— Occupational IQ research
Professional Athletes — average IQ & cognitive profile
— Don't just read about it
Find out YOUR exact IQ
20-min calibrated test · real psychometrics
Start →
Avg IQ
109
Percentile
73th
SD above mean
+0.60
Strongest axes
Spatial & Pattern reasoning
Published occupational IQ research consistently places professional athletes at an average IQ of around 109 — the 73th percentile of the general adult population. This sits modestly above the population mean.
— Try one before you read on
DEAF is to EAR as BLIND is to ?
Deafness is a condition of the ear. Blindness is a condition of the eye.
That was 1 question. Take the full 20-min test →
Why professional athletes cluster at this level
→Pause. Find out YOUR IQ before you keep reading.Pro athletes average slightly above the population mean overall, with particular strength on spatial-perceptual tasks. Elite chess players, by contrast, average around +2 SD.
What this number really means
→Curious how YOU score? 20-min calibrated test.An occupational IQ average is a statistical mean, not a hiring criterion. The within-profession standard deviation is typically 10-15 IQ points, which means:
- There are highly successful professional athletes scoring well above 124
- And highly successful professional athletes scoring well below 94
- Conscientiousness, domain knowledge, emotional regulation, and motivation account for far more variance in actual job performance than the difference between, say, IQ 115 and IQ 125 does
Find out YOUR exact IQ
Take a 20-minute calibrated test and see how you compare — not just on overall IQ, but across all six cognitive axes.
How to interpret your own score against this average
→The numbers above? Find out where YOU land.If you're considering this profession or already in it, here's how to read a personal IQ result in context:
- If you score 99–119: you're right in the typical range for professional athletes
- If you score above 124: you have meaningful cognitive headroom; you'll likely find the abstract demands of the role easier than peers
- If you score below 94: the profession is still entirely accessible to you — many professional athletes succeed at this level — but you may rely more on persistence, structured systems, and specialisation than peers do
Related profession comparisons
→Knowing about IQ ≠ knowing yours. Take the test.- Teachers — average IQ 112
- Nurses (RN) — average IQ 113
- Accountants — average IQ 114
- Visual Artists — average IQ 114
- Professional Musicians — average IQ 116