IQ by Profession: Average IQ by Job, Real Data

Q: What is the average IQ of a doctor?

No study gives doctors an IQ score as such. The best modern figure comes from Swedish military enlistment tests taken at about 18: in 2011 data, medical doctors averaged 7.4 on a 1 to 9 scale, against 5.1 for the population, the highest of any group compared. A second Swedish study found 7.49 for physicians. Both cover men only, and individual doctors vary widely.

Q: What is the average IQ of a lawyer?

In a 1945 study of 18,782 US Army Air Forces enlisted men, 94 former lawyers had a mean Army General Classification Test score of 127.6, the second highest of 74 jobs. That test used a scale with a standard deviation of 20, not 15, so it is not an IQ. Their scores ranged from 96 to 157. Swedish data from 2011 put lawyers and judges at 6.8 on a 1 to 9 scale.

Q: What is the average IQ of an engineer?

Only small or indirect figures exist. In the 1945 Army study by Harrell and Harrell, 39 former engineers had a mean Army test score of 126.6, on a scale where 20 points made one standard deviation. A Swedish study published in 2018 found engineers averaged 7.11 on the 1 to 9 enlistment scale, against 5.15 for all men. Neither figure is an IQ, and both hide a wide spread.

Q: What is the average IQ of a teacher?

In the 1945 US Army study, 256 former teachers had a mean Army General Classification Test score of 122.8, with individual scores from 76 to 155. Stewart's 1947 analysis of 360 teachers found a median of 124, with the middle half between 117 and 132. These were men tested in wartime on the Army's own scale, so they are not IQ scores for today's teachers.

Q: What is the average IQ of an accountant?

Accountants topped both large Army tables from the 1940s. Harrell and Harrell found a mean Army test score of 128.1 for 172 former accountants in 1945, and Stewart's 1947 report gave 216 accountants a median of 129. The Army scale had a standard deviation of 20, so these are not IQ scores. Even so, 10% of the accountants scored 114 or lower.

Q: Which jobs have the highest average IQ?

In 1940s US Army data, accountants, lawyers, engineers, auditors, chemists, reporters and teachers had the highest average test scores. In modern Swedish data on men tested at 18, medical doctors score highest in both major studies, with engineers, academic economists and lawyers also well above average. Rankings depend on the sample and test, and the spread within each job is far larger than the gaps between neighbouring jobs.

Q: Which careers fit an IQ of 120?

Almost any. An IQ of 120 is higher than about 91% of people. In Wisconsin data, it is above the average for every occupation group studied, and in Swedish data it is above the average for every profession, including doctors. That does not point you to a particular job. Interests, skills, training and opportunity matter much more than the score when choosing a career.

Q: Do you need a high IQ to be a doctor?

No particular IQ is required. Entry to medicine depends on qualifications, exams and training. Doctors do score above average on reasoning tests: in Swedish data, they averaged 7.4 on a 1 to 9 scale, the highest group compared. But that is an average, and doctors' scores spread widely. Persistence, communication and judgement matter a great deal in medical training and practice.

Q: Is IQ the best predictor of job success?

Probably not. A 1998 review put the link between ability tests and job performance at 0.51, but a 2022 re-analysis lowered it to 0.31, below structured interviews at 0.42. Ability helps, especially for learning complex work, yet experience, skills, effort and fit with the job explain most of the differences between people doing the same work.

Q: Do people in the same job have similar IQs?

Not very. In a 1944 Army sample of 81,553 men, the middle 80% of accountants scored between 114 and 143, and of labourers between 65 and 119, so the groups overlapped heavily. A 1997 summary of Wonderlic applicant data found the middle half of applicants to a job usually spans 15 to 20 IQ points.

In short: the best-known job-by-job tables come from US Army testing in World War II. In those tables, accountants, lawyers, engineers, teachers and chemists had the highest average scores, and farm workers, miners and lumberjacks the lowest. Modern Swedish data show the same broad pattern, with doctors scoring highest. But the spread inside every job is huge. In a 1944 Army sample, the top tenth of labourers outscored the bottom tenth of accountants. An average tells you about a group, not about what any one person can do.

IQ by profession: the short answer

People have been measuring the test scores of different occupations for more than a century, and the ranking that comes out is remarkably stable. Jobs built around words, numbers and abstract problems sit near the top. Jobs centred on physical work, or learned mostly by doing, sit lower. That much is not controversial.

What often gets lost is how loosely people are sorted. Lists online tend to give a single "IQ" for each job, often with no source. The real tables give a middle value and a wide spread, and they come from particular groups of people, tested on particular tests, at particular times. Read that way, the data say three things:

There is an order. Professional and clerical jobs had the highest middle scores in the 1940s Army data, and doctors top the modern Swedish data.
The overlap is enormous. Almost every job contained people scoring well above and well below the overall average.
The order is not a set of entry requirements. No job in these studies required a particular score, and the researchers themselves warned against reading the tables that way.

Average IQ by occupation: the data

The table below brings together the two largest published job-by-job tables we could check against the original documents. Both come from the Army General Classification Test (AGCT), the screening test given to US Army recruits in World War II. You can search it, sort it, and switch between the two datasets.

