What Is a Good Wonderlic Score? By Job and NFL Position
Wonderlic says its current test has no universal good score. The numbers people quote, from 20 as average to 26 for NFL tackles, come from the older number-correct test and a 1984 book.
What you need to know
- Wonderlic's own FAQ says there is no universal good or average score for its current test, which no longer reports a single cognitive number. The familiar 0-to-50 score belongs to the older scoring, and 50 questions in 12 minutes is 14.4 seconds each.
- The NFL position averages everyone quotes (offensive tackle 26, center 25, quarterback 24, guard 23, tight end 22, safety and linebacker 19, cornerback 18, wide receiver and fullback 17, halfback 16) trace to a 1984 book, and the league stopped giving the test at the Combine in 2022.
- Studies of NFL players, as summarised on Wikipedia, found Wonderlic scores did not positively and significantly predict performance, draft position or games started for any position (Lyons, Hoffman and Michel, 2009).
- No by-job table with a cited edition could be verified. What is documented is employers' cut scores, such as a police department that interviewed only applicants scoring 20 to 27.
Search for a good Wonderlic score and you get a number, usually 20, and a table of jobs and football positions. This guide checks where those numbers come from. The short answer is that the publisher no longer says what a good score is, the football table is from 1984, and the job tables online do not name an edition. The honest way to read a Wonderlic result is against the cut score for one specific job, not against a universal number.
What Wonderlic itself says a good score is
Wonderlic's current product is Wonderlic Select, and the company's candidate FAQ is blunt: "There is no universal 'good' or 'average' score." The cognitive section is 50 questions in a 12-minute timed block, and test takers are not expected to finish. The whole assessment also holds 58 motivation items and 150 personality items, about 35 minutes in total for most people, and the results of the three parts are combined and evaluated against the demands of the job. Unlike the earlier Wonscore version, the FAQ adds, Wonderlic Select no longer gives a single numerical cognitive score.
That changes the question. The number most people mean by "Wonderlic score", correct answers out of 50, belongs to the older scoring. On that scale, secondary sources say 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence and that a minimum of 10 suggests literacy. Those are older claims cited to press articles, not current Wonderlic statements, and we could not verify them in a Wonderlic document.
Why finishing is not the goal
Fifty questions in 12 minutes is 14.4 seconds a question, which is why nobody is expected to finish. A number-correct score is partly a speed measure, a point our guide on what practice actually changes on a cognitive ability test takes further. Our Wonderlic practice test is a place to see how a score out of 50 feels under time pressure.
NFL positions: the table everyone quotes is from 1984
The position averages that circulate come from Paul Zimmerman's book The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, published in 1984, as cited on Wikipedia. We could not see the book, and we did not find a second independent source for the table: outlets that repeat it appear to be copying it.
- Offensive tackle: 26
- Center: 25
- Quarterback: 24
- Guard: 23
- Tight end: 22
- Safety: 19
- Linebacker: 19
- Cornerback: 18
- Wide receiver: 17
- Fullback: 17
- Halfback: 16
Three cautions apply. The table splits fullbacks and halfbacks rather than listing running backs, and it has no rows for defensive linemen, kickers or punters. The average for football players overall is given as about 20. And it describes players tested up to 1984, not today's draft classes.
Individual results reported by CBS Sports in 2020 show how wide the spread is. The highest scores listed there are 50 out of 50 for punter and receiver Pat McInally in 1975, 49 for defensive end Mike Mamula in 1995, and 48 each for Kevin Curtis (2003), Ben Watson (2004) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (2005). The lowest listed are 4 (Darren Davis, 2000), 5 (Ed Prather, 2001) and 6 (Oscar Davenport, 1999, and Vince Young, 2006). These are media-reported figures, not published by Wonderlic or the NFL, so treat each as reported rather than confirmed. Our Ryan Fitzpatrick profile and Tom Brady profile show how those numbers are handled on this site, and the athletes category lists the rest.
The table people quote for NFL positions dates from 1984, the league has dropped the test, and its own publisher no longer names a good score.
The NFL stopped using it in 2022
The league eliminated the Wonderlic from the Scouting Combine from 2022, according to an NFL memo reported in January 2022, and The New York Times reported on 2 March 2022 that the NFL stopped administering the test that year. We found no report of it returning, so the football scores in circulation are historical.
Does a high Wonderlic score predict NFL success?
Two studies looked. A 2009 study by Brian Lyons, Brian Hoffman and John Michel in Human Performance, titled "Not much more than g?", found, as summarised on Wikipedia, that Wonderlic scores did not positively and significantly predict future NFL performance, draft position or games started for any position, and that the relationship was negative for a few positions, including tight ends and defensive backs. A 2005 study by McDonald Mirabile found no significant correlation between a quarterback's Wonderlic score and passer rating or salary. We could not read the full methods for either, so we do not state sample sizes here. The wider evidence on workplace testing is a different matter: our article on what a cognitive ability test at work predicts covers the validity figures for jobs in general.
