What Is the Average IQ for a Teenager? What the Norms Say by Age
The average IQ of a teenager is 100 at every age, because IQ tests compare each teen with others of the same age. In one study of 33 teenagers retested about 3.6 years later, the group average barely moved (112 to 113) while individual scores shifted by up to 21 points.
What you need to know
- The average IQ of a teenager is 100 at age 13, 15 and 17, by design: scores are standardised against age-specific norms, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15 on the Wechsler scale.
- The WISC-V is normed on 2,200 children aged 6:0 to 16:11 (Pearson). At 16 a teen can be scored on the WISC-V or the adult WAIS-IV, which was standardised on 2,200 people aged 16 to 90 (Wikipedia).
- Ramsden and colleagues (Nature, 2011) retested 33 teenagers, aged 12 to 16 at first and 15 to 20 at second. Full-scale IQ averaged 112 and then 113, but individual changes ranged from -18 to +21 points.
- Pietschnig and Voracek (2015) estimate full-scale IQ test performance rose 0.28 points a year across 1909 to 2013, about 3 points a decade, and the gains have slowed in recent decades. Old norms therefore flatter today's teens.
The average IQ for a teenager is 100 at every age. IQ scores are standardised against norms for each age, so a typical 13-year-old, 15-year-old or 17-year-old all score 100 on a scale with a standard deviation of 15. The average teenage IQ cannot rise with age by design. What does change is the raw number of questions teens answer correctly, and each individual's score, which can move by 15 points or more.
Below: how teen norms are built, what the average IQ is at 13, 15 and 17, what a 2011 Nature study found when it retested the same teenagers, and why an old test can flatter a teen today.
What is the average IQ for a teenager?
It is 100, the same as for any other age group, on tests that set the average at 100 with a standard deviation of 15. A teen who scores 100 is typical for their age. One who scores 115 is one standard deviation above the average for their age, about the 84th percentile.
The reason is how the scale is built. In the Ramsden study, described below, the authors state that scores "are standardized against age-specific norms". A teen is never compared with adults or with younger children. Our guide to how IQ scores work covers the scale itself.
What is the average IQ at 13, 15 and 17?
The average IQ at 13, at 15 and at 17 is 100 in each case, because each age gets its own norms. A 17-year-old does not need a higher raw score to count as average because they are "smarter" than a 13-year-old; the test is scored against other 17-year-olds, who answer more questions correctly than 13-year-olds.
Which test a teen takes depends on age. Pearson lists the WISC-V for children aged 6:0 to 16:11, normed on 2,200 children. The adult WAIS-IV was standardised on 2,200 people aged 16 to 90, according to Wikipedia. So a 16-year-old may be scored on either test, and a 17-year-old is scored on adult norms. Our guide to WISC-V index scores explains the children's test.
Does a teenager's IQ change over time?
Yes, for individuals, even though the average stays at 100. Ramsden and colleagues, in Nature (volume 479, pages 113-116, 2011), followed 33 healthy adolescents. At the first test they were 12 to 16 years old (mean 14.1); at the second, 15 to 20 (mean 17.7). They took the WISC-III and then the WAIS-III.
- Group average full-scale IQ: 112 at the first test and 113 at the second
- Full-scale IQ range: 77 to 135 at the first test and 87 to 143 at the second
- Individual change: -20 to +23 for verbal IQ, -18 to +17 for performance IQ, -18 to +21 for full-scale IQ
- Using the extreme edges of the published 90% confidence intervals, 33% of the sample still showed a clear change in full-scale IQ (39% in verbal, 21% in performance)
The authors write that "verbal and nonverbal IQ can rise or fall in the teenage years". They link the changes to measured changes in brain structure. The sample is small and was chosen to include a wide range, so the study shows that change happens, not how often it happens in all teenagers. Nature also published an addendum to the paper in 2012, which we could not read. See our pieces on whether your IQ can change over time and at what age intelligence peaks.
The average teenager scores 100 at every age. The individual teenager does not stay put.
Why does the average teenage IQ look higher or lower on old tests?
An old test can flatter today's teens because the average on a fixed test drifts upward over time, a pattern called the Flynn effect. Pietschnig and Voracek (Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2015), analysing 271 samples of almost 4 million participants from 31 countries, estimated annual gains of 0.28 IQ points for full-scale IQ, 0.41 for fluid, 0.30 for spatial and 0.21 for crystallized performance. At 0.28 a year, that is about 3 points per decade.
The same paper reports that gains have decreased in more recent decades. So the norms of a test written 15 years ago may be a few points too easy. That is why publishers renorm, and why our article on why IQ norms expire asks which year's norms a score uses. A 2023 study by Dworak, Revelle and Condon found a pattern consistent with a reversed effect in US adults from 2006 to 2018, but its sample was online adults, so it says nothing direct about teenagers.
How does a teenager find their IQ?
A teenager can find their IQ by taking a test that is scored against norms for their age. A full individual test such as the WISC-V is given by a psychologist. Online, look for a test that states its norm group and reports a percentile. Our IQ test for teens aged 13 to 17 is built for that age band.
Adults and teens alike can read any score with the IQ percentile calculator. For how national averages compare, see average IQ by country.
Where would your own score land?
To see where your own score sits on the standard scale, take the IQ Metrics test and get a percentile with your report.
Find your IQ score now! →Start with the IQ test on our home page.
Common questions
What is the average IQ for a teenager?
It is 100 at every age. IQ scores are standardised against age-specific norms, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15 on the Wechsler scale, so a typical teen scores 100 at 13, 15 or 17.
What is the average IQ at 13, 15 and 17?
It is 100 at each age. Each age group has its own norms, so a 17-year-old is compared with other 17-year-olds, not with 13-year-olds.
Does a teenager's IQ change?
Individual scores can. In Ramsden and colleagues (Nature, 2011), 33 teenagers retested after about 3.6 years averaged 112 and then 113, but individual full-scale changes ranged from -18 to +21 points.
Which IQ test do teenagers take?
Pearson lists the WISC-V for ages 6:0 to 16:11, and the WAIS-IV was standardised on people aged 16 to 90. A 16-year-old may take either; older teens use adult norms.
Sources for this story
- Ramsden et al., Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage brain, Nature 479:113-116 (2011), doi 10.1038/nature10514 — Nature
- WISC-V product page (ages 6:0 to 16:11; normative sample of 2,200 children) — Pearson
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV standardised on 2,200 people aged 16 to 90) — Wikipedia
- Pietschnig and Voracek, One century of global IQ gains: A formal meta-analysis of the Flynn effect (1909-2013), Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(3):282-306 (2015), doi 10.1177/1745691615577701 — SAGE
- Dworak, Revelle and Condon, Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample, Intelligence 98:101734 (2023), doi 10.1016/j.intell.2023.101734 — Elsevier
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