Is an IQ of 130 good?
Yes, very. An IQ of 130 is very superior: higher than about 98% of people, and only about 1 in 44 people score higher.
How rare is an IQ of 130?
In a room of 100 people, someone with an IQ of 130 would be smarter than 98 of them.
- Outscored: 98
- Would score higher: 2
Only about 2.3% of people score higher than 130. Here is what that looks like in groups of different sizes:
| In a group of | People scoring above 130 |
|---|---|
| A classroom of 30 | probably nobody |
| A room of 100 | about 2 |
| A school of 1,000 | about 23 |
| A town of 10,000 | about 230 |
| A packed football stadium (70,000) | about 1,600 |
| A city of 1 million | about 23,000 |
| The United States (about 340 million) | about 7.7 million |
What an IQ of 130 means
An IQ of 130 is 30 points above the average of 100, or 2.00 standard deviations above the mean. It falls in the very superior band.
Scores of 130 and above put you in roughly the top 2% of the population. This is the range high-IQ societies such as Mensa recruit from, and the point where most tests start to lose precision because so few people score here.
130 is exactly two standard deviations above the average. About 95% of people score between 70 and 130.
Mensa admits people who score in the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is 130 or more on the standard scale. An online result is a good way to decide whether it is worth sitting one.
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 130 does on our test
On our free 30-question test, an IQ of 130 takes about 28 correct answers out of 30. Here is how 28 correct answers usually split across the four areas:
- Pattern reasoning 9 of 10
- Numerical reasoning 6 of 7
- Verbal reasoning 6 of 6
- Logical reasoning 7 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
No job group’s typical worker scored 130
130 is above the median of all 56 job groups in a study that followed Wisconsin men from high school into their 50s. The highest group, physicians, had a median of 120.5. Even among physicians, only about 18% scored 130 or higher.
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Social scientists 111
Median 111. Middle half of workers 98 to 120. Middle 80% 93 to 127. -
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 130
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 130
Published test results and estimates within 5 points of 130. 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.
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Estimated: about 130
Ronald Reagan
40th US president (1981–89)
Four estimates from 118 to 141.9, imputed from experts’ ratings, so more tentative.
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Estimated: about 130
George H. W. Bush
41st US president (1989–93)
Four estimates from 116.5 to 143, imputed from experts’ ratings, so more tentative.
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Estimated: about 130
William McKinley
25th US president (1897–1901)
Four estimates from 116 to 143.4, imputed from experts’ ratings, so more tentative.
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Estimated: about 130
James K. Polk
11th US president (1845–49)
Four estimates from 116 to 143.4, imputed from experts’ ratings, so more tentative.
Sources: Simonton (2006), Political Psychology .
IQ 130 on other scales
Not every test uses the same scale. The same performance that earns 130 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 | 130 |
| Older Stanford-Binet and some online tests | SD 16 | 132 |
| Cattell Culture Fair | SD 24 | 148 |
| z-score | mean 0, SD 1 | +2.00 |
| T-score | mean 50, SD 10 | 70 |
| Stanine | 1 to 9 | 9 |
| Percentile | 0 to 100 | 98th |
Scores near 130
| IQ | Percentile | Score higher | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | 95 | 1 in 21 | Superior |
| 126 | 96 | 1 in 24 | Superior |
| 127 | 96 | 1 in 28 | Superior |
| 128 | 97 | 1 in 32 | Superior |
| 129 | 97 | 1 in 38 | Superior |
| 130 | 98 | 1 in 44 | Very superior |
| 131 | 98 | 1 in 52 | Very superior |
| 132 | 98 | 1 in 61 | Very superior |
| 133 | 99 | 1 in 72 | Very superior |
| 134 | 99 | 1 in 85 | Very superior |
| 135 | 99.0 | 1 in 102 | Very superior |
Wondering where most people land? See what the average IQ is, or every band on the IQ scale.
Do you really score 130?
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 130: common questions
Is 130 a genius IQ?
Not by the usual definition, which starts at 140, but 130 is in the top 2% and within the range high-IQ societies like Mensa accept.
Is an IQ of 130 gifted?
Many US school gifted programs use a cut-off of about 130, the top 2%, so an IQ of 130 meets the most common threshold. Criteria vary by state and district and usually include more than one measure.
Can you join Mensa with an IQ of 130?
Possibly. Mensa requires a score in the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is 130 on the standard scale. An online score of 130 suggests it is worth taking one.
Can an online test tell me if my IQ is 130?
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