IQ 96

About 68% of people score between 85 and 115, and 96 sits inside that range, 4 points below the exact midpoint of 100. Around 39% of people score at or below 96 and 61% score higher. It sits 11 points past the 85 mark and 4 short of 100.

Within this range, scores a few points apart are closer together than the test's own margin of error. A 93 and a 99 could easily be the same person on different days.

Scores near the middle of the curve are the most precisely measured, because tests have the most data there. A 96 is one of the more trustworthy numbers an IQ test can give you.

The 4-point gap between 96 and 100 is about the size of the test's own margin of error. You would not spot it in a conversation or at work.

Where a score like this shows is mainly in speed on unfamiliar, timed problems. Given time, familiar material and a clear goal, people across the average range reach the same answers.

School results in this range depend heavily on teaching, effort and interest. The same score turns up in students with top grades and in students who struggle.

An overall 96 can hide a very uneven profile. Two people with the same total can be strong at quite different things, so the useful question is which kinds of question went well for you.

• Go deep in one area. Expertise lets people reason quickly in their own field whatever their overall score.
• Protect sleep and focus. Both beat cramming for anything you need to remember.
• Play to your pattern. If visual puzzles felt easier than number ones, that is useful information about how you learn.

Scoring 96 or lower is a 39% share of everyone. Scaled up to whole populations, that works out as:

Scoring 96 or lower is about 1 in 3. At 101 or lower it becomes 1 in 2, and at 91 or lower 1 in 4, which shows how quickly the curve fills up towards the middle.

What your 96 could really be. Even a good supervised test has a margin of error of roughly 5 points either side. A true score anywhere from 91 to 101 would be consistent with a 96, which spans the 27.4th to the 52.7th percentile. Short online tests have wider margins.

Which scale was it on? Close to 100, it barely matters. Even on an SD 24 scale, a 96 converts to about 98 on the usual SD 15 scale, so you can compare it with this page almost directly.

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 96. That is not because famous people score higher. Estimates are only attempted for people with extraordinary records, which leaves ordinary scores unrepresented.

A few degree, university and job profiles on this site carry IQ benchmarks close to 96. Treat the education figures as rough estimates from admissions-test data rather than measured IQs.

The scores one and five points either side of 96, plus the round numbers from 100 to 150, side by side. Tap any score for its full page.

People with an IQ of 96 typically score about 940 on the SAT and about 16 on the ACT composite. Scores vary a lot from person to person, so the range shows where about four in five land.