Isaac NewtonPhysicist and mathematician
Cox rated him 170 for ages 17 to 26, 2 points above 168. Cox's childhood rating for him was 130.
IQ 168: rarity and what helps
An IQ of 168 is higher than about 99.9997% of people, roughly 1 in 344,471. For a child scoring this high, the most useful research is not about the number but about what schools did next, from a study that followed 60 young Australians with IQs of 160 or more for 20 years.
99.9997thpercentile
1 in 344,471score 168 or higher
Exceptionally giftedlevel of giftedness
168IQ scoreTop 0.00029%
Where 168 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 168 is 68 points above the average of 100, or 4.53 standard deviations. That is so far into the right-hand tail of the bell curve that the people scoring this high barely show up: about 0.00029% of the population, the orange sliver below.
About 23,800 people worldwide would be expected at 168 or above, fewer than the population of a small market town.
A closer look at an IQ of 168
At 168, a child is likely to be several years ahead of classmates in reasoning, reading or maths, often in more than one of them. Gifted education researchers have spent decades asking what that child needs, and the most consistent answer involves letting them move faster, not just giving them extra worksheets.
Worldwide, the bell curve predicts about 23,800 people at this level; in the UK, about 200. A child who is the only one of their kind for miles is not unusual at 168, which is why online communities and specialist programmes play such a big part in their education.
How many people have an IQ of 168?
On the bell curve, about 1 person in 344,471 scores 168 or higher. The animation builds a crowd until you would expect to find one.
A crowd of 344,471 people
344,471
Each dot is one person. In a crowd this size, on average, just one would score 168 or above: the orange dot.
People scoring 168 or higher, by population
| Worldwide (8.2 billion people) | about 23,800 |
| India | about 4,250 |
| United States | about 992 |
| United Kingdom | about 202 |
| Canada | about 121 |
| Australia | about 80 |
Population: World Bank, total population, 2025. Counts assume the same bell curve in every country and are rounded. Real tests can't sort people this finely, as the next sections explain.
Which high-IQ societies accept an IQ of 168?
High-IQ societies set entry as a percentile, then print the matching score for each test they accept. A supervised 168 would meet 5 of the 6 bars; the next, Mega Society, needs about 171.
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MensaTop 2% (98th percentile) on an approved, supervised test130met
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IntertelTop 1% (99th percentile); lists a Wechsler full-scale IQ of 135135met
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Triple Nine Society99.9th percentile; lists a WAIS full-scale IQ of 146146met
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International Society for Philosophical Enquiry99.9th percentile; lists a WAIS-III or WAIS-IV full-scale IQ of 146146met
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Prometheus Society1 in 30,000 (99.997th percentile), four standard deviations above average160met
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Mega SocietyOne in a million, beyond the range of standard tests171not met
Scores for Mensa, Intertel, Triple Nine and ISPE are the Wechsler figures those societies list or that match their percentile. Prometheus and Mega give only a rarity; the scores shown are the matching points on the standard scale. Prometheus says no test currently being given is approved for its entry. Online test results are not accepted by any of them.
Can an IQ test measure 168?
Not on a standard clinical test. The WAIS-IV and the Stanford-Binet 5 report full-scale scores up to 160, so 168 is 8 points beyond where they stop. Only extended scales built for gifted children reach this far: the WISC-V extended norms go to 210 and the Stanford-Binet 5 Extended IQ to 225.
The deeper problem is evidence. Tests are scored against a norm sample, and for the adult Wechsler test, the WAIS-IV, that sample was 2,200 people aged 16 to 90. On the bell curve you would expect about 0.0064 of those people to score 168 or higher, a tiny fraction of one person. Extended scales get around this by using the patterns of children who hit the ceiling, but any score this high is an estimate projected from the curve.
Every score also carries measurement error, typically about five points either way, so 168 is best read as roughly 163 to 173, a range that lies entirely beyond what standard tests report. At these heights, extended-scale scores are also less certain than the margin suggests, because so few people have ever been measured there. Online tests can't reach this level at all; ours reports up to 145. How accurate are online IQ tests?
Sources: WAIS-IV range and norm sample from Canivez (2010), Mental Measurements Yearbook review; Stanford-Binet 5 and its Extended IQ from PRO-ED; WISC-V extended norms from Pearson Technical Report #6 (2019). Striped bars are extended scales, used only when a person hits the normal ceiling.
168 IQ on other scales
The same performance gives different numbers on scales with a different standard deviation, and the gap is widest at the top.
168standard scale (SD 15), used by Wechsler tests and on this page
173older Stanford-Binet scale (SD 16)
209Cattell scale (SD 24), used by some older and online tests
It works the other way too. A 168 quoted from a Cattell-scale test equals only about 143 on the standard scale, and a 168 on an SD 16 test equals about 164. How IQ standard deviations work.
Famous people with an estimated IQ near 168
No historical genius took an IQ test. These figures come from Catharine Cox's 1926 study, which estimated IQs from records of each person's early life, with one rating for childhood and one for ages 17 to 26.
Estimate, not a test
Jeremy BenthamPhilosopher
Cox rated him 170 for ages 17 to 26, 2 points above 168. Cox's childhood rating for him was 180.
