IQ scale

What Does an 83 IQ Mean?

An 83 IQ is a little below the average of 100. About 13 in 100 people score lower than 83. Clinical reports using the WISC-V or the traditional WAIS-IV wording would call 83 Low Average.

Percentile
12.85
How rare
1 in 8 score 83 or lower
WISC-V wording
Low Average
Traditional wording (WAIS-IV)
Low Average
Distance from 100
1.13 SD below
On an SD 16 test
about 82
On an SD 24 test
about 73
Our test's usual range here
70 to 96 (90%)
Where 83 sits on the IQ curveA bell curve with a marker at 83. The shaded area to the left is the share of people who score lower; 83 is at the 12.85th percentile.7010013083

What does an 83 IQ mean?

A score of 83 is 1.13 standard deviations below the average of 100. On most IQ tests one standard deviation, the typical distance from the average, is 15 points, so 83 is 17 points away.

83 sits near the bottom of the 80 to 89 band, 7 points below the next band up. About 16 in 100 people score from 80 to 89, the band that holds 83. The average band starts at 90, so a retest of an 83 can easily land on the other side of that line.

What percentile is an IQ of 83?

A score of 83 is at the 12.85th percentile. That percentile is the share of people who score lower than 83, not the share of questions right. Five points higher, 88 is at the 21.19th percentile. Five points lower, 78 is at the 7.12th percentile. Across those ten points around 83, the percentile moves by 14.06.

How rare is an IQ of 83?

About 1 in 8 people score 83 or lower. In a town of 100,000 people, about 13,000 would score 83 or lower.

For every 100 people who score exactly 100, about 53 score exactly 83. These figures for 83 come from the normal curve that IQ scales are built on, and the IQ calculator works out any other score.

What would 83 be on other tests?

Not every test would print 83 for this position. Older Stanford-Binet forms and many school tests use a standard deviation of 16; there, the same position as 83 is about 82. On a scale with a standard deviation of 24, used by the Cattell test, it is about 73. 83, 82 and 73 all mean the same percentile.

Is 83 a good IQ score?

The scale does not grade the person behind an 83; it places one result among other people’s results. As a position, 83 is a little below the average of 100. What an 83 is useful for depends on the purpose, and a single online result is too rough for decisions about school, work or support. An 83 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.

How far is 83 from the average?

83 is 17 points below the average of 100, or 1.13 of a standard deviation. About 37.1 percent of people score between 83 and 100. About 12.9 percent score lower than 83. Our average IQ guide explains why the middle sits at 100 rather than at 83.

What does an online result of 83 mean?

An online result of 83 is an estimate. When our test shows 83, the estimated range next to it is usually about 70 to 96. That range for 83 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 83 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 83 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 83, take the free IQ test. It has 30 questions and shows an estimated range with every result.

Scores near 83

  • 81 IQ: 2 points lower, at the 10.26th percentile.
  • 82 IQ: 1 point lower, at the 11.51st percentile.
  • 84 IQ: 1 point higher, at the 14.31st percentile.
  • 85 IQ: 2 points higher, at the 15.87th percentile.

Look up any score from 70 to 160, not only those near 83, in the score explorer.

FAQ

What percentile is 83 IQ?

A score of 83 is at the 12.85th percentile. That means about 12.85 percent of people score lower.

Is 83 IQ low?

83 is below the average band. About 12.9 in 100 people score 83 or lower. A single 83 is not a diagnosis.

How many people have an IQ of 83?

On a whole-number scale, about 1.4 percent of people score exactly 83. About 1 in 8 people score 83 or lower.

Can an online test show 83?

Yes, as an estimate with a range: on our test an 83 usually comes with an estimated range of about 70 to 96.