Is a 117 IQ Good? What the Score Means

A 117 IQ is a little above the average of 100. About 87 in 100 people score lower than 117. Clinical reports using the WISC-V or the traditional WAIS-IV wording would call 117 High Average.

Percentile: 87.15
How rare: 1 in 8 score 117 or higher
WISC-V wording: High Average
Traditional wording (WAIS-IV): High Average
Distance from 100: 1.13 SD above
On an SD 16 test: about 118
On an SD 24 test: about 127
Our test's usual range here: 105 to 129 (90%)

What does a 117 IQ mean?

A score of 117 is 1.13 standard deviations above the average of 100. On most IQ tests one standard deviation, the typical distance from the average, is 15 points, so 117 is 17 points away.

117 sits near the top of the 110 to 119 band, 3 points below the next band up. About 17 in 100 people score from 110 to 119, the band just above average that holds 117.

What percentile is an IQ of 117?

A score of 117 is at the 87.15th percentile. That percentile is the share of people who score lower than 117, not the share of questions right. Five points higher, 122 is at the 92.88th percentile. Five points lower, 112 is at the 78.81st percentile. Across those ten points around 117, the percentile moves by 14.06.

How rare is an IQ of 117?

About 1 in 8 people score 117 or higher. In a town of 100,000 people, about 13,000 would score 117 or higher.

For every 100 people who score exactly 100, about 53 score exactly 117. These figures for 117 come from the normal curve that IQ scales are built on, and the IQ calculator works out any other score.

What would 117 be on other tests?

Not every test would print 117 for this position. Older Stanford-Binet forms and many school tests use a standard deviation of 16; there, the same position as 117 is about 118. On a scale with a standard deviation of 24, used by the Cattell test, it is about 127. 117, 118 and 127 all mean the same percentile.

Is 117 a good IQ score?

The scale does not grade the person behind a 117; it places one result among other people’s results. As a position, 117 is a little above the average of 100. What a 117 is useful for depends on the purpose, and a single online result is too rough for decisions about school, work or support. A 117 describes some kinds of reasoning on one test, on one day, and leaves out a great deal that matters, such as effort, knowledge and character.

Is a score of 117 gifted?

There is no single gifted cutoff that a 117 either meets or misses; each school or program sets its own rule. Many programs use the top 10 percent as a guide, and a 117 is in the top 12.85 percent of people, outside that guide. A child’s 117 counts for a program only when it comes from a supervised test given by a psychologist or the school. Our guide for parents explains how that works.

How far is 117 from the average?

117 is 17 points above the average of 100, or 1.13 of a standard deviation. About 37.1 percent of people score between 100 and 117. About 12.9 percent score higher than 117. Our average IQ guide explains why the middle sits at 100 rather than at 117.

What does an online result of 117 mean?

An online result of 117 is an estimate. When our test shows 117, the estimated range next to it is usually about 105 to 129. That range for 117 is provisional: it comes from our scoring model and a simulation, not yet from real test takers. Our methodology shows how the range is made.

An unsupervised online 117 may also run a little high: a large review found a gap of about 3 IQ points. Taking the same kind of test again usually raises a score like 117 a little, mostly on the first retakes. Our guide are IQ tests accurate covers this in depth.

To see where your own result falls next to 117, take the free IQ test. It has 30 questions and shows an estimated range with every result.

Scores near 117

115 IQ: 2 points lower, at the 84.13th percentile.
116 IQ: 1 point lower, at the 85.69th percentile.
118 IQ: 1 point higher, at the 88.49th percentile.
119 IQ: 2 points higher, at the 89.74th percentile.

Look up any score from 70 to 160, not only those near 117, in the score explorer.

FAQ

What percentile is 117 IQ?

A score of 117 is at the 87.15th percentile. That means about 87.15 percent of people score lower.

Is 117 IQ gifted?

Whether 117 counts as gifted depends on the program. Many use the top 10 percent as a guide, and 117 is in the top 12.9 percent.

How many people have an IQ of 117?

On a whole-number scale, about 1.4 percent of people score exactly 117. About 1 in 8 people score 117 or higher.

Can an online test show 117?

Yes, as an estimate with a range: on our test a 117 usually comes with an estimated range of about 105 to 129.