Rank	Occupation (as published)	N	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Median, IQ scale ≈
1	Accountant	216	114	121	129	136	143	122
2	Student, Mechanical Engineering	62	114	122	128	135	140	121
3	Personnel Clerk	33	–	–	128	–	–	121
4	Student, Medicine	124	116	120	127	135	140	120
5	Chemist	40	–	–	127	–	–	120
6	Student, Electrical Engineering	36	–	–	127	–	–	120
7	Writer	54	114	123	126	133	140	120
8	Student, Civil Engineering	39	–	–	126	–	–	120
9	Statistical Clerk	72	114	119	125	133	141	119
10	Student, Chemical Engineering	73	105	117	125	134	142	119
11	Teacher	360	110	117	124	132	140	118
12	Lawyer	164	112	118	124	132	141	118
13	Student, Business or Public Administration	152	114	118	124	131	140	118
14	Auditor	89	88	112	124	132	145	118
15	Student, Dentistry	31	–	–	124	–	–	118
16	Bookkeeper, General	302	108	114	122	129	138	117
17	Chief Clerk	297	107	114	122	131	141	117
18	Stenographer (Shorthand typist)	206	109	115	122	130	139	117
19	Pharmacist	78	103	112	121	129	135	116
20	Typist	75	102	112	121	128	139	116
21	Draftsman (Draughtsperson)	139	99	109	120	127	137	115
22	Chemical Laboratory Assistant	134	97	109	120	127	138	115
23	Draftsman, Mechanical (Mechanical draughtsperson)	99	105	111	120	128	135	115
24	Investigator	72	99	114	120	124	132	115
25	Reporter	70	104	113	120	128	136	115
26	Tool Designer	29	–	–	120	–	–	115
27	Tabulating Machine Operator (Punched-card (tabulating) machine operator)	61	102	111	120	127	134	115
28	Addressing-Embossing Machine Operator	78	99	109	119	127	132	114
29	Traffic Rate Clerk	42	–	–	119	–	–	114
30	Clerk-Typist	616	101	110	119	126	134	114
31	Postal Clerk	377	100	109	119	126	136	114
32	Bookkeeping Machine Operator	56	97	108	118	128	140	114
33	Meat or Dairy Inspector	37	–	–	118	–	–	114
34	Photographic Laboratory Technician	36	–	–	118	–	–	114
35	Teletype Operator	29	–	–	118	–	–	114
36	Student, Sociology	28	–	–	118	–	–	114
37	Switchboard Installer, Telephone and Telegraph, Dial	34	–	–	117	–	–	113
38	Cashier	168	91	107	117	127	134	113
39	Stock Record Clerk	114	91	107	117	125	131	113
40	Clerk, General	2,063	97	108	117	125	133	113
41	Radio Repairman	198	97	108	117	125	136	113
42	Purchasing Agent	197	88	104	117	125	134	113
43	Survey and Instrument Man	51	91	102	117	123	130	113
44	Physics Laboratory Assistant	26	–	–	117	–	–	113
45	Stock Control Clerk	152	95	107	117	124	133	113
46	Manager, Production	94	99	111	117	124	129	113
47	Boilermaker, Layer-Out	88	76	99	116	125	137	112
48	Radio Operator	31	–	–	116	–	–	112
49	Linotype Operator	43	–	–	116	–	–	112
50	Student, Mechanics	66	93	105	115	122	128	111
51	Salesman	859	94	107	115	125	133	111
52	Athletic Instructor	73	93	104	115	125	133	111
53	Store Manager	385	91	104	115	124	133	111
54	Installer-Repairman, Telephone and Telegraph	62	98	108	115	120	133	111
55	Motorcycle Mechanic	46	–	–	115	–	–	111
56	Dispatcher Clerk, Crew	25	–	–	115	–	–	111
57	Tool Dresser	49	–	–	115	–	–	111
58	File Clerk	119	96	105	114	123	129	111
59	Embalmer	55	98	105	114	119	130	111
60	Brake Inspector, Railway	130	90	102	114	127	133	111
61	Airplane and Engine Mechanic	115	92	102	114	123	130	111
62	Shop Clerk	89	93	104	114	124	133	111
63	Artist	82	96	106	114	121	127	111
64	Band Leader	82	92	99	114	124	129	111
65	Photographer	70	88	109	114	124	129	111
66	Geologist	62	93	105	114	124	131	111
67	Airplane Engine Service Mechanic	52	99	105	114	119	131	111
68	Cable Splicer, Telephone and Telegraph	43	–	–	114	–	–	111
69	Surveyor	42	–	–	114	–	–	111
70	Student, High School, Academic	2,608	92	102	113	122	129	110
71	Blueprinter or Photostat Operator	67	91	100	113	125	134	110
72	Carpenter, Heavy Construction	82	87	97	112	124	132	109
73	Dispatcher, Motor Vehicle	71	82	93	112	124	131	109
74	Gunsmith	53	88	100	112	119	123	109
75	Musician, Instrumental	161	90	103	112	120	129	109
76	Tool Maker	147	92	101	112	123	129	109
77	Nurse, Practical	35	–	–	112	–	–	109
78	Photographer, Portrait	28	–	–	112	–	–	109
79	Photolithographer	26	–	–	112	–	–	109
80	Rodman and Chainman, Surveying	117	87	97	111	120	127	108
81	Airplane Fabric and Dope Worker	43	–	–	111	–	–	108
82	Multilith or Multigraph Operator	54	98	105	111	120	130	108
83	Shipping Clerk	408	89	101	111	121	128	108
84	Printer	192	89	99	111	120	129	108
85	Steward	68	73	95	111	119	125	108
86	Foreman, Warehouse	138	80	101	111	121	129	108
87	Bandsman, Cornet or Trumpet	33	–	–	111	–	–	108
88	Instrument Repairman, Nonelectrical	37	–	–	111	–	–	108
89	Boring Mill Operator	150	86	98	111	120	129	108
90	Projectionist, Motion Picture	111	87	100	110	122	129	108
91	Dental Laboratory Technician	69	79	94	110	121	127	108
92	Laboratory Technician, V-mail or Microfilm	52	81	100	110	119	129	108
93	Foreman, Machine Shop	48	–	–	110	–	–	108
94	Stock Clerk	791	85	99	110	120	127	108
95	Painter, Sign	96	83	98	110	117	126	108
96	Machinist	617	86	99	110	120	127	108
97	Photographer, Aerial	603	83	98	110	119	128	108
98	Engine Lathe Operator	283	89	101	110	120	128	108
99	Parts Clerk, Automotive	133	90	98	110	119	127	108
100	Cook's Helper	62	78	89	110	122	132	108
101	Railway Mechanic, General	61	88	98	110	119	131	108
102	Office Machine Serviceman	51	89	99	110	119	128	108
103	Student, High School, Commercial	275	90	99	110	118	124	108
104	Electrician, Airplane	35	–	–	110	–	–	108
105	Student, Manual Arts	60	87	99	109	121	132	107
106	Policeman	172	86	96	109	118	128	107
107	Sales Clerk	2,362	82	95	109	119	128	107
108	Electrician	435	83	96	109	118	124	107
109	Lineman, Telephone and Telegraph	96	79	97	109	120	129	107
