Is a 104 IQ above average?
Yes. An IQ of 104 is in the average range, at or just above the exact middle of the population. You score at least as high as about half of people your age, a solid result for school, work and everyday life.
Where 104 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 104 is 4 points above the average of 100, or 0.27 standard deviations. It is higher than about 61% of people of the same age, shown by the shaded area below. This is the peak of the bell curve, where more people score than anywhere else.
On other IQ scales, the same result would be about 104 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 106 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 104 meaning: a closer look
An IQ of 104 is higher than about 60% of people, so in a room of 100 roughly 60 would score lower. It sits comfortably inside the average range and six points below where high average begins. One interesting point: because each IQ test uses its own questions and its own comparison group, a person scoring 104 on one test might score 99 or 109 on another without anything being wrong. Treat 104 as a solid average score rather than a precise rank.
Do bigger brains mean higher IQs? A modest link, not a measure
Scientists have suspected a link between brain size and intelligence for more than 150 years, and MRI scans now let it be measured directly. Pietschnig and colleagues (2015) pooled 88 studies covering 148 samples and more than 8,000 people. They found a reliable positive correlation between brain volume and IQ of r = .24, meaning brain volume accounts for only about 6% of the differences in IQ between people. The link held for children and adults, for verbal and performance IQ, and for both sexes, but earlier studies had overstated it because small or null results often went unreported.
For someone with an IQ of 104, the practical message is simple: brain size says very little about any individual. With a correlation of .24, many people with larger brains score lower than many with smaller ones. The authors concluded that brain size should not be treated as a direct stand-in for intelligence differences. A head measurement or a scan of brain volume cannot tell you that you have a 104; a properly normed test of reasoning, memory and knowledge is still the better guide.
Source: Pietschnig, Penke, Wicherts, Zeiler and Voracek (2015), "Meta-analysis of associations between human brain volume and intelligence differences: how strong are they and what do they mean?", Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 57, 411-432.
What 104 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, about 61 would score lower than 104 and about 39 would score the same or higher. The orange dot marks your place in the line.
A score here puts you in the middle of almost any group: about as many people score above you as below.
How precise is a score of 104?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 104 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 99 to 109. That range runs from the 47th to the 73rd percentile, all within the average range.
Because this is the most crowded part of the scale, a retest could easily move you a few places either side of the middle without anything having changed.
On the Assessivo test, each correct answer is worth about 2.5 points, so 104 falls between two possible results: 103 for 19 correct answers and 105 for 20. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 104 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 99 to 109. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 104 and mental age in children
Early IQ tests for children worked with a "mental age", the age whose typical performance a child matched. The IQ was that mental age divided by the child's real age, times 100. Turned around, the formula shows what a score of 104 would have meant for children of different ages: working ahead of their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 104 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 5 years 2 months |
| 7 | 7 years 3 months |
| 9 | 9 years 4 months |
| 11 | 11 years 5 months |
| 13 | 13 years 6 months |
The same 104 stands for a gap of about 2 months at age 5 but 6 months at 13, because the formula scales with age. That is one reason it broke down for teenagers and adults, whose test performance stops rising every year. Today's tests compare you with people of the same age instead, so a mental age is only a way to picture a child's score, never a description of an adult.
What an IQ of 104 means for you
It sits near the top of the average band, which runs from 90 to 109.
- You reason at least as well as the typical person your age on new problems.
- Almost any course or career is open at this level; what you learn and practise matters much more.
- The upper part of this range is close to high average, and practice or a different test could tip it over 110.
How far 104 is from other levels
How 104 compares with nearby scores
Want a score that isn't listed, or the share of people between two scores? Try the IQ calculator.
| IQ | Percentile | Classification | Score this high or higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 34th | Average | 66% |
| 99 | 47th | Average | 53% |
| 104 | 61st | Average | 1 in 3 |
| 109 | 73rd | Average | 1 in 4 |
| 114 | 82nd | High average | 1 in 6 |
Questions about an IQ of 104
What percentile is an IQ of 104?
An IQ of 104 is at about the 61st percentile, which means it is higher than about 61% of people of the same age.
Is 104 a high IQ?
No. 104 is in the average range. High IQ usually refers to scores of 120 or 130 and above.
Can an IQ of 104 get into Mensa?
Not on its own. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is usually 130 or above. 104 is 26 points below that.
How common is an IQ of 104 or higher?
About 39% of people score 104 or higher, roughly 1 in 3. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 19,700 would score at this level or above.
Does a 104 IQ mean you have a bigger brain?
Not necessarily. A 2015 meta-analysis of 88 studies and over 8,000 people found that brain volume and IQ correlate at about .24, so brain size explains roughly 6% of IQ differences. Many people with smaller brains outscore people with larger ones. Your 104 says nothing reliable about your brain size.
What mental age is an IQ of 104?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 104 would perform like a typical child of about 9 years 4 months, roughly 4 months ahead. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 104 simply did better than most adults of the same age on the test.
Is 104 above average?
Slightly above the exact middle of 100, but still inside the average range of 90 to 109, so it is described as average, not above average.
What is the difference between an IQ of 100 and 104?
A small one. Both are in the average range, and with a professional test's margin of about five points either way, their likely ranges overlap.
Is an IQ of 104 good for a student?
Yes. It is right in the middle of the population, and school results depend at least as much on effort, teaching and interest as on IQ.
See how the middle of the scale is set in our guide to average IQ, or what a good score looks like in what is a good IQ score?. To see how averages differ between countries, read IQ by country. Every score range is in the IQ range chart.
An IQ test arrives at a score like 104 by combining several kinds of task. Learn more about processing speed, fluid vs crystallized intelligence, abstract reasoning, spatial reasoning and verbal reasoning, or try the free pattern recognition test.
What would you score?
Take the free Assessivo IQ test: 36 questions, 25 minutes, and your estimated IQ score and percentile as soon as you finish.
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