What is Bill Nye’s IQ?
For once, the number in circulation is no bigger than the record behind it.
Bill Nye’s IQ has never been published: no test result exists, and the 111, 115–130 and 130 attached to his name come from a web quiz, unsourced ranges and a guess. What is documented is a 1977 Cornell degree in mechanical engineering, Boeing work on 747 hydraulics, a U.S. patent and a series that won 19 Emmys: a solid record, not a genius claim.
Bill Nye’s estimated IQ
- B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, class of 1977, after graduating from Sidwell Friends School in 1973.
- After graduating he took an engineering job at Boeing in Seattle, where he specialized in the hydraulic systems of the 747, and is credited with a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on 747s.
- Named inventor on U.S. Patent 5,515,203 (an educational lens, filed 1994, granted May 7, 1996) and U.S. Patent 6,895,694 (a ballet toe shoe, granted May 24, 2005).
- Created and hosted Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998, 100 episodes), a series that won 19 Emmy Awards from 23 nominations.
This is an inference from documented achievement, not a test result, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering narrows the plausible range without pinning it down. The Emmys, the Medal of Freedom and fifteen years leading The Planetary Society show communication and leadership at a very high level, which is not the same thing as a measured IQ.
- Born
- November 27, 1955, Washington, D.C.
- Field
- Mechanical engineering; science communication
- Education
- Sidwell Friends School (1973); B.S. mechanical engineering, Cornell University (1977)
- Known for
- Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998); Bill Nye Saves the World (Netflix, 2017–2018)
- Patents
- U.S. 5,515,203 (educational lens, 1996); U.S. 6,895,694 (ballet toe shoe, 2005)
- Honors
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (January 4, 2025); 19 Emmy Awards for the series
- Leadership
- CEO of The Planetary Society, 2010–2026; now Vice Chair and Chief Ambassador
- Circulating figure
- 115–130, unsourced; no test result published
What an IQ of 120–135 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 Bill Nye is
How smart is Bill Nye, judged only by what can be checked? The record starts with William Sanford Nye, born in Washington, D.C., on November 27, 1955. He graduated from Sidwell Friends School in 1973 (his senior-year photo survives in the school’s 1973 yearbook, reproduced on Wikimedia Commons) and took a B.S. in mechanical engineering at Cornell University in 1977; for how engineering compares with other fields, see average IQ by college major. As a senior he took Astronomy 102 with Carl Sagan, a story he has told more than once, including in a NOVA video titled “Bill Nye: I Took Astronomy From Carl Sagan.” Cornell later named him a visiting professor (2001–2005).
After graduating he moved to Seattle for an engineering job at Boeing, where he specialized in the hydraulic systems of the 747 and is credited with a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on 747s; we found no patent number for that tube. He is the named inventor on U.S. Patent 5,515,203, an educational lens made from a water-filled polyethylene pouch (filed July 8, 1994, granted May 7, 1996), and on U.S. Patent 6,895,694, a ballet toe shoe (filed November 19, 2002, granted May 24, 2005). Other patents credited to him include a throwing-technique trainer and a design patent for a digital abacus. In the early 2000s he also helped develop the MarsDial, a sundial carried on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers.
In Seattle he moved into comedy, performing on KING-TV’s sketch show Almost Live!, where he eventually debuted as “the Science Guy.” Bill Nye the Science Guy, created by Nye, James McKenna and Erren Gottlieb and produced by KCTS Seattle and Disney, ran for five seasons and 100 episodes (1993–1998) and won 19 Emmy Awards from 23 nominations. Lehigh University’s 2013 biography credits Nye himself with seven Emmys, for writing, performing and producing; the 19 belong to the series, though several IQ pages credit all of them to him.
Nye led The Planetary Society, the space nonprofit co-founded by Carl Sagan, from 2010 until February 2026. The Society announced the change on January 26, 2026: Jennifer Vaughn became CEO on February 17, 2026, and Nye became Vice Chair of the Board and the newly created Chief Ambassador. Elsewhere he hosted Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix (three seasons, 2017–2018), wrote books including Unstoppable (2015) and Everything All at Once (2017), and holds honorary doctorates, among them a Doctor of Pedagogy from Lehigh University (2013). He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 4, 2025.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed August 2026
Bill Nye: 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.
- 1955Born in Washington, D.C.
- 1973Graduates from Sidwell Friends School.
- 1977Graduates from Cornell with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and moves to Seattle for a job at Boeing.
- 1986Joins the cast of KING-TV’s Almost Live! in Seattle, where the “Science Guy” persona begins.
- 1993Bill Nye the Science Guy begins its run: five seasons and 100 episodes, produced through 1998.
