— IQ score explained
IQ of 118 — meaning, percentile & profile
An IQ of 118 is in the high-average range — above 88% of adults. The majority of college graduates fall in this range.
What does IQ 118 mean in practice?
An IQ of 118 means your raw performance on a standardised IQ test places you at the 88th percentile of the general adult population — higher than 88% of people. People at this level typically find abstract reasoning, pattern-matching, and learning new skills comes naturally.
IQ 118 and the normal distribution
IQ is defined with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. An IQ of 118 is 1.2 standard deviations above the mean. The normal distribution tells us that:
- About 68% of people score between 85 and 115
- About 95% of people score between 70 and 130
- About 99.7% of people score between 55 and 145
- An IQ of 118 is higher than 88% of the adult population
IQ 118 and career outcomes
An IQ of 118 comfortably supports most knowledge-worker careers. Nurses, teachers, programmers, and managers typically average in the 110-120 range. At this level, habits, work ethic, and people skills account for far more of career success than the IQ number does.
Comparing IQ 118 to common benchmarks
| Score | Percentile | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| IQ 103 | 58th | Average range |
| IQ 105 | 63th | Average range |
| IQ 108 | 70th | Average range |
| IQ 110 | 75th | High average |
| IQ 112 | 79th | High average |
How to accurately measure your IQ
A reliable IQ test uses Item Response Theory (IRT) scoring, which adapts the scoring based on item difficulty parameters rather than simply counting correct answers. Core Brain uses IRT 3PL (three-parameter logistic) scoring — the same statistical framework used by the WAIS and Stanford-Binet — and returns your score with a 95% confidence interval so you know the measurement uncertainty.
Related IQ scores
- IQ 103 — Average range, 58th percentile
- IQ 105 — Average range, 63th percentile
- IQ 108 — Average range, 70th percentile
- IQ 110 — High average, 75th percentile
- IQ 112 — High average, 79th percentile