110	Watch Repairman	51	93	103	109	119	123	107
111	Receiving or Shipping Checker	900	88	99	109	119	127	107
112	Car Mechanic, Railway	158	89	98	109	119	129	107
113	Toolroom Keeper	70	78	99	109	118	121	107
114	Refrigeration Mechanic	58	86	97	109	120	126	107
115	Cameraman, Motion Picture	29	–	–	109	–	–	107
116	Telephone Operator	34	–	–	109	–	–	107
117	Hatch Tender	31	–	–	109	–	–	107
118	Not Elsewhere Classified	14,299	76	92	108	120	129	106
119	Machinist's Helper	429	85	96	108	118	125	106
120	Foreman, Labor	238	77	93	108	120	129	106
121	Locomotive Fireman	106	75	97	108	118	126	106
122	Entertainer	54	78	90	108	120	125	106
123	Meat Cutter	691	80	94	108	117	126	106
124	Student, High School, Vocational	504	85	96	108	115	124	106
125	Cabinetmaker	114	80	92	108	119	130	106
126	Airplane Engine Mechanic	79	80	94	108	120	129	106
127	Heat Treater	73	79	96	108	118	125	106
128	Fire Fighter	70	82	93	108	117	123	106
129	Engineering Aide	69	87	96	108	119	124	106
130	Construction Equipment Mechanic	53	81	93	108	116	126	106
131	Optician	45	–	–	108	–	–	106
132	Packer, High Explosives	29	–	–	108	–	–	106
133	Petroleum Storage Technician	29	–	–	108	–	–	106
134	Pattern Maker, Wood	25	–	–	108	–	–	106
135	Electrician, Automotive	57	88	100	108	115	127	106
136	Coppersmith	43	–	–	108	–	–	106
137	Ship Fitter	66	87	99	107	120	128	105
138	Sheet Metal Worker	462	82	95	107	117	126	105
139	Electroplater	84	76	90	107	113	120	105
140	Instrument Repairman, Electrical	50	81	100	107	120	131	105
141	Steam Fitter	47	–	–	107	–	–	105
142	Diesel Mechanic	42	–	–	107	–	–	105
143	Carpenter, Ship	34	–	–	107	–	–	105
144	Bandsman, Snare Drum	28	–	–	107	–	–	105
145	Lithographic Pressman	26	–	–	107	–	–	105
146	Electric Motor Repairman	76	88	96	106	117	125	105
147	Shop Maintenance Mechanic	280	82	92	106	117	124	105
148	Job Pressman	119	83	95	106	116	126	105
149	Riveter, Pneumatic	113	79	91	106	115	124	105
150	Power Shovel Operator	46	–	–	106	–	–	105
151	Photographic Technician, Aerial	39	–	–	106	–	–	105
152	Brakeman, Railway	182	80	93	105	116	125	104
153	Automobile Body Repairman	136	73	86	105	115	126	104
154	Tire Rebuilder	62	76	87	105	114	118	104
155	Utility Repairman	305	79	91	105	116	127	104
156	Boilermaker	158	81	94	105	115	123	104
157	Foreman, Automotive Repair Shop	39	–	–	105	–	–	104
158	Salvage Man	35	–	–	105	–	–	104
159	Structural Steel Worker	107	76	88	104	119	126	103
160	Welder, Combination	236	72	90	104	115	124	103
161	Welder, Spot	89	73	89	104	112	122	103
162	Seaman	65	69	84	104	114	120	103
163	Engineman, Operating	31	–	–	104	–	–	103
164	Foreman, Construction	281	72	88	104	118	128	103
165	Millwright	71	81	90	104	118	125	103
166	Welder, Electric Arc	482	78	90	103	114	122	102
167	Plumber	222	71	87	103	114	123	102
168	Switchman, Railway	52	83	89	103	112	122	102
169	Machine Operator, Designated Machine	3,044	77	89	103	114	123	102
170	Hammersmith	45	–	–	103	–	–	102
171	Student, High School, Agricultural	89	82	92	102	114	121	102
172	Automotive Mechanic	1,693	75	89	102	114	122	102
173	Blacksmith	162	75	88	102	113	122	102
174	Welder, Acetylene	101	77	91	102	114	120	102
175	Bricklayer	213	77	88	102	114	122	102
176	Blaster or Powderman	75	73	85	102	115	121	102
177	Small Craft Operator	40	–	–	102	–	–	102
178	Lineman, Power	80	73	86	101	111	120	101
179	Packing Case Maker	66	73	87	101	117	125	101
180	Carpenter, General	1,004	73	86	101	113	123	101
181	Pipe Fitter	194	76	86	101	112	121	101
182	Electric Truck Driver	87	64	87	101	112	121	101
183	Highway Maintenance Man	44	–	–	101	–	–	101
184	Automobile Serviceman	1,179	73	87	101	114	123	101
185	Rigger	44	–	–	101	–	–	101
186	Woodworking-Machine Operator	206	73	85	100	112	120	100
187	Chauffeur (Private driver)	358	74	87	100	113	122	100
188	Motorcyclist	32	–	–	100	–	–	100
189	Burner, Acetylene	113	75	88	100	110	121	100
190	Tractor Driver	968	69	82	99	110	120	99
191	Painter, General	680	70	83	99	113	121	99
192	Foundryman	149	67	83	99	113	121	99
193	Animation Artist	140	74	85	99	112	123	99
194	Hospital Orderly	122	72	86	99	110	121	99
195	Baker	334	69	83	99	113	123	99
196	Packer, Supplies	206	67	81	99	112	122	99
197	Sewing Machine Operator	91	71	80	98	112	120	99
198	Truck Driver, Heavy	3,473	71	83	98	111	120	99
199	Painter, Automobile	72	72	83	98	108	123	99
200	Hoist Operator	117	73	83	98	109	119	99
201	Construction Machine Operator	145	70	79	97	107	117	98
202	Horsebreaker (Horse trainer)	91	73	85	97	108	119	98
203	Tailor	74	69	82	97	112	120	98
204	Stonemason	43	–	–	97	–	–	98
205	Crane Operator	128	72	87	96	111	120	97
206	Upholsterer	98	74	88	96	111	121	97
207	Cook	653	67	79	96	111	120	97
208	Concrete-Mixer Operator	56	65	80	96	109	119	97
209	Truck Driver, Light	3,966	69	80	95	109	119	96
210	Stationary Fireman	107	67	80	95	109	124	96
211	Warehouseman	90	70	87	95	110	120	96
212	Gas and Oil Man	61	75	85	95	111	124	96
213	Forging-Press Operator	43	–	–	95	–	–	96
214	Longshoreman	53	61	77	95	109	116	96
215	Well Driller	62	71	82	95	114	122	96
216	Marine Fireman	27	–	–	94	–	–	96
217	Laundry Machine Operator	121	71	82	93	111	121	95
218	Laborer	7,805	65	76	93	108	119	95
219	Barber	166	66	79	93	109	120	95
220	Shoe Repairman	118	68	77	93	109	118	95
221	Jackhammer Operator	55	61	77	93	109	118	95
222	Groundman, Telephone, Telegraph, or Power	32	–	–	91	–	–	93
223	Section Hand, Railway	337	64	74	90	104	115	93
224	Teamster	284	64	74	87	104	114	90
225	Miner	502	67	75	87	103	114	90
226	Farm Worker	7,475	61	70	86	103	115	90
227	Lumberjack	236	60	70	85	100	116	89

