VoltaireWriter and philosopher
Cox rated him 180 for ages 17 to 26, 1 point above 179. Cox's childhood rating for him was 170.
IQ 179: which kind of 179?
On the standard IQ scale, 179 is higher than about 99.999993% of people, roughly 1 in 14,396,452, the very top of the "exceptionally gifted" band. But the same number on the Cattell scale, used by some older and online tests, means only about 149. Before celebrating a 179, check which scale it is on.
99.999993rdpercentile
1 in 14,396,452score 179 or higher
Exceptionally giftedlevel of giftedness
179IQ scoreTop 0.0000069%
179 on the IQ bell curve
At 79 points above the mean of 100 (5.27 standard deviations), 179 sits where the curve has almost flattened onto the axis. Only 0.0000069% of people score here or higher; on the left chart that group is the barely visible orange edge.
179 is the last score below 180, where the "profoundly gifted" band begins.
Reading an IQ of 179
The Cattell scale uses a standard deviation of 24 points instead of 15. That stretches every score away from 100, so the same rank produces a much bigger number. A 179 on the Cattell scale is 79 points above average, which is 3.3 standard deviations: about 149 on the standard scale, impressive but about 10,000 times more common than a standard 179.
This is the single most common reason people see scores in the high 170s online. If a test reports a 179, look for the words "standard deviation" or "SD" in its results. If it says 24, divide the points above 100 by 24 and multiply by 15 to convert. Our IQ standard deviation guide includes a converter.
How many people have an IQ of 179?
How big a group do you need before someone in it is likely to score 179? About 14,396,452 people. Watch the crowd grow to that size.
A crowd of 14,396,452 people
14,396,452
One dot per person, and on average only one of them, shown in orange, scores 179 or more.
People scoring 179 or higher, by population
| Worldwide (8.2 billion people) | about 571 |
| India | about 102 |
| United States | about 24 |
| United Kingdom | about 5 |
| Canada | about 3 |
| Australia | about 2 |
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 179?
Entry to a high-IQ society depends on a percentile, which each one turns into a score per accepted test. Measured under supervision, 179 meets every one of these bars.
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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 tests171met
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 179?
The adult Wechsler test and the Stanford-Binet 5 both stop at 160, so neither can give a 179. To report a score this high, a psychologist needs an extended scale, such as the WISC-V extended norms (to 210) or the Stanford-Binet 5 Extended IQ (to 225), shown in the bars below.
Why so uncertain? Because a test compares you with its norm sample, and the WAIS-IV sample had 2,200 adults. The bell curve expects about 0.00015 of them at 179 or higher. With nobody in the sample anywhere near this level, the number comes from the shape of the curve, not from comparison with real people.
There is measurement error too: a professional report would give a range of about 174 to 184 around a 179. With so few people ever measured at this level, the true uncertainty is larger still. Online results are far rougher, which is why ours stops at 145. Are online IQ tests accurate?
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.
Converting an IQ of 179 between scales
The number attached to a result depends on the scale's standard deviation. Near 179, switching scales can add or remove dozens of points for exactly the same rank.
179standard scale (SD 15), used by Wechsler tests and on this page
184older Stanford-Binet scale (SD 16)
226Cattell scale (SD 24), used by some older and online tests
So a "179" isn't always a 179. On the Cattell scale it corresponds to about 149 on the standard scale; on an SD 16 scale, about 174. Why IQ scales differ.
Who has been rated near an IQ of 179?
Catharine Cox's 1926 study is the source of nearly every historical "IQ". She estimated each person's score from records of their early life, once for childhood and once for ages 17 to 26. None of them sat a test.
Estimate, not a test
Philip MelanchthonReformation scholar
Cox rated him 180 for ages 17 to 26, 1 point above 179. Cox's childhood rating for him was 160.
Estimate, not a test
Friedrich SchellingPhilosopher
Cox rated him 180 for ages 17 to 26, 1 point above 179. Cox's childhood rating for him was 175.
