What does an IQ of 124 say?
Yes. An IQ of 124 is in the superior range, called very high on current children's tests. It is well above average and higher than about 9 in 10 people.
Where 124 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 124 is 24 points above the average of 100, or 1.6 standard deviations. It is higher than about 95% of people of the same age, shown by the shaded area below. This is the thinning right shoulder of the curve, where only about 1 person in 15 scores in the whole 120 to 129 band.
On other IQ scales, the same result would be about 126 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 138 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 124 meaning: a closer look
An IQ of 124 is higher than about 95% of people, placing it in the top 5 or 6%. Roughly one in eighteen people score this high or higher. It is a strong superior score, six points below the 130 level. The likely range on a professional test, about 119 to 129, sits almost entirely within the superior band. Scores like this commonly come with clear strengths in pattern-finding or abstract reasoning, which you can see by looking at your results by area.
Fitness at 18 and a 124 IQ: what 1.2 million Swedish conscripts show
A 2009 study in PNAS looked at all Swedish men born from 1950 to 1976 who enlisted for military service at 18, a cohort of 1,221,727. Cardiovascular fitness, measured on an exercise bike, was positively linked to intelligence scores after adjusting for confounders, and similar results held within identical twin pairs. Muscle strength showed no link. Individual, non-shared environmental influences explained 80% or more of the overlap, with heritability under 15%. Fitness gains between ages 15 and 18 also predicted better scores at 18.
For a young adult with an IQ of 124, the finding is encouraging but limited. It is observational: fitter teenagers scored higher, but the study cannot prove that exercise raised anyone's IQ, and it included only men. The authors argued that exercise could be a useful public health tool for education and cognitive performance. A 124 IQ reflects many influences, and staying active has clear health benefits whatever your score, but nobody should expect a set number of extra points from training.
Source: Åberg, M. A., Pedersen, N. L., Torén, K. et al. (2009), "Cardiovascular fitness is associated with cognition in young adulthood", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(49), 20906-20911.
What 124 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, about 95 would score lower than 124 and about 5 would score the same or higher. The orange dot marks your place in the line.
In most groups of a few dozen people, a score like this would be among the highest.
How precise is a score of 124?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 124 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 119 to 129. That range runs from the 90th to the 97th percentile, and it crosses from high average into superior.
At this level, a single test can place you a few points either side of a line that some people care about, such as 130. A full professional test, or a retest, is the only way to know which side you are on.
On the Assessivo test, each correct answer is worth about 2.5 points, so 124 falls between two possible results: 123 for 27 correct answers and 125 for 28. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 124 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 119 to 129. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 124 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 124 would have meant for children of different ages: working ahead of their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 124 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 6 years 2 months |
| 7 | 8 years 8 months |
| 9 | 11 years 2 months |
| 11 | 13 years 8 months |
| 13 | 16 years 1 month |
The same 124 stands for a gap of about 1 year 2 months at age 5 but 3 years 1 month 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 124 means for you
It sits in the middle of the superior band, which runs from 120 to 129.
- You likely solve unfamiliar problems quickly and handle complex, abstract information well.
- Demanding academic and technical work often suits people in this range, although many other qualities decide success.
- It is below the 130 level that Mensa usually requires, but within reach of it on a good day or a different test.
How far 124 is from other levels
Famous names reported near 124
Very few famous people have published IQ scores, and most numbers online are invented. These are the ones with a documented report or a published estimate. Each is labelled so you can see what kind of figure it is.
Scored 123 on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, given by Der Spiegel in Baku in 1987, and 135 on a test compiled by Hans Eysenck in the same session, a reminder that one person can score quite differently on two tests.
Tested score · Der Spiegel, "Genieblitze und Blackouts" (1987)How 124 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 114 | 82nd | High average | 1 in 6 |
| 119 | 90th | High average | 1 in 10 |
| 124 | 95th | Superior | 1 in 18 |
| 129 | 97th | Superior | 1 in 38 |
| 134 | 99th | Very superior | 1 in 85 |
Questions about an IQ of 124
What percentile is an IQ of 124?
An IQ of 124 is at about the 95th percentile, which means it is higher than about 95% of people of the same age.
Is 124 a high IQ?
It is well above average. Most definitions reserve "high IQ" for 130 and above, but 124 is higher than about 95% of people.
Can an IQ of 124 get into Mensa?
Not on its own. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is usually 130 or above. 124 is 6 points below that.
How common is an IQ of 124 or higher?
About 5% of people score 124 or higher, roughly 1 in 18. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 2,740 would score at this level or above.
Is physical fitness linked to a 124 IQ?
Somewhat, on average. A study of more than 1.2 million Swedish men found that cardiovascular fitness at 18 went with higher intelligence scores, even within identical twin pairs, while muscle strength did not. The data were observational, so they cannot show that exercise adds IQ points, but staying fit has clear health benefits at any score.
What mental age is an IQ of 124?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 124 would perform like a typical child of about 11 years 2 months, roughly 26 months ahead. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 124 simply did better than most adults of the same age on the test.
Is an IQ of 124 very high?
It is high: higher than about 9 in 10 people. Current children's tests label 120 to 129 very high. Most people reserve "very high" or "gifted" for 130 and above.
Can an IQ of 124 change?
A measured score can move a few points between tests because of measurement error and practice, so a result in the 120s on one test may come out higher or lower on another. Large, lasting changes are uncommon in adults, whose scores are usually stable over many years.
Is 124 good for a scientist or engineer?
It is a strong score for demanding technical work, but there is no IQ requirement for any profession. Training, persistence and curiosity matter at least as much.
See where 130 and the other benchmarks sit in what is a good IQ score?, and what higher scores do and don't predict in what IQ is. Average scores by occupation are on our IQ by profession page. Every score range is in the IQ range chart.
Behind a single score of 124 sit several separate abilities. Read 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.
Take the free IQ test