Occupation (as published)	N	Mean	Median	SD	Lowest	Highest	Mean, IQ scale ≈
Accountant	172	128.1	128.1	11.7	94	157	121
Lawyer	94	127.6	126.8	10.9	96	157	121
Engineer	39	126.6	125.8	11.7	100	151	120
Public Relations Man (Public relations officer)	42	126	125.5	11.4	100	149	120
Auditor	62	125.9	125.5	11.2	98	151	119
Chemist	21	124.8	124.5	13.8	102	153	119
Reporter	45	124.5	125.7	11.7	100	157	118
Chief Clerk	165	124.2	124.5	11.7	88	153	118
Teacher	256	122.8	123.7	12.8	76	155	117
Draftsman (Draughtsperson)	153	122	121.7	12.8	74	155	117
Stenographer (Shorthand typist)	147	121	121.4	12.5	66	151	116
Pharmacist	58	120.5	124	15.2	76	149	115
Tabulating Machine Operator (Punched-card (tabulating) machine operator)	140	120.1	119.8	13.3	80	151	115
Bookkeeper	272	120	119.7	13.1	70	157	115
Manager, Sales	42	119	120.7	11.5	90	137	114
Purchasing Agent	98	118.7	119.2	12.9	82	153	114
Manager, Production	34	118.1	117	16	82	153	114
Photographer	95	117.6	119.8	13.9	66	147	113
Clerk, General	496	117.5	117.9	13	68	155	113
Clerk-Typist	468	116.8	117.3	12	80	147	113
Manager, Miscellaneous	235	116	117.5	14.8	60	151	112
Installer-Repairman, Tel & Tel (Telephone and telegraph installer-repairer)	96	115.8	116.8	13.1	76	149	112
Cashier	111	115.8	116.8	11.9	80	145	112
Instrument Repairman	47	115.5	115.8	11.9	82	141	112
Radio Repairman	267	115.3	116.5	14.5	56	151	111
Printer, Job Pressman, Lithographic Pressman	132	115.1	116.7	14.3	60	149	111
Salesman	494	115.1	116.2	15.7	60	153	111
Artist	48	114.9	115.4	11.2	82	139	111
Manager, Retail Store	420	114	116.2	15.7	52	151	111
Laboratory Assistant	128	113.4	114	14.6	76	147	110
Tool Maker	60	112.5	111.6	12.5	76	143	109
Inspector	358	112.3	113.1	15.7	54	147	109
Stock Clerk	490	111.8	113	16.3	54	151	109
Receiving and Shipping Clerk	486	111.3	113.4	16.4	58	155	108
Musician	157	110.9	112.8	15.9	56	147	108
Machinist	456	110.1	110.8	16.1	38	153	108
Foreman	298	109.8	111.4	16.7	60	151	107
Watchmaker	56	109.8	113	14.7	68	147	107
Airplane Mechanic	235	109.3	110.5	14.9	66	147	107
Sales Clerk	492	109.2	110.4	16.3	42	149	107
Electrician	289	109	110.6	15.2	64	149	107
Lathe Operator	172	108.5	109.4	15.5	64	147	106
Receiving & Shipping Checker	281	107.6	108.9	15.8	52	151	106
Sheet Metal Worker	498	107.5	108.1	15.3	62	153	106
Lineman, Power and Tel & Tel (Power and telephone line worker)	77	107.1	108.8	15.5	70	133	105
Assembler	498	106.3	106.6	14.6	48	145	105
Mechanic	421	106.3	108.3	16	60	155	105
Machine Operator	486	104.8	105.7	17.1	42	151	104
Auto Serviceman	539	104.2	105.9	16.7	30	141	103
Riveter	239	104.1	105.3	15.1	50	141	103
Cabinetmaker	48	103.5	104.7	15.9	66	127	103
Upholsterer	59	103.3	105.8	14.5	68	131	102
Butcher	259	102.9	104.8	17.1	42	147	102
Plumber	128	102.7	104.8	16	56	139	102
Bartender	98	102.2	105	16.6	56	137	102
Carpenter, Construction	451	102.1	104.1	19.5	42	147	102
Pipe Fitter	72	101.9	105.2	18	56	139	101
Welder	493	101.8	103.6	16.1	48	147	101
Auto Mechanic	466	101.3	101.8	17	48	151	101
Molder	79	101.1	105.5	20.2	48	137	101
Chauffeur (Private driver)	194	100.8	103	18.4	46	143	101
Tractor Driver	354	99.5	101.6	19.1	42	147	100
Painter, General	440	98.3	100.1	18.7	38	147	99
Crane Hoist Operator	99	97.9	99.1	16.6	58	147	98
Cook and Baker	436	97.2	99.5	20.8	20	147	98
Weaver	56	97	97.3	17.7	50	135	98
Truck Driver	817	96.2	97.8	19.7	16	149	97
Laborer	856	95.8	97.7	20.1	26	145	97
Barber	103	95.3	98.1	20.5	42	141	96
Lumberjack	59	94.7	96.5	19.8	46	137	96
Farmer	700	92.7	93.4	21.8	24	147	95
Farmhand (Farm worker)	817	91.4	94	20.7	24	141	94
Miner	156	90.6	92	20.1	42	139	93
Teamster	77	87.7	89	19.6	46	145	91

