million people on the bell curve. At this height, though, tests lose precision, so a single result of 189 is best read as "well above 150" rather than an exact figure you can compare point for point.
What percentile is an IQ of 189?
An IQ of 189 is at about the 99.99999985th percentile. That means it is higher than 99.99999985% of people, while 0.00000015% score the same or higher, about 1 in 670 million. The figure assumes the standard scale, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
Is 189 genius level?
By most informal definitions, yes. There is no clinical genius category, but scores above 140 or 145 are often labelled that way, and 189 is well past both. Historically, though, genius is defined by achievement, and no test measures this high precisely.
What does an IQ of 189 mean?
A 189 means your result on a timed reasoning test was 89 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 189?
About 1 in 670 million people score 189 or higher. In the UK that is fewer than one person, in the US fewer than one and worldwide about 12. About 1 in 1.6 billion score exactly 189. These are bell curve estimates, not census counts.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 189?
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 189 reasoned like a typical 15.1-year-old. Modern tests rank adults against their own age group.