Where the genius threshold comes from
In 1916 Lewis Terman published the Stanford-Binet, the American version of Alfred Binet's test, together with a table describing score ranges. At the top he placed "near genius or genius" for scores above 140. The label stuck in popular use, even though Terman was describing children's ratio scores and the test has been rebuilt many times since.
The idea of measuring genius is older. Francis Galton's Hereditary Genius (1869) tried to show that eminence ran in families and ranked people by reputation rather than by any test. Terman's work turned that idea into a number.
What Terman's study of gifted children found
From 1921 Terman followed about 1,500 Californian children, most with Stanford-Binet scores of 135 to 140 or more, for the rest of their lives. The project was called Genetic Studies of Genius. As adults the group did well on average: more degrees, more professional jobs and higher incomes than the general population.
None of them is generally regarded as a genius in the historical sense, however, and two children who were tested but missed the cut-off, William Shockley and Luis Alvarez, are reported to have gone on to win Nobel prizes in physics. The study is the classic illustration that a very high IQ predicts success on average but is not the same as exceptional achievement.
Gifted, highly gifted, genius: the thresholds people use
Modern tests use neutral labels and stop at "130 and above". The finer distinctions below are informal and come from gifted education. One commonly cited scheme (Gross, 2004):
- 130 to 144: moderately gifted. About 1 in 44 people reach 130.
- 145 to 159: highly gifted. About 1 in 740 reach 145.
- 160 to 179: exceptionally gifted. About 1 in 31,500 reach 160.
- 180 and above: profoundly gifted. Statistically less than one in a million; such scores come from children's ratio scores or extended norms and cannot be measured precisely.
Mensa admits people who score at or above the 98th percentile on an approved test, equivalent to about 130 on a scale with a standard deviation of 15. See IQ 130, IQ 140 and IQ 145 for what each score means.
| Band | IQ range | Share of adults |
|---|---|---|
| Very superior | 130 and above | 2.3% |
| Superior | 120–129 | 6.8% |
| High average | 110–119 | 16.1% |
| Average | 90–109 | 49.5% |
| Low average | 80–89 | 16.1% |
| Borderline | 70–79 | 6.8% |
| Extremely low | Below 70 | 2.3% |
Why "genius" is not a band on modern tests
Three reasons. First, the word implies extraordinary achievement, and an IQ score measures reasoning ability, not achievement. Second, measurement at the top is imprecise: standardisation samples of about 2,000 people include only a few people above 145, so the difference between 145 and 155 is partly guesswork. Third, test publishers moved away from evaluative labels in general. The newest Wechsler editions replaced even "superior" with "very high" and "extremely high".
In practice psychologists say that a person scored "in the extremely high range" and give a confidence interval. Calling a score genius level is a popular shorthand, not a technical term.
This matters when you read an online result. A short test that tells you 150 or 160 is making a claim it cannot support: with 25 to 40 items there are too few hard questions to separate one very high score from another, and a test built to flatter will hand out such numbers freely. A result above 140 on a careful online test means "very high, exact level unknown". If the number matters to you, a psychologist-administered battery is the only way to pin it down, and even that will report a range. Our page on the highest IQ ever recorded explains why the very top of the scale is so uncertain.
What IQ leaves out of genius
Studies of eminent scientists, writers and artists find that most are well above average in IQ, but very few are at the extreme top, and many people with very high scores achieve nothing unusual. Research on creativity suggests IQ helps up to a point, often put around 120, with personality, motivation, expertise and opportunity mattering more beyond it. The exact threshold is still debated.
If you want to know where you stand, our IQ test shows your band for free, and the Mensa-format test uses harder matrix items modelled on the format of admission tests. Neither will tell you whether you are a genius; nothing will.
Sources
Terman, L. M. The Measurement of Intelligence. Houghton Mifflin, 1916.
Terman, L. M. and Oden, M. H. The Gifted Group at Mid-Life: Genetic Studies of Genius, Volume V. Stanford University Press, 1959.
Galton, F. Hereditary Genius. Macmillan, 1869.
Gross, M. U. M. Exceptionally Gifted Children, 2nd edition. RoutledgeFalmer, 2004.
Frequently asked questions
What IQ is considered genius?
140 or above is the figure most often quoted, following Terman's 1916 classification. It covers about 0.4% of people. Modern tests do not use the word genius.
What is genius IQ?
An informal label for very high IQ scores, usually 140 or more. It describes a test result, not creative achievement, and it is not an official category on any current test.
What is genius level IQ?
Most sources put it at 140 or 145 and above, which is the top 0.1% to 0.4% of the population. Short online tests cannot measure that range precisely.
What IQ is considered gifted?
130 and above in most programmes and in Mensa's admission rule (the top 2%). Some schools use 125 or combine IQ with achievement and teacher evidence.
Is 130 IQ genius?
No. 130 is very high and the usual threshold for giftedness, about 1 in 44 people, but the genius label is normally reserved for 140 or more.
Is 130 IQ gifted?
Yes. 130 is the most common giftedness threshold and corresponds to about the 98th percentile, the level Mensa requires.
Is a 120 IQ genius?
No. 120 is high, above about 91% of people, and comfortably sufficient for demanding careers, but it is well below the 140 usually linked with the genius label.