AGCT standard scores of white enlisted men in the US Army, World War II, exactly as published (Stewart 1947, Table I; Harrell and Harrell 1945, Table 1). A dash means the source gives no value; Stewart printed percentiles only for groups of 50 or more. "IQ scale ≈" is our conversion, 100 + 0.75 × (AGCT − 100), rounded.

How to read it. The scores are AGCT standard scores, not IQ scores. The Army scale was built so that its standardisation group averaged 100, with a standard deviation of 20 points, according to Naomi Stewart's 1947 report. Modern IQ scales use a standard deviation of 15, so the same number does not mean the same thing on both. A few more points help:

Harrell and Harrell (1945) give the mean, median, standard deviation and the lowest and highest score for 74 occupations, based on 18,782 men. Accountants had the highest mean (128.1) and teamsters, a job listed separately from truck drivers, the lowest (87.7).
Stewart (1947) gives five percentile points (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th) for 227 occupations, based on 81,553 men. For groups of 25 to 49 people she published only the median, so some rows have one number.
Job titles are as printed. Some describe 1940s work that has changed or vanished, such as tabulating machine operator or teamster. Where a modern name is obvious, we show it alongside.
Small groups are noisy. Harrell and Harrell's chemists numbered just 21. Treat a difference of a few points between neighbouring jobs as meaningless.
The "IQ scale" column is a conversion, not a measurement. Because the AGCT spreads scores over a standard deviation of 20 rather than 15, we also show each figure rescaled to the IQ scale: 100 + 0.75 × (AGCT score − 100). That keeps a score's distance from the average in standard deviations, but the comparison group is still 1940s Army recruits, not today's population, so read it as a rough guide.

