What was Stephen Hawking’s IQ?
Asked his IQ in 2004, he said “I have no idea.” No test result exists; the 160 is an estimate.
Stephen Hawking’s IQ is unknown: no test result was ever published, and when The New York Times Magazine asked “What is your I.Q.?” on December 12, 2004, he answered “I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” The 160 attached to his name is an estimate from his record, which this site places at 150–170.
Stephen Hawking’s estimated IQ
- First-class honors in natural science from University College, Oxford, in 1962, after entering in 1959 at 17 — achieved, by his own later estimate, on about 1,000 hours of study across three years, with an oral examination settling a borderline result.
- A Cambridge PhD dated 1966 and supervised by Dennis Sciama: Properties of Expanding Universes, which Cambridge made open access on October 23, 2017, calling it the most requested item in its repository.
- The Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems from 1970, and the 1974 prediction of black hole radiation, the result most associated with his name.
- Election to the Royal Society in 1974, and appointment as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge from 1979 to 2009 — the chair once held by Newton.
- The Royal Society’s Copley Medal in 2006 and a 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
This is an inference from output, which is exactly the inference Hawking rejected. A record this strong constrains an estimate only loosely: it establishes a floor far more securely than it establishes a ceiling, and the band above should be read as a floor with an open top rather than as a measurement.
- Born
- January 8, 1942, Oxford
- Died
- March 14, 2018, Cambridge
- Field
- Theoretical physics, cosmology
- Education
- University College, Oxford, BA 1962 (first-class honors); University of Cambridge, PhD 1966
- Position
- Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, Cambridge, 1979–2009
- Honors
- Copley Medal (2006); Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)
- On record about IQ
- “I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” (2004)
What an IQ of 150–170 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
Average is 100 by construction, and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Take the test to place your own score on this scale.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Stephen Hawking was
Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford on January 8, 1942. He read natural science at University College, Oxford, specializing in physics, and graduated with first-class honors in 1962. He began graduate work in cosmology at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, that October, and later held a research fellowship at Gonville and Caius College.
His 1974 prediction that black holes emit radiation is the result most associated with his name. That radiation has not been detected from a black hole, and laboratory experiments that mimic it are still debated. A different Hawking result, the 1971 black hole area theorem, received its strongest test in September 2025, when the LIGO signal GW250114 gave what Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences calls “the best observational evidence captured to date” for it.
He held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge from 1979 to 2009. A Brief History of Time came out in 1988, in April in the US and in June in the UK. His honors include the Royal Society’s Copley Medal in 2006 and a 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, announced July 30, 2009. He died in Cambridge on March 14, 2018.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed October 2026
Stephen Hawking: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1959Goes up to University College, Oxford, in October at 17 to read natural science.
- 1962Graduates with first-class honors after an oral examination; begins graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
- 1966Doctoral thesis, Properties of Expanding Universes; Cambridge makes it open access on October 23, 2017.
- 1970Publishes the singularity theorems with Roger Penrose.
- 1974Predicts black hole radiation in Nature (March 1); elected to the Royal Society.
- 1979Appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a post he holds until 2009.
- 1988Publishes A Brief History of Time.
- 2004Asked “What is your I.Q.?” by The New York Times Magazine (December 12), he answers “I have no idea.”
- 2006–09Receives the Copley Medal (2006); named a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient (2009).
- 2018Dies in Cambridge on March 14.
- 2025LIGO’s GW250114 signal gives the best evidence yet for his 1971 black hole area theorem (September 10).
Where the 160 figure came from
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
Stephen Hawking’s IQ is not on record, and he said so himself. In an interview headed “Questions for Stephen Hawking: The Science of Second-Guessing” in The New York Times Magazine (December 12, 2004), Deborah Solomon asked “What is your I.Q.?” and he answered “I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” No test result has been published, so this profile rates the documented record and audits the number that circulates instead of repeating it.
