Is 110 a Good IQ Score?

What an IQ of 110 means, where it ranks, and what it tells you about cognitive ability.

110

IQ Score

75th

Percentile

High Average

Classification

1 in 4

Rarity

What an IQ of 110 means

An IQ of 110 puts you at the 75th percentile. Roughly 1 in 4 people score 110 or above. This range is closely associated with strong performance across most professional and academic paths. The average university graduate scores around 113-115, putting IQ 110 3 points below the graduate average. Conscientiousness and deliberate practice compound meaningfully at this level.

IQ 110 in context

IQ 110 sits 10 points above the population mean of 100 and 5 points below the one-standard-deviation mark at IQ 115. It places at the 75th percentile — 75% of the population scores at or below IQ 110. In large-scale occupational research, IQ 110 sits at the level where analytical and supervisory roles are reliably within reach. The 10-point advantage over the population mean is meaningful in complex cognitive tasks but not so large as to create the social friction sometimes associated with scores at the extreme upper tail. Research on high-performing teams consistently shows that IQ 110 individuals — particularly those high in conscientiousness — tend to outperform higher-scoring counterparts who rely on ability alone.

Frequently asked questions

Is 110 a good IQ score?

Yes. IQ 110 is above average — High Average range, 75th percentile. About 1 in 4 people score 110 or above. The average university graduate scores around 113–115, putting 110 3 points below it.

What percentile is an IQ of 110?

The 75th percentile. That means 75% of the population scores at or below 110. About 1 in 4 people score 110 or above — the top 25% of the population. The population mean is 100 with a standard deviation of 15.

What careers are associated with an IQ of 110?

Strong overlap with university-educated professionals. Teaching, management, technical fields, nursing, and most analytical roles cluster in this range. Our data on average IQ by profession puts IQ 110 squarely in the graduate mainstream.

Can you improve an IQ of 110?

Yes. IQ scores respond to environmental changes, particularly before age 25. Sleep quality has the single largest short-term effect on fluid intelligence. Nutrition, stress reduction, and working memory training also have evidence behind them. Gains of 5–10 points are realistic with sustained effort.

Careers that commonly score in this range

Nurse (RN)Studies place RN mean around 112–116

Manager / ExecutiveMid-level and senior management clusters here

Teacher (Secondary)Subject-specialist secondary teachers average ~110–115

JournalistInvestigative and broadsheet press skew toward this range

Notable people reportedly in this range

All figures are estimates or reported by third-party sources — none are clinically verified.

Ronald Reagan

40th US President and former actor — IQ estimated at approximately 105–115 in several published presidential cognitive assessments, including Simonton's (2006) historiometric analysis of US presidents.

Andrew Jackson

7th US President — self-educated lawyer and military general. Popular presidential IQ surveys place Jackson at approximately 105–115, reflecting strong practical and emotional intelligence over formal academic ability.

John F. Kennedy

35th US President — reportedly scored approximately 119 on Navy Officer Candidate School aptitude tests during WWII, a figure independently cited in multiple presidential biographies as the closest approximation to his IQ.

Richard Nixon

37th US President — IQ estimates vary widely in published sources (107 to 143). The most widely cited mid-range estimate from Simonton's historiometric analysis places him at approximately 110–115.

From the IQScore blog

Further reading selected for this score range.

Average IQ by Profession →

How this range maps to career outcomes in the published data.

Working Memory and Intelligence →

The most trainable component of measured cognitive ability.

Fluid vs Crystallised Intelligence →

Two types of intelligence and what each one predicts.

Can You Improve Your IQ? →

What the evidence actually supports, and what it does not.