Why the ranges matter more than the averages

The chart below shows how far the scores in each occupation spread out. The bar for each job runs from its 10th to its 90th percentile in Stewart's data, so it covers the middle 80% of the men in that job.

10th to 90th percentile25th to 75th percentileMedian

AGCT standard scores, Stewart (1947), Table I. A selection of familiar jobs with all five percentiles published, in her order; the full list is in the table above.

Two things stand out. First, the bars are long. Among accountants, the middle 80% ran from 114 to 143 on the AGCT scale. Among labourers, one of the largest groups at 7,805 men, it ran from 65 to 119. Second, the bars overlap heavily. The 90th percentile for labourers (119) is higher than the 10th percentile for accountants (114), so the top tenth of one group outscored the bottom tenth of the other.

Harrell and Harrell found the same thing in their own sample. Their lowest-scoring group, teamsters, had "2% of its cases scoring as high as the mean of Accountant", the highest-scoring group. The full ranges are even wider: at least one truck driver in their table scored 149, close to the top accountant's 157.

The spread is not even, though. The lowest scores rise steeply as you move up the list, while the highest scores change much less. In Harrell and Harrell's table, the lowest score among accountants was 94, against 16 among truck drivers, yet the top scores were 157 and 149. Writing about the same data in 2002, the sociologist Robert Hauser noted that "average scores increase largely as the minimum score increases". In other words, the higher-ranked jobs had fewer people with low scores, not a monopoly on high ones.

Where the numbers come from

Every figure on this page comes from the original papers, read from scans of the printed pages. Here is who was tested, how, and what each source cannot tell you.

Harrell and Harrell (1945): 74 occupations

Thomas and Margaret Harrell reported the scores of 18,782 white enlisted men in the Army Air Forces Air Service Command, grouped by the job they held before the war. The table appeared in Educational and Psychological Measurement; we checked it against a scan of the 1945 issue. The authors were open about its limits. Many of the best professionals may have become officers rather than enlisted men, so "averages among the professional occupations are too low". The Air Forces also received fewer low scorers than other branches, so the lowest-scoring jobs probably look higher than they should. The published figures cover white enlisted men only, which further narrows who they describe.

Stewart (1947): 227 occupations

Naomi Stewart, working with the Army's Personnel Research Section, analysed a 2% sample of all Army personnel taken on 30 June 1944. After removing officers, who had no AGCT scores, and miscoded records, she reported 227 occupations held by 81,553 white enlisted men. She limited the study to that group because other groups were too small in most occupations. Her report ran to 37 pages of Occupations in October 1947. She cautioned that some groups "may still be contaminated by punching errors" in the Army's punched-card records.

Hauser (2002): the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Robert Hauser of the University of Wisconsin looked at a very different kind of sample: people who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957, plus a random group of their brothers and sisters. Their Henmon-Nelson test scores, taken mostly in their junior year, were put on an IQ-style scale, then linked to the jobs they held in their first job, in the mid-1970s and in the early 1990s. His working paper plots percentiles for 62 to 65 occupation groups, but only as bars without printed numbers, so we have not turned them into a table. What he does print is telling. The correlation between occupation and test score was "no more than moderate", at 0.39 to 0.44. Among men's first jobs, average scores by occupation group ran from 92.4 to 118.7, and the spread within a typical group was almost as large as the spread in the whole sample.

Wonderlic data

Many online lists quote median Wonderlic Personnel Test scores by job title. We could not obtain any Wonderlic manual or normative report to check those figures, so we do not use them. The psychologist Linda Gottfredson summarised the 1992 Wonderlic manual in her 1997 paper "Why g matters". Her own summary supports the point about spread: "the middle 50% of applicants to a job generally covers a range of 15 to 20 IQ points". Those were job applicants, not people already in post, tested by employers who chose to use the test.

What modern data shows

The Army tables are old, and the jobs and the people in them have changed. The best modern evidence comes from Sweden, where almost all young men once took a military enlistment test at about 18. Researchers can link those results to what the same men did decades later. The cognitive part of the test is scored on a 1 to 9 "stanine" scale, where 5 covers the middle 20% of test takers and 9 the top 4%.

Doctors score highest. In Swedish data for 2011 analysed by Dal Bó and colleagues, medical doctors averaged 7.4 on the cognitive scale, against 5.1 for the population. Lawyers and judges averaged 6.8, academic economists 7.0 and political scientists 6.8.
Engineers and lawyers are close behind. A separate study of about 1.3 million Swedish men by Adams, Keloharju and Knüpfer found average scores of 7.49 for physicians, 7.11 for engineers, 6.66 for lawyers and 6.32 for finance professionals, against 5.15 for the population.
Bosses are bright, but not the brightest. In the same study, the median chief executive of a large company was above 83% of the population in cognitive ability, which also means 17% of men scored higher. Fewer than one in five large-company CEOs were in the top 5%. What set CEOs apart most was a combination of traits, including the non-cognitive rating from a psychologist's interview at enlistment.
Politicians are above average. Swedish members of parliament averaged 6.4 on the cognitive scale and mayors 6.2, similar to the heads of mid-sized companies.

These studies cover men only, because only men were routinely tested, and one country. They report averages, not cut-offs. They also measure ability at 18, years before people chose and settled into their jobs.

