IQ 59

On the standard scale, 59 sits 41 points under 100. You scored higher than 0.31% of people, and about 1 in 319 people score at this level or lower. It sits 11 points below 70. The label for this part of the curve is Below Average.

A score under 70 on a single online test does not mean anything clinical. Only a qualified professional, such as a clinical or educational psychologist, can assess that, using supervised tests and a look at everyday functioning.

IQ tests measure a narrow slice of thinking: spotting patterns, holding rules in mind and working fast under time pressure. They do not measure practical skill, kindness, reliability, craft or creativity, which are the things most people notice about you day to day.

Plenty of valuable skills are learned mainly through practice. Trades, care work, hospitality, sport, driving and music all reward repetition and experience, and people keep improving at them for decades.

A 59 from one online test is best read as a range, not a point. Even a well-built, supervised test has a margin of error of roughly 5 points either side, so the same person could reasonably score anywhere from about 54 to 64. That spans the 0.11st to the 0.82nd percentile.

Your screen, your connection, background noise and interruptions all affect a timed test. A phone in a busy room is a very different test from a quiet desk.

Reading level matters as well. If the instructions or questions lean on vocabulary, anyone reading in a second language is at a disadvantage that has nothing to do with reasoning.

The same person can score 54 one week and 64 the next. Most of that swing comes from the conditions on the day rather than any change in ability:

• Sleep. A short night reliably hurts working memory and attention, the two things timed puzzles lean on hardest.
• Language. Questions that rely on words or written rules favour native speakers. Visual puzzles reduce this effect but do not remove it.
• Timing and comfort. Hunger, a headache or testing late at night can all pull a score down on the day.

Scoring 59 or lower is a 0.3% share of everyone. Scaled up to whole populations, that works out as:

The curve fills up quickly towards the middle. Moving from 59 to 64 adds about 1 percentage points of people at or below you, and moving down to 54 removes about 0.

What your 59 could really be. If you retook a well-made test, landing at 54 or at 64 would be unremarkable. That is the difference between beating 0.11% and 0.82% of people, and short online tests are noisier still.

Which scale was it on? A 59 reported on an SD 16 scale converts to about 62 on the usual SD 15 scale, and one from an SD 24 scale (seen in some Cattell-style results) to about 74. Check which scale your score report used.

Nobody famous has a verified IQ in most cases, and retrospective estimates are only made for a narrow group.

Our historical estimates start at 115, so nobody sits close to 59. That is not because famous people score higher. Estimates are only attempted for people with extraordinary records, which leaves ordinary scores unrepresented.

The scores one and five points either side of 59, plus the round numbers from 100 to 150, side by side. Tap any score for its full page.