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.
Who is said to have a 179 IQ?
These names are often given an IQ at or close to 179. Not one of the figures is backed by a published test result.
RA
178No evidence of a test
Rowan Atkinson
The figure appears on many lists of celebrity IQs with no traceable source.
JW
180No evidence of a test
James Woods
Widely repeated and often credited to him, but no interview or test record could be found.
Sources for every claim are listed in our celebrity IQ list.
How to convert a score between IQ scales
All modern IQ scales put the average at 100. They differ only in the size of one standard deviation: 15 points on the Wechsler and Stanford-Binet 5, 16 on older Stanford-Binet editions and 24 on the Cattell scale. To convert, work out how many standard deviations a score is from 100, then multiply by the other scale's value.
For 179: on a Cattell test, (179 − 100) ÷ 24 = 3.29 standard deviations, which is 100 + 3.29 × 15, or about 149, on the standard scale. Going the other way, a standard 179 would be printed as about 226 on the Cattell scale.
Scale definitions as on our IQ standard deviation guide, which lists its sources.
What does an IQ of 179 mean?
A standard-scale 179 means a rank of about one in fourteen million for your age, the highest score in the exceptionally gifted band. A Cattell-scale 179 means a rank of about one in 1,500, still very high but a completely different level.
Where 179 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 179 is from other milestones
33 points above the Triple Nine and ISPE bar (146)a score of 179 is about 15,581 times rarer than 146
19 points above the ceiling of most professional tests (160)a score of 179 is about 456 times rarer than 160
8 points above the Mega Society's one-in-a-million level (171)a score of 179 is about 16 times rarer than 171
1 point below the start of the profoundly gifted band (180)reaching 180 is about 1 times rarer than 179
5.27 standard deviations above averageaverage is 100 and one standard deviation is 15 points
IQ 179 compared with nearby scores
| IQ | Percentile | Rarity | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 175 | 99.999971st | 1 in 3,488,556 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 177 | 99.999985th | 1 in 7,026,047 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 179 | 99.999993rd | 1 in 14,396,452 | Exceptionally gifted |
| 181 | 99.9999966th | 1 in 30,011,602 | Profoundly gifted |
| 183 | 99.9999984th | 1 in 63,653,416 | Profoundly gifted |
Your questions about a 179 IQ
Is 179 a high IQ?
Yes. 179 is a very high IQ: about 1 person in 14,396,452 scores this high or higher, which puts it at the 99.999993rd 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.
How rare is an IQ of 179?
About 1 person in 14,396,452 scores 179 or higher, on the standard bell curve. Across the world's population of about 8.2 billion, that would be roughly 571 people.
Is an IQ of 179 good?
Yes, by any measure. 179 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 179?
Yes. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is about 130 on the standard scale. A supervised 179 would also meet the bar for Intertel, Triple Nine Society, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, Prometheus Society and Mega Society. Online test results are not accepted.
What does 179 IQ mean?
It means a result 79 points, or 5.27 standard deviations, above the average for your age. On the levels used by gifted education researchers, 179 is exceptionally gifted (160–179).
What is 179 IQ on the Cattell scale?
Going from Cattell to standard, a Cattell 179 equals about 149 on the standard scale, because the Cattell scale uses a standard deviation of 24 instead of 15. Going the other way, a standard 179 would be about 226 on the Cattell scale.
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.
An IQ test arrives at a score like 179 by combining several kinds of task. Learn more about processing speed, fluid vs crystallized intelligence, abstract reasoning, spatial reasoning and verbal reasoning, or try the free pattern recognition test.
Many famous IQ figures are guesses. See what is really known about 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.
Curious where you'd land?
Try the free Assessivo IQ test: 36 questions, about 25 minutes, and an estimated score up to 145. Confirming a result as high as 179 needs a supervised professional test.
Take the free IQ testPortraits are pencil-style sketches by Assessivo, based on: Voltaire after Nicolas de Largillière (about 1724–1725), public domain.