Group (Swedish men)	Average cognitive stanine (1 to 9)	Source
Physicians	7.49	Adams et al. 2018
CEOs, >10 billion SEK	7.16	Adams et al. 2018
Engineers	7.11	Adams et al. 2018
CEOs, 1 to 10 billion SEK	6.84	Adams et al. 2018
Lawyers	6.66	Adams et al. 2018
CEOs, 100 million to 1 billion SEK	6.6	Adams et al. 2018
Finance professionals	6.32	Adams et al. 2018
CEOs, firm assets <100 million SEK	6.02	Adams et al. 2018
Population	5.15	Adams et al. 2018
Medical doctors	7.4	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Economists (academic)	7	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Lawyers and judges	6.8	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Political scientists (academic)	6.8	Dal Bó et al. 2017
CEOs (250+ employees)	6.7	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Parliamentarians	6.4	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Mayors	6.2	Dal Bó et al. 2017
CEOs (25-249 employees)	6.2	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Municipal councillors	5.9	Dal Bó et al. 2017
CEOs (10-24 employees)	5.8	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Nominated to municipal council	5.5	Dal Bó et al. 2017
Population (men born 1951 to 1980)	5.1	Dal Bó et al. 2017

Stanines as published, not converted to IQ: 5 is the middle 20% of test takers and 9 the top 4%. Adams, Keloharju and Knüpfer (2018), Table 1; Dal Bó and others (2017), NBER Working Paper 23120, Tables 1 and 2.

Does IQ decide which job you can do?

Not in the way the tables are often read. Harrell and Harrell drew a cautious conclusion: "a certain minimum of intelligence is required for any one of many occupations", but someone "may have high intelligence and be found in a lowly occupation because he lacks other qualifications than intelligence". Stewart went further. She said the test could "by itself, furnish no positive guidance toward any one occupation", and that for counselling, where a person stands within the range of a job matters more than the bare score.

Hauser questioned even the idea of a hard floor. He pointed out that the AGCT was designed mainly to separate people at the lower end of ability, that very high scorers were often made officers, and that wartime Army demand for clerks may have pushed some clerical jobs up the list. The pattern is real, but its causes include education, training, family circumstances and the way people are selected into jobs, not only raw ability.

Today, entry to most professions is controlled by qualifications, licensing and experience rather than by an IQ score. Those things are linked to measured ability, but they also reflect effort, money, time and chance.

IQ and doing the job well

Getting into a job and doing it well are different questions. For years, the standard estimate for how well ability tests predict job performance was 0.51, from a 1998 review. A 2022 re-analysis cut that to 0.31, below structured interviews. We explain both figures, and what a correlation of that size means for one person, on our page about an IQ of 107 and job performance. Either way, skills, experience and fit with the work account for most of the difference between people.

IQ, pay and the top

Ability tests predict the status of a job better than they predict what it pays. A 2007 meta-analysis of long-term studies found intelligence correlated about 0.43 with occupational status but only about 0.20 with income; we cover it under what an IQ of 114 predicts. Swedish register data show average ability levelling off among the best-paid earners, as we describe for an IQ of 126. In a US study of more than 7,000 people, scores tracked income but not wealth, a story told under IQ 105. And one study of managers found colleagues rated leaders most highly at an IQ of about 120, explained on our IQ 118 page.

What a score of 120 means for careers

People searching for "jobs for an IQ of 120" usually want to know whether a score like that opens or closes doors. On modern IQ scales, 120 is higher than about 91% of people, as our IQ 120 page explains. Here is how it compares with the job data:

Wisconsin: among men's first jobs, the highest average score for any occupation group in Hauser's data was 118.7, on a scale built to read like IQ. A score of 120 is above the average of every group.
Sweden: a score above about 91% of people falls in stanine 8, the band Dal Bó and colleagues assign to the 7% of test takers just below the top 4%. No occupation in either Swedish table averaged as high as 8; doctors came closest at 7.4 and 7.49.
Everywhere: every job in these studies included people well above and well below 120.

So an IQ of 120 is not a barrier to any job in these studies, and it does not point to any particular one. It suggests you are likely to find the reasoning side of demanding study and complex work manageable. Interest, training, persistence and opportunity decide far more about where you end up. Our guide to what counts as a good IQ score puts 120 in wider context.

What this means for you

Job-by-job IQ tables are interesting history and a fair picture of how groups differ on average. They are a poor guide to your own choices. A few points keep them in proportion:

Look at the range, not the middle. In every occupation we could check, people scored across a wide band, and the bands overlapped.
Check the source. A list that gives one IQ per job with no study, sample, year or test behind it is not data.
Remember the age of the data. The classic tables describe men tested in the 1940s, using a test with its own scale, and the jobs have changed since.
Weigh everything else. Skills, training, interest, health and opportunity matter at least as much as a test score.

If you are curious where your own reasoning sits, you can take our free IQ test and use the IQ percentile calculator to see what the result means. Our guide to what IQ measures explains what a score can and cannot tell you.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average IQ of a doctor?

No study gives doctors an IQ score as such. The best modern figure comes from Swedish military enlistment tests taken at about 18: in 2011 data, medical doctors averaged 7.4 on a 1 to 9 scale, against 5.1 for the population, the highest of any group compared. A second Swedish study found 7.49 for physicians. Both cover men only, and individual doctors vary widely.

What is the average IQ of a lawyer?

