What is Nolan Gould’s IQ?
A reported 150 and a Mensa membership, with no test result published, and high school finished at 13, not 10.
Nolan Gould’s IQ is widely reported as 150, but no IQ test result for him has been published. The record shows a reported Mensa membership (top 2 percent), high school finished by exam at age 13 in 2012, and four SAG ensemble awards for playing Luke Dunphy on Modern Family; this page’s estimate is 130–145.
Nolan Gould’s estimated IQ
- A reported Mensa membership: a Dear Doctor magazine profile written when he was 13 calls him a “card-carrying member of Mensa,” and ET Online, HuffPost and E! Online (October 2012) and Wikipedia say the same. Mensa admits only the upper 2 percent on an approved, supervised test, about 130 on the Wechsler scales.
- High school finished by exam in summer 2012, at age 13: “I took an exam and tested out of high school,” he told Ellen DeGeneres (E! Online and ET Online, October 2012). Wikipedia describes the test as a GED.
- Accelerated schooling: four grades by 2012 according to Wikipedia, which cites Vanity Fair (May 2012); TV Guide’s biography says ten. The count is uncertain, but both place him well ahead of his age group.
- College: ET Online and E! Online (2012) say he planned online community-college courses, and TV Guide’s biography says he began college as a 14-year-old freshman in 2013. No college, course list or degree is documented.
- A working career since 2007 (Wikipedia’s years-active entry), including Luke Dunphy in Modern Family (ABC, September 23, 2009 to April 8, 2020) and four SAG ensemble awards, which show sustained work, not a cognitive level.
No IQ test result is published and Mensa does not release rosters or scores, so the roughly 130 floor rests on press reports of membership, not on a document. Scores recorded in childhood also tend to move toward the average on retest, which is why the range stops at 145 and not at the reported 150.
- Born
- October 28, 1998
- Known for
- Luke Dunphy in Modern Family (ABC, September 23, 2009 to April 8, 2020)
- Education
- High school finished by exam in summer 2012, age 13 (not 10); no college degree on record
- Mensa
- Reported by ET Online, HuffPost, E! Online and Wikipedia (2012); Mensa publishes no roster, and no statement from Mensa was found
- Awards
- Four SAG ensemble awards in a comedy series (ceremonies of January 2011 to January 2014); Young Artist Award (2010)
- The 150
- Reported since October 2012; no page names a test, an examiner or a date
- Documented IQ test
- None on record; Gould is not quoted giving a number
- Later work
- Grey’s Anatomy guest role (2022); Miranda’s Victim (2023)
What an IQ of 130–145 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 Nolan Gould is
Nolan Gould was born on October 28, 1998 (Wikipedia and Wikidata agree on the date) and is an American actor, best known as Luke Dunphy, the youngest child on Modern Family. The sitcom was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for ABC and ran for 11 seasons and 250 episodes, from September 23, 2009 to April 8, 2020; Wikipedia credits Gould with 247 of them. Wikipedia’s infobox gives his years active as 2007 to the present.
The show’s cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series four times, at the 17th ceremony (January 30, 2011) through the 20th (January 18, 2014), and Wikipedia lists Gould in the credited cast on both of those pages; TV Guide’s biography also shows ensemble nominations in 2010 and 2015 to 2017 and a 2010 Young Artist Award for outstanding young performers in a TV series. Ensemble awards go to the cast as a whole, so they say nothing about any one member’s intelligence.
The education record is the part that can be checked. In October 2012, ET Online and E! Online reported that Gould had finished high school over the summer at age 13, after what he described as an exam to test out of high school; Wikipedia describes it as a General Educational Development (GED) test and says he hoped to take online college courses. Wikipedia, citing Vanity Fair (May 2012), says he had accelerated four grades by 2012, while TV Guide’s biography says ten, and the same biography says he began college as a 14-year-old freshman in 2013. No college name or degree is on record. The tests used to place children in accelerated programs are covered in gifted cutoff scores, and none of them is documented for him.
After the sitcom, Gould appeared in the 2019 film Yes, in three episodes of the series What’s Up North (2020), as Chase Sams in the Grey’s Anatomy episode “Wasn’t Expecting That” (season 19) and as James Valenti in the 2023 film Miranda’s Victim. As of October 2026 Wikipedia lists him as active.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed October 2026
Nolan Gould: 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.
- 1998Born October 28.
- 2009Modern Family premieres on ABC on September 23, with Gould as Luke Dunphy.
- 2011Modern Family wins the SAG ensemble award in a comedy series at the 17th ceremony on January 30, the first of four straight wins.
