What does a 105 IQ mean?
Yes. An IQ of 105 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 105 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 105 is 5 points above the average of 100, or 0.33 standard deviations. It is higher than about 63% 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 105 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 108 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 105 meaning: a closer look
At 105, you are one third of a standard deviation above average and higher than about 63% of people. The likely range on a professional test, about 100 to 110, just touches the bottom of the high average band. That makes 105 a good example of a score that could be labelled differently on another day, even though the underlying ability is the same. For everyday purposes, 105 is an above-middle average score, typical of many people at work and in education.
Does a 105 IQ mean a bigger salary? What the income data show
A 2007 study in Intelligence followed 7,403 Americans born between 1957 and 1964, part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. After holding other factors constant, each extra IQ point was linked to between $234 and $616 more income a year. Wealth told a different story: the study found "no statistically distinguishable relationship" between IQ scores and net worth. Money trouble, such as maxed-out credit cards, missed bills or bankruptcy, did not fall steadily as scores rose. The pattern was curved, so higher scores sometimes went with more financial difficulty.
The study's own table of medians shows how loose the link is. People scoring around 105 had a median 2004 income of $40,628 and median net worth of $83,918, while the group around 110 had a lower median net worth of $71,445. These are averages across thousands of people, and IQ was estimated from a military aptitude test. An IQ of 105 is linked with slightly above-average pay on average, but saving, spending, career choices and circumstances decide far more about whether someone builds wealth.
Source: 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.
For average test scores job by job, from the original studies, see our page on IQ by profession.
What 105 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, about 63 would score lower than 105 and about 37 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 105?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 105 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 100 to 110. That range runs from the 50th to the 75th percentile, and it crosses from average into high average.
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, 105 is the score for 20 correct answers out of 36. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 105 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 100 to 110. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 105 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 105 would have meant for children of different ages: working ahead of their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 105 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 5 years 3 months |
| 7 | 7 years 4 months |
| 9 | 9 years 5 months |
| 11 | 11 years 7 months |
| 13 | 13 years 8 months |
The same 105 stands for a gap of about 3 months at age 5 but 8 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 105 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 105 is from other levels
How 105 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | 37th | Average | 63% |
| 100 | 50th | Average | 1 in 2 |
| 105 | 63rd | Average | 1 in 3 |
| 110 | 75th | High average | 1 in 4 |
| 115 | 84th | High average | 1 in 6 |
Questions about an IQ of 105
What percentile is an IQ of 105?
An IQ of 105 is at about the 63rd percentile, which means it is higher than about 63% of people of the same age.
Is 105 a high IQ?
No. 105 is in the average range. High IQ usually refers to scores of 120 or 130 and above.
Can an IQ of 105 get into Mensa?
Not on its own. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is usually 130 or above. 105 is 25 points below that.
How common is an IQ of 105 or higher?
About 37% of people score 105 or higher, roughly 1 in 3. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 18,500 would score at this level or above.
Will an IQ of 105 make me rich?
Not by itself. In a study of 7,403 Americans, each extra IQ point was linked to $234 to $616 more income a year, but the study found no clear link between IQ and total wealth. Saving, spending, career choices and circumstances matter far more for building wealth than a few points either side of 105.
What mental age is an IQ of 105?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 105 would perform like a typical child of about 9 years 5 months, roughly 5 months ahead. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 105 simply did better than most adults of the same age on the test.
Is 105 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 105?
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 105 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.
A full IQ score of 105 combines several skills. Our guides explain each one: fluid vs crystallized intelligence, abstract reasoning, spatial reasoning, verbal reasoning and processing speed, 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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