In a 1945 study of 18,782 US Army Air Forces enlisted men, 94 former lawyers had a mean Army General Classification Test score of 127.6, the second highest of 74 jobs. That test used a scale with a standard deviation of 20, not 15, so it is not an IQ. Their scores ranged from 96 to 157. Swedish data from 2011 put lawyers and judges at 6.8 on a 1 to 9 scale.

What is the average IQ of an engineer?

Only small or indirect figures exist. In the 1945 Army study by Harrell and Harrell, 39 former engineers had a mean Army test score of 126.6, on a scale where 20 points made one standard deviation. A Swedish study published in 2018 found engineers averaged 7.11 on the 1 to 9 enlistment scale, against 5.15 for all men. Neither figure is an IQ, and both hide a wide spread.

What is the average IQ of a teacher?

In the 1945 US Army study, 256 former teachers had a mean Army General Classification Test score of 122.8, with individual scores from 76 to 155. Stewart's 1947 analysis of 360 teachers found a median of 124, with the middle half between 117 and 132. These were men tested in wartime on the Army's own scale, so they are not IQ scores for today's teachers.

What is the average IQ of an accountant?

Accountants topped both large Army tables from the 1940s. Harrell and Harrell found a mean Army test score of 128.1 for 172 former accountants in 1945, and Stewart's 1947 report gave 216 accountants a median of 129. The Army scale had a standard deviation of 20, so these are not IQ scores. Even so, 10% of the accountants scored 114 or lower.

Which jobs have the highest average IQ?

In 1940s US Army data, accountants, lawyers, engineers, auditors, chemists, reporters and teachers had the highest average test scores. In modern Swedish data on men tested at 18, medical doctors score highest in both major studies, with engineers, academic economists and lawyers also well above average. Rankings depend on the sample and test, and the spread within each job is far larger than the gaps between neighbouring jobs.

Which careers fit an IQ of 120?

Almost any. An IQ of 120 is higher than about 91% of people. In Wisconsin data, it is above the average for every occupation group studied, and in Swedish data it is above the average for every profession, including doctors. That does not point you to a particular job. Interests, skills, training and opportunity matter much more than the score when choosing a career.

Do you need a high IQ to be a doctor?

No particular IQ is required. Entry to medicine depends on qualifications, exams and training. Doctors do score above average on reasoning tests: in Swedish data, they averaged 7.4 on a 1 to 9 scale, the highest group compared. But that is an average, and doctors' scores spread widely. Persistence, communication and judgement matter a great deal in medical training and practice.

Is IQ the best predictor of job success?

Probably not. A 1998 review put the link between ability tests and job performance at 0.51, but a 2022 re-analysis lowered it to 0.31, below structured interviews at 0.42. Ability helps, especially for learning complex work, yet experience, skills, effort and fit with the job explain most of the differences between people doing the same work.

Do people in the same job have similar IQs?

Not very. In a 1944 Army sample of 81,553 men, the middle 80% of accountants scored between 114 and 143, and of labourers between 65 and 119, so the groups overlapped heavily. A 1997 summary of Wonderlic applicant data found the middle half of applicants to a job usually spans 15 to 20 IQ points.

Sources

Harrell, T. W. and Harrell, M. S. (1945). Army General Classification Test scores for civilian occupations. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 5(3), 229 to 239. Table 1, pp. 231 to 232. Scanned issue via Internet Archive.
Stewart, N. (1947). A.G.C.T. scores of Army personnel grouped by occupation. Occupations: The Vocational Guidance Journal, 26(1), 5 to 41. Table I, pp. 9 to 17; AGCT scale, p. 6. Scanned issue via Internet Archive.
War Department, Personnel Procedures Section (1941). Manual for the General Classification Tests, Forms 1c and 1d. National Library of Medicine digital collections: standard score scale, p. 1.
Hauser, R. M. (2002). Meritocracy, cognitive ability, and the sources of occupational success. CDE Working Paper 98-07, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison: pp. 28 to 30, 35 to 38, Table 1 and Figures 7 to 12.
Gottfredson, L. S. (1997). Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life. Intelligence, 24(1), 79 to 132: p. 87 and Figure 1, summarising the 1992 Wonderlic user's manual.
Adams, R., Keloharju, M. and Knüpfer, S. (2018). Are CEOs born leaders? Lessons from traits of a million individuals. Journal of Financial Economics, 130(2), 392 to 408: Table 1, p. 397, and p. 399.
Dal Bó, E., Finan, F., Folke, O., Persson, T. and Rickne, J. (2017). Who becomes a politician? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(4), 1877 to 1914. Figures from NBER Working Paper 23120, Tables 1 and 2, pp. 37 to 38.
Schmidt, F. L. and Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262 to 274.
Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M. and Lievens, F. (2022). Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11), 2040 to 2068.
Strenze, T. (2007). Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research. Intelligence, 35(5), 401 to 426.
Keuschnigg, M., van de Rijt, A. and Bol, T. (2023). The plateauing of cognitive ability among top earners. European Sociological Review.
Zagorsky, J. L. (2007). Do you have to be smart to be rich? The impact of IQ on wealth, income and financial distress. Intelligence, 35(5), 489 to 501.
Antonakis, J., House, R. J. and Simonton, D. K. (2017). Can super smart leaders suffer from too much of a good thing? The curvilinear effect of intelligence on perceived leadership behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(7), 1003 to 1021.

Where does your own reasoning sit?

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