By job: why there is no reliable table
Test-prep sites publish lists of average Wonderlic score by job. The one we could open runs across 31 job titles from 14 for a janitor to 32 for a systems analyst, and it cites no manual, year or edition. It is also unclear whether such lists are averages of people in the job or recommended minimums, so we do not reproduce individual rows here. What is documented is how employers actually use the number: as a cut score for one job.
- New London, Connecticut police (Jordan v. City of New London): only applicants scoring 20 to 27 were interviewed, a band that excluded a candidate who scored 33, and the city won on summary judgment
- Duke Power, North Carolina (Griggs v. Duke Power, 1971): a high school diploma plus passing scores on the Wonderlic and a mechanical comprehension test, at about the national median for high school graduates, were held unlawful because they had adverse impact and were not shown to relate to job performance
Both cases show the same thing. A good score is whatever the employer's cut is for that job, and the law asks the employer to show the cut relates to the work. Our guides to whether IQ tests are legal for hiring, the police IQ cap case and the four-fifths rule go through the rules.
Should you convert a Wonderlic score to IQ?
Not by formula. The rule of doubling the score and adding 60, which spread through draft coverage, is not a Wonderlic publication, as our piece on Wonderlic score to IQ shows. Our score converter is best used on scores that come with published norms, and the percentile calculator does the maths for any score on a mean-100, SD-15 scale. Our study of leader IQ near 120 shows what happens when a Wonderlic result is stretched into an IQ anyway.
What to do with a Wonderlic result
Three habits help. Ask the employer whether a cut score exists for the role, since that is the only figure that decides the outcome. Practise the format so that pace does not cost you points. And remember that on the current test the cognitive section is one of three measures that are combined, so a single number was never the whole story. Our guide to average IQ by occupation gives the wider picture across jobs.
Where would your own score land?
Want to see how you handle a timed test? Take the IQ Metrics test and see your score and percentile.
Find your IQ score now! →A Wonderlic score is a data point for one employer's decision, not a rank in a league table. The IQ Metrics test reports its score with a percentile so the number always comes with its context.
Common questions
What is a good Wonderlic score?
Wonderlic says there is no universal good or average score for its current test. On the older number-correct scale, secondary sources describe 20 out of 50 as average, and employers set their own cut scores for each job.
What is the average Wonderlic score by NFL position?
The commonly quoted averages, from a 1984 book, are offensive tackle 26, center 25, quarterback 24, guard 23, tight end 22, safety and linebacker 19, cornerback 18, wide receiver and fullback 17 and halfback 16.
Does the NFL still use the Wonderlic?
No. It was eliminated from the Scouting Combine from 2022, according to reports of an NFL memo, and we found no report of its return.
Is a Wonderlic score an IQ?
No. Wonderlic does not publish a score-to-IQ conversion, and rules such as doubling the score and adding 60 are informal estimates.
Sources for this story
- Wonderlic Select test: frequently asked questions from candidates — Wonderlic
- Wonderlic test (article and its cited sources) — Wikipedia
- The highest and lowest Wonderlic test scores ever recorded (26 February 2020) — CBS Sports
- 2022 NFL pre-draft changes: Wonderlic test being dropped, per report (5 January 2022) — CBS Sports
- Lyons, Hoffman and Michel (2009), Not Much More Than g? An Examination of the Impact of Intelligence on NFL Performance, Human Performance 22(3) — Taylor & Francis
- Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971) — Cornell Legal Information Institute
Corrections: spotted an error? Email corrections@iqmetrics.org and we will update this story and note the change here.
Related stories
All news →Wonderlic Score to IQ: What Converts and What Does Not
The formula circulating online multiplies a Wonderlic score by two and adds sixty. It comes from no published conversion table, and the number it produces is not an IQ in the sense any test manual uses the word.
What a Cognitive Ability Test at Work Actually Predicts
Aptitude tests are among the better-studied hiring tools, and for decades the headline validity figures were quoted with more confidence than the corrections behind them deserved. A 2022 reanalysis pulled those numbers down.
Too Smart for the Police? The IQ Cap Court Case
In 1999, a Connecticut police department rejected an applicant for scoring too high on a hiring test. A federal appeals court sided with the department. Here is what the case actually decided, and did not.
Read the research.
Then find your own number.
Our IIF-certified assessment reports your score with its scale, percentile and confidence range — and a breakdown of the cognitive domains behind it.
Start IQ Test →