The next two answers are the more useful part and are rarely quoted. Asked how anyone could know whether he qualified as a genius physicist, he said the media need superheroes in science as in every sphere of life, “but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.” Asked “Are you saying you are not a genius?”, he said “I hope I’m near the upper end of the range.” His objection was to a dividing line, not to the idea that he was able. That threshold, with geniuses above it and everyone else below, is the belief that keeps celebrity IQ pages in business and the one this section examines; for the scores that are usually called genius, see what a genius IQ level is.
Where does the 160 come from? ScienceABC (updated May 24, 2026) heads his entry “Estimated IQ Score: 160” and calls it “a popular estimate inferred from his scientific achievements, not a measured score.” RankRed (December 12, 2016) gives 160 with no method. A June 12, 2014 article in Psicología y Mente credits a Super Scholar list for “IQ de 160 puntos”. Riot IQ (July 16, 2026) says the number “has no verified basis.” Both English lists pair his 160 with 160–190 for Albert Einstein, which fits how celebrity IQ numbers travel: a figure repeats without its source attached. Compare Richard Feynman, whose documented school score of 125 is routinely dismissed for being too low. Two of the most influential physicists of the century left behind either a modest number or a refusal, and in both cases the internet supplied something better.
The Oxford record sits awkwardly beside the 160, which makes it useful. Hawking entered University College, Oxford, in October 1959, at 17, to read natural science, specializing in physics, and later estimated that he studied about 1,000 hours in three years. His final result fell on the borderline between a first and a second, so the examiners called him for an oral examination. He told them that with a First he would go to Cambridge and with a Second he would stay at Oxford, and he was given a First in 1962.
At Cambridge he began graduate work at Trinity Hall in October 1962 under the cosmologist Dennis Sciama. His doctoral thesis, Properties of Expanding Universes, is dated 1966; its fourth chapter shows that a singularity is inevitable under very general conditions. Hawking and Roger Penrose then published the singularity theorems in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A on January 27, 1970, and Hawking’s paper “Black hole explosions?” followed in Nature on March 1, 1974, the year he was elected to the Royal Society as one of its youngest fellows. When Cambridge put the thesis online on October 23, 2017, Hawking named Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and Einstein as the physicists who inspired him as a PhD student.
How we read a number →The interview in which he is asked “What is your I.Q.?”, how anyone can know he is a genius, and whether he is saying he is not one. The only first-hand statement about his IQ on record.
Held in Cambridge’s repository, Apollo, with Dennis Sciama as advisor. The abstract states that a singularity is inevitable under very general conditions. The examined record behind the estimate above.
Calls it the 1966 doctoral thesis and the most requested item in Apollo, and carries Hawking’s statement naming Newton, Maxwell and Einstein as his inspiration.
The singularity theorems, published January 27, 1970. Cited as achievement evidence, since no test evidence exists.
Published March 1, 1974. The result his standing rests on, cited as achievement evidence.
Oxford entry in 1959, the oral examination and the First, Trinity Hall in 1962, the Lucasian chair from 1979 to 2009, the 2006 Copley Medal and the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. It places the doctorate in 1965, where Cambridge and the thesis record give 1966, which this page follows.
Names Hawking among the 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Reports the Physical Review Letters paper GW250114: testing Hawking’s area law and the Kerr nature of black holes, and calls it the best observational evidence to date for the area theorem Hawking put forth in 1971.
Used for the Oxford details (about 1,000 hours of study, the borderline result, the oral examination), the 2006 Copley Medal citation, the Lucasian tenure, the 1988 publication dates of his book and the status of Hawking radiation.
Records his election to the Royal Society in 1974 as one of its youngest fellows and his first-class degree in 1962.
Lists “Estimated IQ Score: 160” and describes it as a popular estimate inferred from his achievements, not a measured score. Also notes that validated tests such as the WAIS top out around 160.
Both print 160. RankRed gives no method or source and says he never took a test; Psicología y Mente credits a Super Scholar list.
A psychometrics publisher’s article stating that the 160 has no verified basis and that no test result was ever publicly verified.
