IQ 199
Profoundly Gifted
Quick answer
Yes, and it is extremely rare. An IQ of 199 is higher than all but about 1 in 48 billion people.
That is 39 points beyond the ceiling most major tests publish, so the number itself is less certain than its rarity suggests.
Not sure your number is right? Take the free IQ test and compare.
Where 199 falls on the bell curve
The marker shows 199 on a scale stretched to 200. Everyone to its right, about 1 in 48 billion people, is too thin a sliver of the curve to draw.
IQ 199: beyond what most tests can measure
Taken literally, the bell curve puts 199 at 1 in 48 billion: not even one person in the UK and fewer than one person in the entire world. 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.
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 "199 IQ" arise
A 199 almost never comes from a modern, supervised adult test. It usually comes from somewhere like this:
- Ratio IQ. Early childhood tests divided mental age by real age. A 6-year-old solving puzzles like a typical 11.9-year-old got a ratio IQ of 199. Modern deviation IQs do not work this way.
- Different scales. Some tests use a standard deviation of 24, so a 199 there is about 162 on the usual SD 15 scale.
- 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 199. 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.
As far as anyone knows, Albert Einstein never took an IQ test. The 160 figure repeated online is an estimate. See the Einstein profile for what it rests on.
How many people have an IQ of 199 or higher?
If IQ follows the standard bell curve, 0.0000000021% of people score 199 or higher. Here is what that share means across whole populations:
| Where | Population | IQ 199 or higher |
|---|---|---|
| UK | about 68 million | fewer than one (effectively zero expected) |
| US | about 335 million | fewer than one (effectively zero expected) |
| World | about 8.1 billion | fewer than one (0.17 expected) |
Even across the whole world of 8.1 billion people, the bell curve predicts fewer than one person at 199 or higher.
Exactly 199, counting anyone between 198.5 and 199.5, is about 1 in 110 billion. In the US that is fewer than one person, and in the UK 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 199?
Compare the neighbours: 194 or higher is about 1 in 5.4 billion, 199 or higher is 1 in 48 billion, and 204 or higher is 1 in 480 billion. Each point up here adds roughly 57% to the rarity.
What your 199 could really be. At this height the margin of error is wide. Just 5 points either way, 194 or 204, changes the model rarity from 1 in 5.4 billion to 1 in 480 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 199 came from a test using an SD of 16, it is about 193 on the SD 15 scale. From an SD 24 scale, used by some Cattell-style reports, it is about 162.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 199
Nobody famous has a verified IQ in most cases, and retrospective estimates are only made for a narrow group.
The estimates on our historical profiles run from 119 to 190, so none lands within 8 points of 199. Historians only estimate IQs for people who did something extraordinary, which skews the list. It says nothing about what famous people could actually score.
Fictional characters near 199
Just for fun: the fictional characters whose fan-estimated IQs sit closest to 199.
199 compared with nearby scores
Nearby scores and the round-number landmarks, so you can see how quickly the percentile changes around 199. Every row links to that score's page.
| IQ | Classification | Percentile | Score higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| IQ 10099 lower | Average | 50th | 50% |
| IQ 11089 lower | High Average | 74.8th | 25% |
| IQ 12079 lower | Superior | 90.9th | 9.1% |
| IQ 13069 lower | Gifted | 97.7th | 2.3% |
| IQ 14059 lower | Gifted | 99.62nd | 0.38% |
| IQ 15049 lower | Genius | 99.96th | 0.043% |
| IQ 1945 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.999999981st | 0.000000019% |
| IQ 1981 lower | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999999967th | 0.0000000032% |
| IQ 2001 higher | Profoundly Gifted | 99.9999999986th | 0.0000000013% |
Is 199 a good IQ?
It is about as high as the scale goes. The bell curve puts 199 at 1 in 48 billion, but major tests are only checked up to around 160, so the exact figure is uncertain. As a description of reasoning ability, "exceptional" fits better than any precise number.
What percentile is an IQ of 199?
A 199 is at roughly the 99.9999999979th percentile on the standard scale, where the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. Put simply, it beats 99.9999999979% of people. A retest range of 194 to 204 would cover the 99.999999981st to 99.9999999997th percentile.
Is 199 genius level?
The genius label is informal, but 199 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 199 precisely.
What does an IQ of 199 mean?
An IQ of 199 means that on this kind of timed reasoning test you outscored about 99.9999999979% 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 199?
About 1 in 48 billion people score 199 or higher. In the UK that is fewer than one person, in the US fewer than one and worldwide fewer than one. About 1 in 110 billion score exactly 199. These are bell curve estimates, not census counts.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 199?
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 199 reasoned like a typical 15.9-year-old. Modern tests rank adults against their own age group.