- 1996U.S. Patent 5,515,203, for an educational lens, is granted on May 7.
- 2010Takes over leadership of The Planetary Society.
- 2017Bill Nye Saves the World premieres on Netflix on April 21.
- 2025Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 4.
- 2026Steps down as Planetary Society CEO (successor starts February 17) and becomes Vice Chair and Chief Ambassador.
Where the 115–130 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.
Bill Nye’s IQ is a case where the number is modest and the sourcing is still thin. Pages that promise a Bill Nye IQ level give four different answers: 130 on check-iq.org, 123 and a 115–130 range on celebsiq.com, the same range in close to the same words on realiqtestonline.com, and 111 on a BRGHT profile. None cites a test that Nye is known to have taken, which is the pattern celebrity IQ numbers usually follow: a figure appears, other pages copy it, and the copying starts to look like confirmation.
The 130 has the clearest trail, and it ends in a guess. check-iq.org (published June 26, 2024, updated February 21, 2025) calls 130 “believed to be” his IQ and lists Distractify at 130, Market Realist at 130 and IQ-test.org at 115, while admitting the estimate “comes from one source.” The Distractify explainer we checked, dated August 26, 2022, gives no number at all: it speculates that Nye is probably in the “gifted” range, which it defines as 130 and above, because he is likely above the U.S. average. A guess about a range became a figure with a confidence label attached. And 130 is only the usual cut-off for “gifted”; it is not a genius score.
The 111 comes with a test name and a date, which makes it look sturdier than the rest. It is a BRGHT profile titled “Bill Nye has an IQ of 111,” showing a 30-question, 20-minute online estimate dated October 12, 2023, and placing “Bill” at the 76th percentile of BRGHT takers. Nothing on the page ties it to the television host: as we retrieved it, there is no biography, and the profile line begins “Apiarist,” a beekeeper. A second BRGHT profile under the same name shows 95 from a test dated February 14, 2023, and an unproctored web quiz is not an IQ test in the clinical sense (what to check before trusting an online score). Riot IQ’s article of August 10, 2026 reaches the same conclusion: it traces 111 to one consumer quiz and says no professionally administered result has been published. A result titled “Bill Nye the Science Guy IQ Score” turns out to be TV Intelligentsia’s rating of the program, 174/200 on its own rubric; that rates the show’s educational content and says nothing about the man.
The direction of the error is unusual for this section. On most pages here the circulating figure sits well above what the record supports, as Brian Cox’s circulating 183 does against a 125–140 range. Nye’s numbers sit inside, or a little under, the 120–135 range his record supports, much as the 123 attached to Neil deGrasse Tyson sits under his 140–155. Nye’s own range tops out five points below Tyson’s floor, and the reason is the degree, not the public work: Tyson completed a doctorate at Columbia in 1991, while Nye’s highest earned degree is a bachelor’s. Modest is still not measured. A plausible number with no test behind it remains a number with no test behind it, and the honest answer to “what’s Bill Nye’s IQ” is that nobody has published one.
How we read a number →No score report, school record or clinician’s account for Nye turned up in Wikipedia, Cornell’s Chronicle and alumni magazine, the Planetary Society, Lehigh University’s announcement or any of the IQ pages below. Riot IQ (August 10, 2026) also concludes that no professionally administered result has been published.
check-iq.org calls 130 “believed to be” his IQ, credits Distractify (130), Market Realist (130) and IQ-test.org (115), and says the estimate “comes from one source” (published June 26, 2024; updated February 21, 2025). The Distractify piece of August 26, 2022 gives no number: it guesses he is probably in the “gifted” range (130 and above), with no test. The Market Realist and IQ-test.org pages were not reviewed.
Both give a range of 115–130 in overlapping wording, with no test, date or source. celebsiq.com adds 123 and states that his real IQ is not publicly known.
Two separate profiles: 111 (a 30-question, 20-minute online estimate dated October 12, 2023; 76th percentile) and 95 (February 14, 2023; 37th percentile). Neither page, as retrieved, says which Bill Nye it belongs to; the 111 profile carries no biography and the label “Apiarist.”
Filed July 8, 1994 and granted May 7, 1996; the background section refers to the inventor’s television program, Bill Nye, The Science Guy, which ties the patent to the host. U.S. Patent 6,895,694 (“Toe shoe,” filed November 19, 2002, granted May 24, 2005) also names William S. Nye as inventor.
Credited to the Sidwell Friends 1973 yearbook and described as a photo of Nye as a high-school senior; marked public domain in the United States. It documents the school and the 1973 senior year.
