IQ 145: percentile and score meaning

IQ 145 is three standard deviations above the mean on the scale described here. It falls near percentile 99.87, a position shared by a small fraction of scores in the reference distribution.

IQ 145 in numbers

Percentileof people score at or below	99.87
Rarityat or above	1 in 741
Commonly used band130 and above	Extremely High

Band labels are the commonly used WISC-V ones, as listed by Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities: Understanding IQ Test Scores. Labels are conventions in common use; each test publisher words its own.

Where it sits on the curve

Shaded: the people who score above it (0.13%).

The same position on other scales

Same percentile on every row; the number changes because the scales use different standard deviations.

Scale	Score	Percentile
SD 15	145	99.87
SD 16	148	99.87
SD 24	172	99.87

Where does IQ 145 rank?

IQ 145 ranks near percentile 99.87, with about 1 in 741 scores at or above it. Its position is close to the upper end of the score distribution, while the scores just below it are still in the same broad range.

This score falls in the Extremely High band, which begins at 130 and above. That label groups a wide span of scores, so it does not describe the distance between 145 and its neighbors.

Why is precision lower near this score?

Precision drops near the top because tests have few hard items to distinguish scores in this range. When only a small number of items test that level, a response can have more influence on the reported score.

A reported score is an estimate from a particular test, and results can differ across tests. IQClock's timed reasoning test is separate from a normed IQ test and does not report an IQ score.

What is the same position on other scales?

The same position as 145 on the Wechsler scale is 148 on the older Stanford-Binet scale with SD 16. The number changes because the scale uses a different spread of scores.

On a scale with SD 24, the same position is 172. These figures show why a score needs its scale when people compare results. See IQ standard deviation for more about how scale differences affect comparisons.

Questions

Is IQ 145 in the top 1 percent?

Yes. IQ 145 is within the top 1 percent on the scale described here. A percentile gives a rank within a reference group, but it does not tell you how much more ability one person has than another.

How many standard deviations above the mean is IQ 145?

It is three standard deviations above the mean. Standard deviation describes how spread out scores are around the mean, so it does not represent a fixed increment in ability between adjacent scores.

Can an online test confirm an IQ of 145?

A short online reasoning test cannot confirm IQ 145 unless it is a normed IQ test designed and administered for that purpose. IQClock's timed reasoning test does not print an IQ number, estimate, or percentile.