- Summer 2012Takes an exam and finishes high school at age 13; Wikipedia describes the test as a GED.
- October 2012ET Online and HuffPost (October 11) and E! Online (October 12) report the graduation and print a reported IQ of 150 and a Mensa membership.
- 2013Capital FM Africa (May 20) prints the 150 and says he is already in college.
- 2014Fourth SAG ensemble win, at the 20th ceremony on January 18.
- 2016The Goan (July 14) prints the 150.
- 2020Modern Family ends on April 8 after 11 seasons and 250 episodes.
- 2025Tatler Asia (August 13) lists “Reported IQ: ~150” in a list of celebrity Mensa members.
Where the 150 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.
Nolan Gould’s IQ is reported as 150, and the figure rests on press repetition, not on a published test. The earliest pages that print it are dated October 11 and 12, 2012, when Gould, then 13, stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to say he had finished high school. ET Online called him a Mensa member “with a reported IQ of 150,” HuffPost wrote “With an IQ of 150, the young actor is a member of Mensa” without a source, and E! Online wrote “Nolan reportedly has an IQ of 150!” None of the three quotes Gould giving a number; the one quotation they carry from him is about the exam: “I took an exam and tested out of high school.” None names a test, an examiner or a date.
The number then traveled unchanged. Capital FM Africa (May 20, 2013) wrote that the 14-year-old “has an IQ of 150 and is already in college.” The Goan (July 14, 2016) repeated the 150. Tatler Asia (August 13, 2025) lists him as “A certified Mensa member with an IQ estimated at 150” and hedges the rest with “reportedly.” Riot IQ, the site of psychologist Russell T. Warne, ranks Gould among the better-documented celebrity Mensa members, saying he stated the membership publicly as a teenager, and prints no IQ for him. Our reading: the membership is reported by several outlets, the 150 by none with a test behind it. Wikipedia’s List of Mensans includes him.
A Mensa card is not a 150. Mensa describes its one qualification as scoring in the upper 2 percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised, and Mensa International’s published cut-offs differ by test: 130 on the Wechsler tests, 132 on the Stanford–Binet and 148 on the Cattell. The same percentile gets a different number on each scale, so a bare “150” says little about rarity until the test is named; on the usual 15-point scale it would be roughly 1 in 2,300, far beyond the 98th percentile that opens the door (see Mensa’s IQ score requirements and what an IQ of 150 means). A score taken in childhood is also a snapshot: regression to the mean means high scores tend to come back toward the average on retest, and testing children uses separate instruments and norms.
The schooling story behind the number is real but smaller than the version that circulates. The “graduated at 10” version some searchers type is not supported: every report that gives an age says 13, and the exam was taken in summer 2012. This site’s estimated IQ range for him, 130–145, sits level with Geena Davis, whose profile is also anchored on a Mensa qualification, and above Jim Parsons, whose page covers the opposite confusion: there the circulating 187 belongs to a character, Sheldon Cooper, not the actor. It sits below Mayim Bialik, whose range rests on a completed neuroscience doctorate. The wider pattern is explained in where celebrity IQ numbers come from.
How we read a number →Born October 28, 1998; “member of Mensa” (citing Pop Tower and Vanity Fair, May 2012) with no IQ figure on the page; four grades accelerated as of 2012; GED test in summer 2012 at age 13; 247 episodes; SAG table (wins 2011 to 2014, nominations 2010 and 2015 to 2017); later credits.
“Nolan reportedly has an IQ of 150!”; Mensa membership; Gould’s quote “I took an exam and tested out of high school”; planning college courses. The page names no test and does not mention a GED.
ET Online: graduated over the summer at age 13, “reported IQ of 150,” Mensa member, hopes to take online community-college courses. HuffPost: “With an IQ of 150, the young actor is a member of Mensa,” with no source.
Calls him a “card-carrying member of Mensa” (the magazine’s words) and quotes Gould on people assuming he is dumb in real life. Prints no IQ number and no test; the issue date is not shown on the page.
Mensa member who graduated at 13 “after accelerating ten grades the year before,” began college as a 14-year-old freshman in 2013, and the full awards list (SAG wins 2011 to 2014). The grade count conflicts with Wikipedia’s four.
Print 150 as his IQ, with Mensa: Capital FM (“has an IQ of 150 and is already in college”), The Goan and Tatler Asia (“Reported IQ: ~150”). None cites a test, a score report or a date.
Says Mensa keeps its rosters confidential and counts a celebrity as confirmed only when the person or Mensa has said so; places Gould among the better-documented members, citing Tatler Asia; prints no IQ figure for him.
