Short answer: 100 is average. Whether a score is “good” depends on what you compare it to — here is the full picture, with percentiles.
IQ scores are built so that 100 is the exact average. The range from 85 to 115 covers about two-thirds of all people, so anything inside that band is normal. A score of 115 or higher is above average, and 130 or higher puts you in roughly the top 2% of the population.
That also means “good” is a moving target. A score of 110 is genuinely above average — it beats about three out of four people — even though it sounds close to 100. The middle of the scale is crowded, so small numbers hide big percentile gaps in one direction and tiny ones in the other.
For most everyday purposes — school, work, learning new skills — an average score is entirely fine, and IQ is only one of many factors that matter. Where a specific bar exists, it is usually framed in percentiles: Mensa, for example, admits roughly the top 2%, which works out to about 130+ on the standard SD-15 scale. Gifted programs set their own cutoffs, which vary by school and country.
So be skeptical of any single threshold quoted as universal. Ask “good compared to whom, and for what?” and the honest answer almost always comes back as a percentile.
A raw score of 120 sounds modest until you see it is the 91st percentile: higher than about 91% of people. Percentiles translate an abstract number into a comparison you can actually picture. You can look up any score in the full IQ score chart, which lists every score from 55 to 145 with its percentile and classification.
No single test run measures you exactly. IQGrab reports every score with a ±6 margin, so a result of 118 and a result of 124 may reflect the same underlying ability measured twice. Sleep, focus and familiarity with the question types all nudge the number. Treat small differences between two people — or between two of your own attempts — as noise, not signal.
IQ scores are already age-adjusted: a 100 at age 20 and a 100 at age 60 both mean “average for your age group.” That is why IQGrab shows your age group on the report as background information — the score itself is comparable across ages and is not scored separately per group.
An IQ test measures pattern recognition, working memory, logical and spatial reasoning, and verbal analogy — a real but narrow slice of ability. It does not measure creativity, motivation, emotional intelligence, practical judgment, or how hard someone works. A score is a data point, not a verdict on a person.
If you want a number with its percentile and an honest error margin, take the test: 30 questions, 20 minutes, and the full report — score, percentile, ±6 range, skill breakdown and an explanation for every question — is free. No paywall, no subscription, no email required.
30 questions, 20 minutes, full report with your score, percentile and breakdown by skill. No paywall, no subscription, no email required.
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