Is an IQ of 121 good?
Yes. An IQ of 121 is superior: higher than about 92% of people, and only about 1 in 12 people score higher.
How rare is an IQ of 121?
In a room of 100 people, someone with an IQ of 121 would be smarter than 92 of them.
- Outscored: 92
- Would score higher: 8
Only about 8.1% of people score higher than 121. Here is what that looks like in groups of different sizes:
| In a group of | People scoring above 121 |
|---|---|
| A classroom of 30 | about 2 |
| A room of 100 | about 8 |
| A school of 1,000 | about 81 |
| A town of 10,000 | about 810 |
| A packed football stadium (70,000) | about 5,700 |
| A city of 1 million | about 81,000 |
| The United States (about 340 million) | about 27 million |
What an IQ of 121 means
An IQ of 121 is 21 points above the average of 100, or 1.40 standard deviations above the mean. It falls in the superior band.
Scores from 120 to 129 are well above average, higher than roughly 91–97% of people. People in this range usually find abstract reasoning, new material and complex problems come quickly.
What an IQ score predicts, and what it doesn’t
IQ is one of the strongest single predictors of school grades: a meta-analysis of 240 samples put the correlation at about .54 (Roth et al., 2015). For job performance the estimate depends on the statistical corrections used: .51 in the classic review (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998) and .31 in a 2022 re-analysis (Sackett et al.). Either way, most of the differences between people come from other things: knowledge, effort, personality and opportunity.
How a 121 does on our test
On our free 30-question test, an IQ of 121 takes about 25 correct answers out of 30. Here is how 25 correct answers usually split across the four areas:
- Pattern reasoning 9 of 10
- Numerical reasoning 6 of 7
- Verbal reasoning 5 of 6
- Logical reasoning 5 of 7
Worked out from our scoring model, assuming the easier questions are the ones you get right. Harder questions count for more, so two people with the same number correct can score a few points apart. We’ll replace this with real results once enough people have taken the test. How scoring works
Jobs where the typical worker scored about 121
In a study that followed Wisconsin men from high school into their 50s, these job groups had a typical (median) score closest to 121. 56 of the 56 groups had a median below 121.
-
Natural scientists and mathematicians 111
Median 111. Middle half of workers 101.5 to 121. Middle 80% 93 to 133. -
Legal occupations 113
Median 113. Middle half of workers 109 to 124. Middle 80% 99 to 133. -
Electrical engineers 113
Median 113. Middle half of workers 103 to 121. Middle 80% 95 to 129. -
College professors 115
Median 115. Middle half of workers 104 to 124. Middle 80% 97 to 133. -
Physicians (MD or equivalent) 120.5
Median 120.5. Middle half of workers 112 to 127. Middle 80% 106 to 133.
- Middle 80% of workers
- Middle half
- Median (the number on the right)
- IQ 121
Source: Hauser (2002), Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, Figure 12. The study covers men who finished high school in Wisconsin in 1957 and their brothers, with IQ measured in high school (Henmon-Nelson test, group average 102) and jobs held in 1992–94. Groups with fewer than 30 people are left out, and people who left school early aren’t in the study, so low scores are under-represented. Every job spans a wide range: 27 to 42 points between its 10th and 90th percentile.
Famous people near IQ 121
Published test results and estimates within 5 points of 121. The presidents’ figures come from a 2006 study that worked them out from biographies, not tests, on an older IQ scale. Each is the average of four estimates. Eight presidents have estimates based on records of their childhood and youth, the method Catharine Cox used for historical geniuses in 1926; the rest were imputed statistically and are rougher still.
-
Estimated: about 120
Ulysses S. Grant
18th US president (1869–77)
Four estimates from 110 to 130, based on records of his childhood and youth.
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Tested: 123
Garry Kasparov
World chess champion (1985–2000)
Scored 135 on a test Hans Eysenck put together for him and 123 on Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices, both taken for Der Spiegel in 1987. Eysenck himself warned against reading the number too precisely.
-
Estimated: about 124
James Monroe
5th US president (1817–25)
Four estimates from 109 to 138.6, imputed from experts’ ratings, so more tentative.
-
Estimated: about 124
Warren G. Harding
29th US president (1921–23)
Four estimates from 107.8 to 139.9, imputed from experts’ ratings, so more tentative.
Sources: Simonton (2006), Political Psychology ; Der Spiegel, 20 December 1987 .
IQ 121 on other scales
Not every test uses the same scale. The same performance that earns 121 on a modern test with a standard deviation of 15 produces a different number on tests with a wider spread:
| Scale | Spread | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Standard IQ (Wechsler, Stanford-Binet 5) | SD 15 | 121 |
| Older Stanford-Binet and some online tests | SD 16 | 122 |
| Cattell Culture Fair | SD 24 | 134 |
| z-score | mean 0, SD 1 | +1.40 |
| T-score | mean 50, SD 10 | 64 |
| Stanine | 1 to 9 | 8 |
| Percentile | 0 to 100 | 92nd |
Scores near 121
| IQ | Percentile | Score higher | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 116 | 86 | 1 in 7 | High average |
| 117 | 87 | 1 in 8 | High average |
| 118 | 88 | 1 in 9 | High average |
| 119 | 90 | 1 in 10 | High average |
| 120 | 91 | 1 in 11 | Superior |
| 121 | 92 | 1 in 12 | Superior |
| 122 | 93 | 1 in 14 | Superior |
| 123 | 94 | 1 in 16 | Superior |
| 124 | 95 | 1 in 18 | Superior |
| 125 | 95 | 1 in 21 | Superior |
| 126 | 96 | 1 in 24 | Superior |
Wondering where most people land? See what the average IQ is, or every band on the IQ scale.
Do you really score 121?
Take the free 30-question IQ test: about 15 minutes, with an instant score, your percentile and your own room of 100 to share. No email, no paywall.
Take the free IQ testIQ 121: common questions
Is 121 a genius IQ?
No. “Genius” is usually used for scores of 140 or more. An IQ of 121 is superior.
Is an IQ of 121 gifted?
It is just below the cut-off of about 130 that many gifted programs use, although some programs accept scores from 120 or weigh other measures such as achievement tests and teacher ratings.
Can you join Mensa with an IQ of 121?
Not on its own. Mensa requires a top-2% score on an approved, supervised test, which is 130 or more on the standard scale.
Can an online test tell me if my IQ is 121?
It can give you an estimate, not a clinical score. Ours uses question types from established reasoning tests and a statistical scoring model, but it has not been checked against a professional IQ test. Even professional tests report a range of several points around a score.
By the MyIQTest team · Reviewed November 2026 · Figures assume the standard scale (mean 100, SD 15). Methodology