IQ score guide
Percentile
6%
Rarity
1 in 16
this low or lower
Classification
Borderline
On the standard scale (mean 100, SD 15), a score of 77 sits 1.5 standard deviations below the mean — the 6th percentile, meaning it matches or beats about 6% of the adult population. Test manuals file it under "borderline" (about 7% of people).
A single below-average score, especially from an online test, is weak evidence about a person. Language mismatch, fatigue, anxiety and unfamiliarity with puzzle formats all depress scores. Patterns across multiple honest measurements — and real-world function — are what mean something, and interpreting those is professional work.
It is below the population average, and it is also just one number from one sitting. Sleep, stress, effort, language and test quality all move scores this far routinely. If a score like this arrived alongside real-world difficulties, the useful response is a professional assessment, which measures far more than a website can.
About 1 person in 16 scores 77 or lower; put the other way, roughly 94% of people score above it. It sits 1.5 standard deviations below the mean.
Almost certainly, by a little. Even excellent tests carry ±3–5 points of measurement error, online tests more, and the same person swings several points between good and bad days. Read 77 as "probably between 70 and 84" from a good test — wider from a casual one. Any result quoted without an error range is overclaiming.
Nearby scores: IQ 72 · IQ 76 · IQ 78 · IQ 82 · or see the whole scale.
Was 77 your score somewhere? Cross-check it: our test is free, untimed, generates fresh questions every attempt, and reports an honest range instead of a single flattering number.
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