Hawking stated in 2004 that he had no idea what his IQ was. No school, university or clinical test result has been published, and the 160 has no identified test, date or tester.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Stephen Hawking, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
160. ScienceABC lists “Estimated IQ Score: 160”, RankRed gives 160, and a 2014 article in Psicología y Mente says “IQ de 160 puntos”. Both English lists pair it with 160–190 for Einstein.
Hawking answered this himself. Asked “What is your I.Q.?” by Deborah Solomon in The New York Times Magazine on December 12, 2004, he replied: “I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” Asked how anyone could know whether he qualified as a genius physicist, he said the media need superheroes in science as in every sphere of life, “but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line”. Asked “Are you saying you are not a genius?”, he answered: “I hope I’m near the upper end of the range.”
ScienceABC, RankRed and Psicología y Mente each print 160, and none names a test, a date or a tester. There is no spread to analyze, only a single figure repeated, set beside the one first-hand statement on record: the man was asked, and declined to supply a number at all.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Stephen Hawking — frequently asked
What was Stephen Hawking’s IQ?
Nobody knows: no IQ test result for Stephen Hawking has been published. Asked “What is your I.Q.?” by The New York Times Magazine on December 12, 2004, he answered “I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” This site’s estimated range, 150–170, is inferred from his academic record, not measured.
What is Stephen Hawking’s IQ score — is it 160?
160 is the figure that circulates, but it is an estimate, not a score. ScienceABC lists “Estimated IQ Score: 160” and calls it a popular estimate inferred from his achievements; RankRed gives 160 with no method or source. ScienceABC also notes that validated tests such as the WAIS top out around 160, a level explained in what an IQ of 160 means.
Did Stephen Hawking say people who boast about their IQ are losers?
Yes. In the interview published in The New York Times Magazine on December 12, 2004, Deborah Solomon asked “What is your I.Q.?” and he replied “I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” It was one short answer among many, and nothing in the interview says he had taken a test or that IQ tests are meaningless.
Did Stephen Hawking think he was a genius?
Asked how anyone can know whether he qualifies as a genius physicist, he said there is “a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.” Asked “Are you saying you are not a genius?”, he replied “I hope I’m near the upper end of the range.” He rejected the label as a threshold but placed himself high on the range.
Was Stephen Hawking’s IQ higher than Einstein’s?
There is no basis for saying so, because neither man has a measured score. On this site Albert Einstein is estimated at 160–180 and Hawking at 150–170, so the ranges overlap between 160 and 170. ScienceABC and RankRed both list Hawking at 160 and Einstein at 160–190, so those lists compare estimates, not test results.
How good a student was Stephen Hawking at Oxford?
He entered University College, Oxford, in October 1959, at 17, to read natural science, and later estimated that he studied about 1,000 hours in three years. His result fell on the borderline between a first and a second, so the examiners held an oral examination; he told them he would go to Cambridge with a First and stay at Oxford with a Second. He received a First in 1962.
What is the record behind Stephen Hawking’s estimated IQ?
A first-class Oxford degree in 1962; a Cambridge doctorate dated 1966 under Dennis Sciama; the 1970 singularity theorems with Roger Penrose; election to the Royal Society in 1974; the Lucasian chair that Isaac Newton once held, from 1979 to 2009; the 2006 Copley Medal; and the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. That supports a high range but no exact figure.
Did Stephen Hawking ever take an IQ test?
No published record shows that he did. The tests in his documented record are examinations: Oxford finals in 1962 and a Cambridge doctorate dated 1966. That makes him unlike Richard Feynman, whose school score of 125 is documented.
How does my IQ compare with Stephen Hawking?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other scientists profiles, starting with Albert Einstein.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More scientists profiles — same field, same method
More scientists
Photograph by Elke Wetzig (University of Cologne, November 2, 2006), CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped and with background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Ferdinand Schmutzer (1921), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Napoleon Sarony (c. 1890), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above.
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