Mensa: membership is scoring “within the upper 2%” on an approved, properly administered and supervised test. Wikipedia’s Mensa International entry: minimums of 132 on the Stanford–Binet, 148 on the Cattell and 130 on the Wechsler tests; the 98th percentile on a 15-point scale is 130.8.
Series dates, creators, 11 seasons and 250 episodes; Modern Family the winning ensemble on January 30, 2011 and January 18, 2014, with Gould in the cast; Luke Dunphy’s description; Gould’s entry on the list of Mensans; Wikidata confirms the actor and the birth date.
No test result, score report, examiner, school psychologist record or Mensa statement for Gould was found, and he is not quoted giving a number.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Nolan Gould, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
The Nolan Gould IQ that circulates is 150, usually beside the words “Mensa member.” Pages that print it: ET Online and HuffPost (October 11, 2012), E! Online (October 12, 2012), Capital FM Africa (May 20, 2013), The Goan (July 14, 2016) and Tatler Asia (August 13, 2025).
We found no published IQ test result for Nolan Gould. E! Online hedges the figure with “reportedly,” ET Online says “reported IQ of 150,” and HuffPost, Capital FM Africa and The Goan state it flatly; Tatler Asia labels it “Reported IQ: ~150.” None names a test, an examiner or a date, and none quotes Gould giving a number. Wikipedia’s article says he is a member of Mensa and prints no IQ figure. A Dear Doctor magazine profile written when he was 13 calls him a “card-carrying member of Mensa” and gives no number either. We found no statement from Mensa about him.
The documented floor is the Mensa line, about 130 on a Wechsler scale, and the reported 150 sits just above the top of this page’s range. The gap is small next to most celebrity profiles, but a true 150 on a 15-point scale is rarer than 1 in 2,000, and nothing published supports that rarity.
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.
Nolan Gould — frequently asked
What is Nolan Gould’s IQ?
Nolan Gould’s IQ is reported as 150, but no IQ test result for him has been published, so his actual score is unknown. The figure appears in press items from October 2012 onward, beside a reported Mensa membership. This site’s estimated IQ range of 130–145 is inferred from the record, not from a test.
Is Nolan Gould’s IQ 150?
It is reported as 150, not documented as 150. ET Online, HuffPost and E! Online printed the figure in October 2012 (E! wrote “reportedly”), and later pages copied it, but none names a test, an examiner or a date. A bare 150 also means different things on different tests: Mensa’s cut-off is 130 on Wechsler tests and 148 on the Cattell.
Is Nolan Gould in Mensa?
He is widely reported to be, but we found no statement from Mensa. A Dear Doctor profile written when he was 13 calls him a “card-carrying member of Mensa,” and E! Online, HuffPost and Wikipedia say the same. Mensa admits the upper 2 percent on an approved, supervised test and, per Riot IQ, keeps its roster confidential.
Did Nolan Gould take an IQ test?
If he is a Mensa member, he passed an approved intelligence test at some point, but no report names the test, the examiner, the date or the score, and Gould is not quoted giving a number. The only test documented is an exam he took in 2012 to finish high school, which Wikipedia calls a GED and which is not an IQ test.
Did Nolan Gould graduate from high school at 10?
No. Every report that gives an age says 13. In summer 2012 he finished high school by exam; he told Ellen DeGeneres, “I took an exam and tested out of high school,” and ET Online and E! Online reported it on October 11–12, 2012. Wikipedia describes the test as a GED.
Is Nolan Gould smart?
The documented record points to a strong student: high school finished by exam at 13, grade acceleration reported (four grades per Wikipedia, ten per TV Guide), and a reported Mensa membership. None of that is an IQ score, and his four SAG ensemble awards are shared cast honors. This page estimates a range of 130–145.
How does Nolan Gould’s IQ compare with Luke Dunphy’s?
Luke Dunphy, the character Gould plays, has no stated IQ on the show. Gould’s reported 150 is a claim about the actor, not about the role, and a sitcom character’s lines are not a measurement of either.
How does Nolan Gould’s estimated IQ compare with Geena Davis’s?
This site gives Gould an estimated range of 130–145, the same as Geena Davis’s 130–145. Both lean on the Mensa line of about 130. Davis’s profile uses the method “Test-anchored estimate (Mensa qualification),” while Gould’s uses “Achievement and academic record” because no test of his is documented.
How does my IQ compare with Nolan Gould?
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 actors profiles, starting with Natalie Portman.
- 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 actors profiles — same field, same method
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