Confirm the 1977 B.S. in mechanical engineering, a Boeing job specializing in 747 hydraulic systems, Astronomy 102 with Carl Sagan as a senior, the Mars rover sundial work, a Frank H.T. Rhodes visiting professorship (2001–05) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 4, 2025. The alumni magazine also mentions the ballet pointe shoe patent.
Nye accepted the CEO role in 2010; he is now Vice Chair of the Board and Chief Ambassador, and Jennifer Vaughn became CEO on February 17, 2026.
Describes his Cornell B.S. in mechanical engineering, says he worked for Boeing, credits him with seven Emmy Awards for writing, performing and producing, and announces an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy for the May 20, 2013 commencement.
Orientation for birth date and place, Sidwell Friends (1973), the Cornell degree, the hydraulic resonance suppressor tube, the series (five seasons, 100 episodes; 23 Emmy nominations, 19 wins), the Netflix show (April 21, 2017 to May 11, 2018) and the list of honorary degrees. Wikidata Q2619019 identifies the American science educator born in 1955.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Bill Nye, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
Four numbers circulate for Bill Nye’s IQ level: 111 on a BRGHT profile, 123 on celebsiq.com, a 115–130 range on celebsiq.com and realiqtestonline.com, and 130 on check-iq.org, which credits Distractify and Market Realist. Separately, TV Intelligentsia scores the show, not the man, at 174/200.
No published IQ test result exists for Bill Nye. check-iq.org calls 130 an estimate that “comes from one source” and lists Distractify, Market Realist and IQ-test.org; the Distractify explainer we checked only guesses that he is probably in the “gifted” range. celebsiq.com and realiqtestonline.com cite no test, date or source, and celebsiq.com says his real IQ is not publicly known. The BRGHT 111 is a 20-minute online quiz dated October 12, 2023, on a profile with no biography and the label “Apiarist”; a second BRGHT profile with his name shows 95. Riot IQ (August 10, 2026) concludes that no professionally administered result exists.
Read left to right: 111 is a web quiz on a profile that never says which Bill Nye it belongs to; 120–135 is the range this site infers from his record; 130 is a guess about the “gifted” range. Every number fits inside a 24-point band, which is tighter than on many pages here and still not a measurement.
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.
Bill Nye — frequently asked
What is Bill Nye’s IQ?
No published IQ test result exists for Bill Nye, so his IQ is not known. The circulating numbers (111, 115–130, 123 and 130) come from a web quiz, unsourced pages and a guess. This site’s estimated IQ range, 120–135, is inferred from his Cornell engineering degree and career, not from a test.
What is Bill Nye the Science Guy’s IQ level?
There is no documented IQ level for Bill Nye. Celebrity IQ pages list 111, 123, 115–130 or 130 with no test behind them, and TV Intelligentsia’s 174/200 rates the show, not the man. The 120–135 estimate here means well above average, not genius level.
How smart is Bill Nye, and what does his record say about his IQ?
His record shows a high-achieving engineer and communicator: a 1977 Cornell B.S. in mechanical engineering, Boeing work on 747 hydraulic systems, a U.S. patent granted in 1996 and a series that won 19 Emmy Awards. That supports an estimated IQ around 120–135, not a genius claim.
Did Bill Nye ever take an IQ test?
No test result is public, and in the sources checked he has not published or discussed a personal IQ score. A BRGHT web-quiz profile shows 111, but it does not say which Bill Nye it belongs to, and a second BRGHT profile with his name shows 95.
Where does the 130 IQ figure for Bill Nye come from?
It traces to guesswork. check-iq.org lists Distractify and Market Realist as sources for 130 and says the estimate comes from one source, while Distractify’s 2022 explainer only guesses that he is probably in the gifted range, defined as 130 and above, with no test.
What degree does Bill Nye have?
Bill Nye’s only earned degree is a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University (1977); he graduated from Sidwell Friends School in 1973. He has honorary doctorates, including a Doctor of Pedagogy from Lehigh University (2013), and took Carl Sagan’s astronomy course at Cornell.
How does Bill Nye’s estimated IQ compare with Neil deGrasse Tyson’s?
This site estimates 120–135 for Nye and 140–155 for Neil deGrasse Tyson. The gap reflects the record, not the public work: Tyson completed a doctorate at Columbia in 1991, while Nye’s highest earned degree is a bachelor’s. Neither range comes from a test.
How does my IQ compare with Bill Nye?
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 the Institute for Pure & Applied Mathematics (2026), CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph from the US National Archives (catalog 558579), public domain.
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
An estimate is an inference.
Yours can be measured.
Thirty questions, scored against general-population benchmarks. Your score, your percentile, your ability breakdown and a printable IIF certificate.
Find your IQ score now! →