What an IQ of 118 means
An IQ of 118 is higher than about 88.4% of people: roughly 1 in 9 score 118 or more. It is in the high average range, 1.2 standard deviations above the average of 100.
The amber band is the likely range on a retake of our test, 9 points either side. The curve is the normal distribution with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
Is an IQ of 118 good?
Yes, it is above average: higher than about 88.4% of people, in the high average range.
What percentile is an IQ of 118?
An IQ of 118 is at the 88th percentile: it is higher than 88.4% of people on a scale with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
Tests that use a different standard deviation give the same rarity a different number: about 119 on a 16-point scale such as older Stanford-Binet editions, and about 129 on the 24-point Cattell scale.
How rare is an IQ of 118?
About 1 in 9 people score 118 or higher. In a group of 1,000 people, about 115 would be expected to score that high or higher.
How much could a retake change it?
No test gives the same score twice. The likely range is where about 90 in 100 retakes would land, and its width depends on how reliable the test is.1
| Test | Margin of error | Likely range |
|---|---|---|
| Our test (reliability 0.87) | ±9 | 109 to 127 |
| A test with reliability 0.90 | ±8 | 110 to 126 |
| A test with reliability 0.95 | ±6 | 112 to 124 |
The margin is 1.645 standard errors of measurement, which covers about 90% of retakes.
What an IQ of 118 does not tell you
A score describes how someone did on one set of reasoning tasks on one day. It does not measure what a person knows, how hard they work or what they will achieve.
An online test is for interest. For a score that counts for school, work or health, a psychologist can give a full assessment in person.
Nearby scores
Sources
- American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, chapter 2: Reliability/Precision and Errors of Measurement. www.testingstandards.net/open-access-files.html
First published 13 November 2026.