What does an IQ of 86 mean?
An IQ of 86 is higher than about 17% of people.
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Where 86 sits on the bell curve
IQ scores follow a bell curve with an average of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The shaded area shows the 17% of people who score below 86.
What the "Low average" range means
Scores from 80 to 89 are slightly below the middle of the range. About 1 in 6 people score here, and most people in this band live and work fully independently.
In a room of 100 people, about 83 would score 86 or higher.
Careers that often suit an IQ around 86
Based on how complex each job is. Your strongest reasoning area (abstract, numerical or verbal) changes the picture a lot, and the full test report matches careers to your own strengths.
How exact is a single score?
No test measures IQ to the exact point. A score of 86 on a short test is best read as a range of roughly 81 to 91. That's why the report on this site gives a confidence band as well as a score.
Nearby scores
| IQ | Higher than | Range |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | 8.6% | Low average |
| 82 | 11% | Low average |
| 84 | 14% | Low average |
| 88 | 20% | Low average |
| 90 | 24% | Average |
| 92 | 29% | Average |
Questions people ask
Is 86 a good IQ score?
An IQ of 86 is below the average of 100. On a short online test, results in this range are often affected by time pressure, so it's worth retaking it in a quiet setting.
What percentile is an IQ of 86?
An IQ of 86 is at about the 17th percentile: it is higher than roughly 17% of the population.
How rare is an IQ of 86?
More than half of people score 86 or higher, so it isn't rare.
Can my IQ score change?
Scores on any single test vary by a few points from day to day because of sleep, focus and familiarity with the question types. Underlying reasoning ability is fairly stable in adults, but a single result should always be read as a range rather than an exact number.
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