What Does an 87 IQ Mean?
An 87 IQ is a little below the average of 100. About 19 in 100 people score lower than 87. Clinical reports using the WISC-V or the traditional WAIS-IV wording would call 87 Low Average.
- Percentile
- 19.31
- How rare
- 1 in 5 score 87 or lower
- WISC-V wording
- Low Average
- Traditional wording (WAIS-IV)
- Low Average
- Distance from 100
- 0.87 SD below
- On an SD 16 test
- about 86
- On an SD 24 test
- about 79
- Our test's usual range here
- 75 to 99 (90%)
What does an 87 IQ mean?
A score of 87 is 0.87 standard deviations below the average of 100. On most IQ tests one standard deviation, the typical distance from the average, is 15 points, so 87 is 13 points away.
87 sits near the top of the 80 to 89 band, 3 points below the next band up. About 16 in 100 people score from 80 to 89, the band that holds 87. The average band starts at 90, so a retest of an 87 can easily land on the other side of that line.
What percentile is an IQ of 87?
A score of 87 is at the 19.31st percentile. That percentile is the share of people who score lower than 87, not the share of questions right. Five points higher, 92 is at the 29.69th percentile. Five points lower, 82 is at the 11.51st percentile. Across those ten points around 87, the percentile moves by 18.18.
How rare is an IQ of 87?
About 1 in 5 people score 87 or lower. In a town of 100,000 people, about 19,000 would score 87 or lower.
For every 100 people who score exactly 100, about 69 score exactly 87. These figures for 87 come from the normal curve that IQ scales are built on, and the IQ calculator works out any other score.
What would 87 be on other tests?
Not every test would print 87 for this position. Older Stanford-Binet forms and many school tests use a standard deviation of 16; there, the same position as 87 is about 86. On a scale with a standard deviation of 24, used by the Cattell test, it is about 79. 87, 86 and 79 all mean the same percentile.
Is 87 a good IQ score?
The scale does not grade the person behind an 87; it places one result among other people’s results. As a position, 87 is a little below the average of 100. What an 87 is useful for depends on the purpose, and a single online result is too rough for decisions about school, work or support. An 87 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 87 from the average?
87 is 13 points below the average of 100, or 0.87 of a standard deviation. About 30.7 percent of people score between 87 and 100. About 19.3 percent score lower than 87. Our average IQ guide explains why the middle sits at 100 rather than at 87.
What does an online result of 87 mean?
An online result of 87 is an estimate. When our test shows 87, the estimated range next to it is usually about 75 to 99. That range for 87 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 87 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 87 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 87, take the free IQ test. It has 30 questions and shows an estimated range with every result.
Scores near 87
- 85 IQ: 2 points lower, at the 15.87th percentile.
- 86 IQ: 1 point lower, at the 17.53rd percentile.
- 88 IQ: 1 point higher, at the 21.19th percentile.
- 89 IQ: 2 points higher, at the 23.17th percentile.
Look up any score from 70 to 160, not only those near 87, in the score explorer.
FAQ
What percentile is 87 IQ?
A score of 87 is at the 19.31st percentile. That means about 19.31 percent of people score lower.
Is 87 IQ low?
87 is below the average band. About 19.3 in 100 people score 87 or lower. A single 87 is not a diagnosis.
How many people have an IQ of 87?
On a whole-number scale, about 1.8 percent of people score exactly 87. About 1 in 5 people score 87 or lower.
Can an online test show 87?
Yes, as an estimate with a range: on our test an 87 usually comes with an estimated range of about 75 to 99.