Estimate, not a test
Alexander PopePoet
Cox rated him 170 for ages 17 to 26, 2 points above 168. Cox's childhood rating for him was 160.
Source: Cox, C. M. (1926), Genetic Studies of Genius, Vol. II: The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses, Stanford University Press. Cox stressed that thin records pull estimates down. Read more in where the historical genius IQ estimates came from.
Famous people said to have an IQ of 168: real or myth?
Lists of celebrity IQs put many famous names at or near 168. We traced each figure to its earliest source, and none comes from a published IQ test.
JP
170No evidence of a test
Judit Polgár
The strongest female chess player in history, but no record of any IQ test could be found behind the figure.
Sources for every claim are listed in our celebrity IQ list.
What 20 years of follow-up found
Miraca Gross traced the academic, social and emotional development of 60 young Australians with IQs of 160 and above for two decades. Most of those who had been accelerated by two years or more reported high life satisfaction, took research degrees at leading universities and described supportive social and love relationships.
Young people of equal ability who were accelerated by only one year, or not at all, tended to enter less rigorous university courses, reported lower life satisfaction and in many cases had significant difficulties with socialisation; several did not finish university or school. The study shows associations, not proof of cause, but it has shaped gifted education policy.
Source: Gross, M. U. M. (2006), "Exceptionally gifted children: long-term outcomes of academic acceleration and nonacceleration", Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29(4), 404–429.
What does an IQ of 168 mean?
A confirmed 168 means reasoning in the top 0.0003% for your age, in the "exceptionally gifted" band. For a child, it usually signals that a standard curriculum will move far too slowly, and that decisions about acceleration deserve careful, individual thought.
Where 168 falls among the levels of giftedness
115–129Mildly gifted
130–144Moderately gifted
145–159Highly gifted
160–179Exceptionally gifted
180+Profoundly gifted
Levels and ranges from Gross, M. U. M. (2000), "Exceptionally and Profoundly Gifted Students: An Underserved Population", Understanding Our Gifted. They are a guide for education, not a ranking of people.
How far 168 is from other milestones
22 points above the Triple Nine and ISPE bar (146)a score of 168 is about 373 times rarer than 146
8 points above the ceiling of most professional tests (160)a score of 168 is about 11 times rarer than 160
3 points below the Mega Society's one-in-a-million level (171)reaching 171 is about 3 times rarer than 168
12 points below the start of the profoundly gifted band (180)reaching 180 is about 60 times rarer than 168
4.53 standard deviations above averageaverage is 100 and one standard deviation is 15 points
IQ 168 compared with nearby scores
| IQ | Percentile | Rarity | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 164 | 99.999th | 1 in 100,799 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 166 | 99.99945th | 1 in 184,756 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 168 | 99.9997th | 1 in 344,471 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 170 | 99.99984th | 1 in 653,327 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 172 | 99.99992nd | 1 in 1,260,512 | Exceptionally gifted |
Questions about an IQ of 168
Is 168 a high IQ?
Yes. 168 is a very high IQ: about 1 person in 344,471 scores this high or higher, which puts it at the 99.9997th percentile. It is above the 130 that most definitions use for a high IQ, and at or above the 146 used by the Triple Nine Society for its 99.9th percentile entry.
What percentile is an IQ of 168?
An IQ of 168 is at about the 99.9997th percentile. Only about 0.00029% of people score 168 or higher.
How rare is an IQ of 168?
About 1 person in 344,471 scores 168 or higher, on the standard bell curve. Across the world's population of about 8.2 billion, that would be roughly 23,800 people.
Is an IQ of 168 good?
Yes, by any measure. 168 is higher than about 100% of people. Remember that a score this high needs a supervised professional test to be confirmed, and that it describes reasoning on a test, not every kind of talent.
Can you join Mensa with an IQ of 168?
Yes. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is about 130 on the standard scale. A supervised 168 would also meet the bar for Intertel, Triple Nine Society, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry and Prometheus Society. Online test results are not accepted.
Should a child with an IQ of 168 skip a grade?
It depends on the child, but research supports considering it. In a 20-year study of 60 Australians with IQs of 160 and above, those accelerated by two years or more mostly reported high life satisfaction, while equally able peers who were barely accelerated more often struggled.
Related: what counts as a good IQ score, the highest IQ in the world, famous people's IQs and the full IQ scale and range chart.
A full IQ score of 168 combines several skills. Our guides explain each one: verbal reasoning, processing speed, fluid vs crystallized intelligence, abstract reasoning and spatial reasoning, or try the free pattern recognition test.
Famous names are often linked to scores like 168, with or without a source. We checked the evidence behind Einstein's IQ, Isaac Newton's IQ, Nikola Tesla's IQ, Stephen Hawking's IQ, Bill Gates' IQ, Elon Musk's IQ, Garry Kasparov's IQ and Terence Tao's IQ.
Curious where you'd land?
The free Assessivo IQ test gives an estimated IQ and percentile in about 25 minutes. It reports scores up to 145; for anything higher, a supervised professional assessment is the only reliable route.
Take the free IQ testPortraits are pencil-style sketches by Assessivo, based on: Isaac Newton after Godfrey Kneller (1689), public domain.