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Is a 147 IQ Good? What the Score Means

A 147 IQ is far above the average of 100. Only about 1 in 1,200 people score this high or higher. Clinical reports would call 147 Extremely High in WISC-V wording and Very Superior in the traditional WAIS-IV wording.

Percentile
99.91
How rare
1 in 1,200 score 147 or higher
WISC-V wording
Extremely High
Traditional wording (WAIS-IV)
Very Superior
Distance from 100
3.13 SD above
On an SD 16 test
about 150
On an SD 24 test
about 175
Our test's usual range here
our test cannot show this score
Where 147 sits on the IQ curveA bell curve with a marker at 147. The shaded area to the left is the share of people who score lower; 147 is at the 99.91st percentile.70100130147

What does a 147 IQ mean?

A score of 147 is 3.13 standard deviations above the average of 100. On most IQ tests one standard deviation, the typical distance from the average, is 15 points, so 147 is 47 points away.

147 is 17 points above the start of the top band, which begins at 130 and has no upper end. About 2.5 in 100 people score anywhere in the top band that holds 147.

What percentile is an IQ of 147?

A score of 147 is at the 99.91st percentile. That percentile is the share of people who score lower than 147, not the share of questions right. Five points higher, 152 is at the 99.97th percentile. Five points lower, 142 is at the 99.74th percentile. Across those ten points around 147, the percentile moves by 0.23.

How rare is an IQ of 147?

About 1 in 1,200 people score 147 or higher. In a town of 100,000 people, about 86 would score 147 or higher.

For each person who scores exactly 147, about 135 people score exactly 100. These figures for 147 come from the normal curve that IQ scales are built on, and the IQ calculator works out any other score.

What would 147 be on other tests?

Not every test would print 147 for this position. Older Stanford-Binet forms and many school tests use a standard deviation of 16; there, the same position as 147 is about 150. On a scale with a standard deviation of 24, used by the Cattell test, it is about 175. 147, 150 and 175 all mean the same percentile.

Is 147 a good IQ score?

The scale does not grade the person behind a 147; it places one result among other people’s results. As a position, 147 is far above the average of 100. What a 147 is useful for depends on the purpose, and a single online result is too rough for decisions about school, work or support. A 147 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 147 enough for Mensa?

Only if the 147 comes from a supervised test that Mensa accepts. American Mensa accepts scores at or above the 98th percentile, and 147 is at the 99.91st percentile. On the Wechsler scales the line is a full-scale IQ of 130, so 147 is 17 points above it. A 147 from an unsupervised internet test, ours included, is not accepted. Our Mensa IQ test guide explains the supervised routes to showing a 147.

Is 147 a genius IQ?

No test or psychology dictionary calls 147 a genius score, or defines one at all. The often quoted 140 goes back to a long-term study that selected children scoring above 140; by that line, 147 is 7 points over it. What a person with a 147 achieves depends on far more than a test number, as what IQ is considered genius explains.

Can any test measure a score of 147?

Every test has a ceiling, a highest score it can give, and few tests are built to measure as high as 147. The WISC-V full-scale score, for example, runs from 40 to 160, so 147 sits near its top. On our own test the range gets wider on the way toward 147: about 24 points wide at 100 and about 28 points wide at 140. Our page on the highest IQ score explains why scores like 147 are hard to pin down.

What does an online result of 147 mean?

Our test cannot show a 147. A perfect score currently shows about 140, and a test of 30 questions runs out of hard questions long before 147. Results above 145 show as “145 or higher”. Our methodology shows how the range is made.

An unsupervised online 147 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 147 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 147, take the free IQ test. It has 30 questions and shows an estimated range with every result.

Scores near 147

  • 145 IQ: 2 points lower, at the 99.87th percentile.
  • 146 IQ: 1 point lower, at the 99.89th percentile.
  • 148 IQ: 1 point higher, at the 99.93rd percentile.
  • 149 IQ: 2 points higher, at the 99.95th percentile.

Look up any score from 70 to 160, not only those near 147, in the score explorer.

FAQ

What percentile is 147 IQ?

A score of 147 is at the 99.91st percentile. That means about 99.91 percent of people score lower.

Is 147 IQ genius?

No test defines genius, so no test calls 147 genius. 147 is in the top band of the scale. Only about 1 in 1,200 people score this high or higher.

How many people have an IQ of 147?

On a whole-number scale, about 0.020 percent of people score exactly 147. About 1 in 1,200 people score 147 or higher.

Can an online test show 147?

Not reliably for 147. Our test shows anything above 145 as “145 or higher”, and a perfect score currently shows about 140.