IQ 97: average, explained
Yes. An IQ of 97 is in the average range, where about half of all people score. It is a little below the exact middle of 100, but well within normal, and a perfectly good result for school, work and everyday life.
Where 97 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 97 is 3 points below the average of 100, or 0.2 standard deviations. It is higher than about 42% of people of the same age, shown by the shaded area below. Scores in the 90s sit on the steep, crowded slope just left of the peak, so a few points here change your percentile a lot.
On other IQ scales, the same result would be about 97 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 95 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 97 meaning: a closer look
An IQ of 97 is higher than about 42% of people and only three points short of the exact average. On almost every test, the difference between 97 and 100 is within the margin of error, so for practical purposes this is a middle-of-the-road result. If you are comparing your score with a friend's 101 or 102, you are effectively at the same level. The more useful comparison is between your own areas: are you quicker with patterns, words, shapes or numbers?
Music lessons and a 97 IQ: a small boost that faded under scrutiny
In a well known experiment, Schellenberg (2004) randomly assigned 144 six-year-olds in Toronto to keyboard lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons or no lessons for 36 weeks. IQ rose in every group, which the author linked to starting school. The music groups gained an average of 7.0 points, against 4.3 points for the controls, an effect he called "relatively small". Later work was less encouraging. A 2020 meta-analysis by Sala and Gobet of 54 studies found that, once study quality was controlled for, the overall effect of music training on cognitive skills was about zero.
So what does this mean for an IQ of 97? Small gains appeared mainly in studies that did not assign children at random and compared them with groups who did nothing, which are weaker designs. The best current evidence does not suggest that learning an instrument will lift a general IQ score. Music has plenty of rewards of its own, from enjoyment to friendship to skill. If you scored 97, it is worth pursuing for those reasons rather than as a way to change the number.
Sources: Schellenberg (2004), "Music lessons enhance IQ", Psychological Science, 15(8); Sala and Gobet (2020), "Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: a multilevel meta-analysis", Memory and Cognition.
What 97 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, about 42 would score lower than 97 and about 58 would score the same or higher. The orange dot marks your place in the line.
Most of the people you meet every day score within a few points of this.
How precise is a score of 97?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 97 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 92 to 102. That range runs from the 30th to the 55th percentile, all within the average range.
In the 90s a few points make a big difference to the percentile, because so many people score here. That is why a gap of a few points between two tests, or two people, usually means very little.
On the Assessivo test, each correct answer is worth about 2.5 points, so 97 falls between two possible results: 95 for 16 correct answers and 98 for 17. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 97 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 92 to 102. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 97 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 97 would have meant for children of different ages: working a little behind their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 97 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 4 years 10 months |
| 7 | 6 years 9 months |
| 9 | 8 years 9 months |
| 11 | 10 years 8 months |
| 13 | 12 years 7 months |
The same 97 stands for a gap of about 2 months at age 5 but 5 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 97 means for you
It sits in the middle of the average band, which runs from 90 to 109.
- You reason about as well as most people of your age, with a typical balance of speed and accuracy on new problems.
- Most courses, jobs and everyday decisions sit comfortably within this range of ability.
- Two people at 94 and 104 are closer than the numbers suggest: their likely ranges overlap.
How far 97 is from other levels
How 97 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | 19th | Low average | 81% |
| 92 | 30th | Average | 70% |
| 97 | 42nd | Average | 58% |
| 102 | 55th | Average | 1 in 2 |
| 107 | 68th | Average | 1 in 3 |
Questions about an IQ of 97
What percentile is an IQ of 97?
An IQ of 97 is at about the 42nd percentile, which means it is higher than about 42% of people of the same age.
Is 97 a high IQ?
No. 97 is in the average range. High IQ usually refers to scores of 120 or 130 and above.
Can an IQ of 97 get into Mensa?
Not on its own. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is usually 130 or above. 97 is 33 points below that.
How common is an IQ of 97 or higher?
About 58% of people score 97 or higher, roughly 1 in 2. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 29,000 would score at this level or above.
Can learning music raise a 97 IQ?
Probably not by much. One 2004 experiment found that children given music lessons gained about 3 IQ points more than controls over 36 weeks, but a 2020 meta-analysis of 54 studies found no overall effect once study quality was taken into account. Play music because you enjoy it, not to change your score.
What mental age is an IQ of 97?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 97 would perform like a typical child of about 8 years 9 months, roughly 3 months behind. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 97 simply did less well than most adults of the same age on the test.
Is an IQ of 97 normal?
Yes. 97 is in the average range of 90 to 109, which covers about half of all people. Nothing about it is unusual.
Why is 97 below 100 if it is average?
100 is the exact middle, but "average" is a band, not a single number. Psychologists call the whole range from 90 to 109 average because the differences within it are small and within a test's margin of error.
Is an IQ of 97 good enough for university?
Yes. Universities select on qualifications, not IQ, and people with average scores succeed on degree courses every year. Effort, interest and study habits make a bigger difference.
Our guide to average IQ explains why the middle is always 100, and what counts as a good IQ score puts the 90s in context. National averages, and why they are disputed, are covered in average IQ by country. Every score range is in the IQ range chart.
Behind a single score of 97 sit several separate abilities. Read about spatial reasoning, verbal reasoning, processing speed, fluid vs crystallized intelligence and abstract 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