Is 139 a smart IQ?
Yes. An IQ of 139 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 139 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 139 is 39 points above the average of 100, or 2.6 standard deviations. It is higher than about 99.5% 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 142 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 162 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 139 meaning: a closer look
An IQ of 139 is higher than about 99.5% of people, about one in 215 scoring at this level or above. One point below 140, it is a very superior score. In a school of 1,000 pupils, around four or five would be expected to score this high. Because so few people score in this area, a professional report would treat 139 and 141 as essentially the same result.
Practice or talent? What 88 studies say about getting good
Is expert skill mostly a matter of practice? A 2014 meta-analysis by Brooke Macnamara, David Hambrick and Frederick Oswald pooled 88 studies with 11,135 participants. Using the figures in their 2018 correction, deliberate practice explained about 14% of the differences in performance overall: 24% in games such as chess, 23% in music, 20% in sports, 5% in education and just 1% in professional work. The authors suggest other factors, such as starting age, general intelligence and working memory, may explain some of the rest.
For someone with a 139 IQ, the finding cuts both ways. High reasoning ability does not make practice unnecessary: in music, games and sport, focused practice still accounted for around a fifth or more of the differences between people. But practice alone does not explain most of the gap either, and in professional work it explained very little. In the authors' words, deliberate practice "is important, but not as important as has been argued." An IQ of 139 is one ingredient among several, alongside effort, interest and opportunity.
Sources: Macnamara, Hambrick and Oswald (2014), "Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: A meta-analysis", Psychological Science, 25(8), 1608 to 1618; Corrigendum (2018), Psychological Science, 29(7), 1202 to 1204.
What 139 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, all or nearly all of them would score lower than 139. You would need a group of about 215 people to expect one person scoring this high 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 139?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 139 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 134 to 144. That range runs from the 99th to the 99.8th 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, each correct answer is worth about 2.5 points, so 139 falls between two possible results: 138 for 33 correct answers and 140 for 34. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 139 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 134 to 144. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 139 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 139 would have meant for children of different ages: working ahead of their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 139 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 6 years 11 months |
| 7 | 9 years 9 months |
| 9 | 12 years 6 months |
| 11 | 15 years 3 months |
| 13 | 18 years 1 month |
The same 139 stands for a gap of about 1 year 11 months at age 5 but 5 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 139 means for you
It sits in the middle 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 139 is from other levels
Famous names reported near 139
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.
Rated by psychologist Catharine Cox in 1926 from records of his early life: about 135 for childhood (to age 17) and 140 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)Rated by psychologist Catharine Cox in 1926 from records of his early life: about 135 for childhood (to age 17) and 140 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)Rated by psychologist Catharine Cox in 1926 from records of his early life: about 125 for childhood (to age 17) and 140 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 139 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 129 | 97th | Superior | 1 in 38 |
| 134 | 99th | Very superior | 1 in 85 |
| 139 | 99.5th | Very superior | 1 in 215 |
| 144 | 99.8th | Very superior | 1 in 596 |
| 149 | 99.9th | Very superior | 1 in 1,838 |
Questions about an IQ of 139
What percentile is an IQ of 139?
An IQ of 139 is at about the 99.5th percentile, which means it is higher than about 99.5% of people of the same age.
Is 139 a high IQ?
Yes. 139 is a high IQ by any common definition, in the top one percent of the population.
Can an IQ of 139 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 139 or higher?
About 0.47% of people score 139 or higher, roughly 1 in 215. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 233 would score at this level or above.
Can a 139 IQ make up for less practice?
Only partly. A large meta-analysis found that deliberate practice explained about 20% to 24% of skill differences in games, music and sport, and much less in education and jobs. Other factors, likely including general ability, explain much of the rest, but people with a 139 IQ still need many hours of focused practice to perform at a high level in skills such as chess or an instrument.
What mental age is an IQ of 139?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 139 would perform like a typical child of about 12 years 6 months, roughly 42 months ahead. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 139 simply did better than most adults of the same age on the test.
Should I take a professional test with a score of 139?
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 139 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 139 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.
Behind a single score of 139 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.
Curious which celebrity IQs near 139 hold up? Read the full stories of Stephen Hawking's IQ, Bill Gates' IQ, Elon Musk's IQ, Garry Kasparov's IQ, Terence Tao's IQ, Einstein's IQ, Isaac Newton's IQ and Nikola Tesla'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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