Is an IQ of 135 in the top 1%?
Yes. An IQ of 135 is in the very superior range, the top 2% or so of the population. It meets the usual entry level for Mensa on a supervised test.
Where 135 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 135 is 35 points above the average of 100, or 2.33 standard deviations. It is higher than about 99% of people of the same age, shown by the shaded area below. Past 130 the curve is almost flat against the axis: only about 2 people in 100 reach this far.
On other IQ scales, the same result would be about 137 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 156 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 135 meaning: a closer look
An IQ of 135 is higher than about 99% of people, which puts it right around the top 1%. Roughly one person in 100 scores this high or above. It is also five points above the usual Mensa level, so a supervised result of 135 would meet that requirement with some room to spare. In a stadium of 50,000, about 500 people would score 135 or higher. At this level, small differences in the number are far less meaningful than they look.
Inside the top 1%: Intertel's 135 and what a 25-year study found
Intertel, a high-IQ society founded in 1966, has one entry rule: a score "at or above the 99th percentile" on a supervised test. Its list of qualifying scores turns that into a full-scale IQ of 135 on the Wechsler scales or the Stanford-Binet 5. The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth shows how much variety sits inside the top 1%. A 2010 review followed 2,385 young people who scored in the top 1% for maths reasoning by age 13. After 25 years or more, 15.4% of the lowest quarter had earned a doctorate, against 33.2% of the highest quarter.
So an IQ of 135 sits right where the top 1% begins, and a supervised result meets Intertel's published bar. The study adds a useful point: the top 1% is not one single level. Its highest quarter also had about 6 times the odds of holding a patent compared with its lowest quarter. These are group averages from a maths-selected sample, not a forecast for any one person with a 135 IQ. Within the group, abilities, interests and life choices all helped shape who reached each outcome.
Sources: Intertel, "Join us": qualifying scores; Robertson, Smeets, Lubinski and Benbow (2010), "Beyond the threshold hypothesis", Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(6), 346 to 351.
What 135 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, about 99 would score lower than 135 and about 1 would score the same or higher. The orange dot marks your place in the line.
In a room of 100 people, typically only about 2 would score 130 or higher.
How precise is a score of 135?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 135 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 130 to 140. That range runs from the 98th to the 99.6th percentile, all within the very superior range.
Scores this high are rare, so tests have fewer people to compare you with and become less precise. Two good tests can disagree by more than they would near 100.
On the Assessivo test, 135 is the score for 32 correct answers out of 36. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 135 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 130 to 140. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 135 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 135 would have meant for children of different ages: working ahead of their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 135 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 6 years 9 months |
| 7 | 9 years 5 months |
| 9 | 12 years 2 months |
| 11 | 14 years 10 months |
| 13 | 17 years 7 months |
The same 135 stands for a gap of about 1 year 9 months at age 5 but 4 years 7 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 135 means for you
It sits near the bottom of the very superior band, which runs from 130 to 145.
- You likely find abstract reasoning, patterns and complex problems easier than almost everyone around you.
- This is the level many schools and societies use as a benchmark, such as Mensa's top 2%.
- A high score doesn't measure creativity, emotional understanding or persistence, which matter just as much.
How far 135 is from other levels
Famous names reported near 135
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 135 on a test compiled by Hans Eysenck, given by Der Spiegel in Baku in 1987. Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices in the same session gave 123, a 12-point gap the magazine called normal for IQ tests.
Tested score · Der Spiegel, "Genieblitze und Blackouts" (1987)Rated by psychologist Catharine Cox in 1926 from records of his early life: about 125 for childhood (to age 17) and 135 for ages 17 to 26. Estimates like these are rough, and he never took an IQ test.
Published estimate, not a test · Cox, Genetic Studies of Genius, Vol. II (1926)How 135 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | 95th | Superior | 1 in 21 |
| 130 | 98th | Very superior | 1 in 44 |
| 135 | 99th | Very superior | 1 in 102 |
| 140 | 99.6th | Very superior | 1 in 261 |
| 145 | 99.8th | Very superior | 1 in 741 |
Questions about an IQ of 135
What percentile is an IQ of 135?
An IQ of 135 is at about the 99th percentile, which means it is higher than about 99% of people of the same age.
Is 135 a high IQ?
Yes. 135 is a high IQ by any common definition, in the top one percent of the population.
Can an IQ of 135 get into Mensa?
On most tests, yes. Mensa accepts people who score in the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is 130 or above on tests that use a standard deviation of 15. Online test scores are not accepted.
How common is an IQ of 135 or higher?
About 0.98% of people score 135 or higher, roughly 1 in 102. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 491 would score at this level or above.
Can a 135 IQ get you into Intertel?
Yes, if the 135 comes from a supervised, full-length professional test. Intertel admits people at or above the 99th percentile, which it lists as a full-scale IQ of 135 on the Wechsler scales and the Stanford-Binet 5. It does not accept self-administered tests, abbreviated tests, website screenshots or rounded-up percentiles, so an online 135 would need confirming with a psychologist first.
What mental age is an IQ of 135?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 135 would perform like a typical child of about 12 years 2 months, roughly 38 months ahead. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 135 simply did better than most adults of the same age on the test.
Should I take a professional test with a score of 135?
If you want an official result, for example to join Mensa or for a school programme, yes: only an approved test given under supervision counts. A psychologist can give one, and Mensa runs its own supervised testing sessions.
Is 135 a gifted IQ?
Often, yes. There is no single definition, but 130, two standard deviations above average, is a common benchmark for giftedness. Schools also look at more than one score.
Is an IQ of 135 genius?
No test uses the word genius. In everyday use people usually mean 140 or more, but the label says little: real achievement depends on much more than a score.
Our guide to what counts as a good IQ score covers the high-IQ societies, Mensa IQ requirements lists the qualifying score on each test, and IQ of famous people shows where well-known names really stand. Every score range is in the IQ range chart.
A full IQ score of 135 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.
Famous names are often linked to scores like 135, with or without a source. We checked the evidence behind Terence Tao's IQ, Einstein's IQ, Isaac Newton's IQ, Nikola Tesla's IQ, Stephen Hawking's IQ, Bill Gates' IQ, Elon Musk's IQ and Garry Kasparov's IQ.
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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