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Is a 126 IQ Good? What the Score Means

A 126 IQ is well above the average of 100. About 96 in 100 people score lower than 126. Clinical reports would call 126 Very High in WISC-V wording and Superior in the traditional WAIS-IV wording.

Percentile
95.85
How rare
1 in 24 score 126 or higher
WISC-V wording
Very High
Traditional wording (WAIS-IV)
Superior
Distance from 100
1.73 SD above
On an SD 16 test
about 128
On an SD 24 test
about 142
Our test's usual range here
113 to 139 (90%)
Where 126 sits on the IQ curveA bell curve with a marker at 126. The shaded area to the left is the share of people who score lower; 126 is at the 95.85th percentile.70100130126

What does a 126 IQ mean?

A score of 126 is 1.73 standard deviations above the average of 100. On most IQ tests one standard deviation, the typical distance from the average, is 15 points, so 126 is 26 points away.

126 sits near the top of the 120 to 129 band, 4 points below the next band up. About 7 in 100 people score from 120 to 129, the second highest band, which holds 126.

What percentile is an IQ of 126?

A score of 126 is at the 95.85th percentile. That percentile is the share of people who score lower than 126, not the share of questions right. Five points higher, 131 is at the 98.06th percentile. Five points lower, 121 is at the 91.92nd percentile. Across those ten points around 126, the percentile moves by 6.14.

How rare is an IQ of 126?

About 1 in 24 people score 126 or higher. In a town of 100,000 people, about 4,200 would score 126 or higher.

For every 100 people who score exactly 100, about 22 score exactly 126. These figures for 126 come from the normal curve that IQ scales are built on, and the IQ calculator works out any other score.

What would 126 be on other tests?

Not every test would print 126 for this position. Older Stanford-Binet forms and many school tests use a standard deviation of 16; there, the same position as 126 is about 128. On a scale with a standard deviation of 24, used by the Cattell test, it is about 142. 126, 128 and 142 all mean the same percentile.

Is 126 a good IQ score?

The scale does not grade the person behind a 126; it places one result among other people’s results. As a position, 126 is well above the average of 100. What a 126 is useful for depends on the purpose, and a single online result is too rough for decisions about school, work or support. A 126 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 126 gifted?

There is no single gifted cutoff that a 126 either meets or misses; each school or program sets its own rule. Many programs use the top 10 percent as a guide, and a 126 is in the top 4.15 percent of people, inside that guide. A child’s 126 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.

What does an online result of 126 mean?

An online result of 126 is an estimate. When our test shows 126, the estimated range next to it is usually about 113 to 139. That range for 126 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 126 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 126 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 126, take the free IQ test. It has 30 questions and shows an estimated range with every result.

Scores near 126

  • 124 IQ: 2 points lower, at the 94.52nd percentile.
  • 125 IQ: 1 point lower, at the 95.22nd percentile.
  • 127 IQ: 1 point higher, at the 96.41st percentile.
  • 128 IQ: 2 points higher, at the 96.9th percentile.

Look up any score from 70 to 160, not only those near 126, in the score explorer.

FAQ

What percentile is 126 IQ?

A score of 126 is at the 95.85th percentile. That means about 95.85 percent of people score lower.

Is 126 IQ gifted?

Whether 126 counts as gifted depends on the program. Many use the top 10 percent as a guide, and 126 is in the top 4.2 percent.

How many people have an IQ of 126?

On a whole-number scale, about 0.6 percent of people score exactly 126. About 1 in 24 people score 126 or higher.

Can an online test show 126?

Yes, as an estimate with a range: on our test a 126 usually comes with an estimated range of about 113 to 139.