IQ to Wonderlic Score Converter

Convert IQ ↔ Wonderlic

How the conversion works

IQ and Wonderlic scores are normalised on bell-curve distributions. The conversion maps a person's standing in one distribution to the equivalent standing in the other.

• IQ: mean 100, standard deviation 15.
• Wonderlic Personnel Test: mean ≈ 21, standard deviation ≈ 7, based on Wonderlic Inc. normative data. The Wonderlic is a 12-minute, 50-item test of general cognitive ability and has been used in employment screening for over 80 years.

IQ-equivalent = (target − mean_target) / SD_target × 15 + 100
target-equivalent = (IQ − 100) / 15 × SD_target + mean_target

Common IQ ↔ Wonderlic reference table

Important caveats

• IQ-Wonderlic correlation is around 0.85, meaning the Wonderlic is essentially a brief IQ test with measurement error. The Wonderlic correlates with the WAIS at around 0.92 in many studies.
• Extreme-tail conversions are less reliable because both tests have fewer calibration cases there.
• No score entered here is stored, submitted, or connected to an account.

What is the Wonderlic test?

The Wonderlic test (the Wonderlic Personnel Test, now called Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test) is a 12-minute, 50-question exam of general cognitive ability used in hiring and famously by the NFL to evaluate draft prospects. Scores range from 0 to 50, with the average working-adult score around 20 to 21. Because questions get progressively harder and cover verbal, numerical, spatial, and logical reasoning, the Wonderlic functions as a brief, timed IQ test.

The Wonderlic measures the same underlying trait as a full IQ test, general intelligence (often called "g"), which is why Wonderlic scores correlate with Wechsler Full Scale IQ at roughly r = 0.85 to 0.93 across published studies. The working-adult norms put the mean at 21 with a standard deviation of about 7, so converting to the standard IQ scale (mean 100, standard deviation 15) lets you read a Wonderlic score as an approximate IQ. Employers use it for fast pre-hire screening, and the NFL used it at the Scouting Combine from the 1970s until phasing it out in 2022.

How Wonderlic scores relate to IQ

Both the Wonderlic and standard IQ tests place people on a bell curve, so a Wonderlic raw score maps cleanly onto the IQ scale by comparing how far each sits from its own average. The Wonderlic averages 21 with a standard deviation of about 7, while IQ averages 100 with a standard deviation of 15.

The conversion formula is: IQ = (Wonderlic - 21) / 7 x 15 + 100. A common shortcut publishers cite is IQ is approximately (Wonderlic x 2) + 60, which gives nearly identical results in the normal range.

Key equivalents:

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Because the Wonderlic is only 50 items and strictly timed, conversions are most reliable in the middle of the range and lose precision at the extreme high and low tails.

What is a good Wonderlic score?

A score of 20 to 21 is exactly average for working adults, matching an IQ near 100. Scores are interpreted relative to job demands rather than as a pass or fail.

• 10 and below: associated with basic, highly structured roles
• 20 to 21: average, roughly IQ 100
• 25 to 30: above average, the range many skilled and professional roles target
• 30 and above: top 10 percent, IQ 120 and up
• 40 and above: top 1 percent, IQ 140 and up

Wonderlic Inc. historically suggested benchmark ranges by occupation, with more cognitively demanding jobs (engineers, chemists, programmers) clustering in the high 20s and 30s and more routine roles in the teens. There is no universal cutoff because the appropriate target depends on the position.

The Wonderlic and the NFL

The Wonderlic became famous through the NFL Scouting Combine, where it was administered to draft prospects as a measure of learning speed and problem solving relevant to mastering a playbook. The NFL used it from the 1970s until officially dropping it in 2022 in favor of other assessments.

Combine attendees averaged around 20 to 24, similar to the general working-adult population. Reported position-by-position differences and a handful of widely publicized high and low individual scores drove much of the test's public reputation. The NFL version was the standard 50-question, 12-minute format, so a player's score converts to IQ the same way any other Wonderlic score does.

How the Wonderlic is scored and structured

The Wonderlic is a single raw-score test. You get one point per correct answer, for a possible 0 to 50, and the score is simply the number of questions answered correctly within the 12-minute limit. There is no penalty for wrong answers, but the time limit is the central challenge because very few people finish all 50 items.

Question content is mixed and gets progressively harder:

• Verbal: vocabulary, analogies, sentence logic
• Numerical: arithmetic, word problems, number series
• Spatial and logical: pattern recognition, shape problems, deductive reasoning

This breadth across multiple reasoning types is why the single Wonderlic number behaves like a general intelligence estimate rather than a narrow skill measure.

Frequently asked questions

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