Average IQ by State - All 50 US States Ranked 2026
You have probably seen a map coloring in the "smartest" and "dumbest" states and wondered where yours falls — and whether a number like that could possibly be fair to millions of people. It is a reasonable thing to be skeptical about, and the honest answer is more interesting than the ranking itself.
Here is the short version. As of 2026, the highest average IQ by state is Massachusetts at 104.3, and the lowest is Mississippi at 94.2. The national average sits right around 98. But almost none of that gap is about raw brainpower — it tracks schooling, income, and age, and the estimates come from school and adult test scores, not from anyone actually sitting an IQ test.
Average IQ by State: Full 2026 Rankings
The table below ranks all 50 states from highest to lowest estimated average IQ. Figures are derived from adult (PIAAC) and student (NAEP) assessment data compiled by World Population Review, 2026.
| Rank | State | Avg IQ | Rank | State | Avg IQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 104.3 | 26 | New York | 100.7 |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 104.2 | 27 | Michigan | 100.5 |
| 3 | North Dakota | 103.8 | 28 | Delaware | 100.4 |
| 4 | Vermont | 103.8 | 29 | North Carolina | 100.2 |
| 5 | Minnesota | 103.7 | 30 | Texas | 100.0 |
| 6 | Maine | 103.4 | 31 | Illinois | 99.9 |
| 7 | Montana | 103.4 | 32 | Maryland | 99.7 |
| 8 | Iowa | 103.2 | 33 | Rhode Island | 99.5 |
| 9 | Connecticut | 103.1 | 34 | Kentucky | 99.4 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 102.9 | 35 | Oklahoma | 99.3 |
| 11 | Kansas | 102.8 | 36 | Alaska | 99.0 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 102.8 | 37 | West Virginia | 98.7 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 102.8 | 38 | Florida | 98.4 |
| 14 | Wyoming | 102.4 | 39 | South Carolina | 98.4 |
| 15 | Nebraska | 102.3 | 40 | Georgia | 98.0 |
| 16 | Virginia | 101.9 | 41 | Tennessee | 97.7 |
| 17 | Washington | 101.9 | 42 | Arkansas | 97.5 |
| 18 | Ohio | 101.8 | 43 | Arizona | 97.4 |
| 19 | Indiana | 101.7 | 44 | Nevada | 96.5 |
| 20 | Colorado | 101.6 | 45 | Alabama | 95.7 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | 101.5 | 46 | New Mexico | 95.7 |
| 22 | Idaho | 101.4 | 47 | Hawaii | 95.6 |
| 23 | Oregon | 101.2 | 48 | California | 95.5 |
| 24 | Utah | 101.1 | 49 | Louisiana | 95.3 |
| 25 | Missouri | 101.0 | 50 | Mississippi | 94.2 |
The whole spread — from top to bottom — is about 10 points. That is roughly two-thirds of one standard deviation, which is smaller than the difference you would expect between two random neighbors on the same street.
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How Is State-Level IQ Actually Measured?
No state gives an IQ test to its residents. State "IQ" is an estimate, reverse-engineered from tests that are collected everywhere: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 4th and 8th graders, and the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) for adults. Researchers convert those reading and math scores onto the familiar IQ scale where 100 is the national mean.
The most-cited academic version of this is McDaniel (2006), published in the journal Intelligence, which produced state IQ estimates from NAEP achievement data. Every popular "IQ by state" map you have seen traces back to that lineage.
This matters for one reason: a state average measures schooling and test performance, not the innate ability of the people who live there. A student who moves from Mississippi to Massachusetts does not get smarter on the drive north. What changes is the average of the environment around them.
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Which States Have the Highest Average IQ?
The top of the list is dominated by the Northeast and Upper Midwest:
- Massachusetts (104.3) and New Hampshire (104.2) lead the country, both home to dense clusters of universities and high per-pupil school funding.
- North Dakota, Vermont, Minnesota, Maine, and Montana round out the top seven — mostly smaller, rural states with strong K–12 outcomes and high graduation rates.
The common thread is not geography or climate. It is education spending, adult educational attainment, and lower child-poverty rates. States that fund schools well and keep students enrolled longer post higher scores on the tests these estimates are built from.
Which States Have the Lowest Average IQ?
The bottom of the table — Mississippi (94.2), Louisiana (95.3), California (95.5), Hawaii (95.6), and New Mexico (95.7) — is where the caveats matter most.
California is the clearest warning against reading these numbers as "smartness." It is home to Silicon Valley, Caltech, Stanford, and Berkeley, yet sits near the bottom. Why? Because these estimates lean heavily on test scores that are sensitive to language background and poverty, and California has the largest population of English-language learners in the country. The metric is measuring test conditions, not the ceiling of talent in the state.
Why Do State IQ Averages Differ?
Three factors explain almost all of the variation, and none of them is innate intelligence:
- Education — funding per student, teacher quality, and years of schooling completed. This is the single biggest driver.
- Income and poverty — childhood poverty depresses measured cognitive scores through nutrition, stress, and school quality, and it is unevenly distributed across states.
- Demographics and language — states with more English-language learners or younger populations score differently on tests calibrated for native English speakers.
Because the whole range is only about 10 points, small differences in any of these can reshuffle the middle of the ranking from year to year. Treat the exact rank as noise and the broad tiers as the signal.
How Does Your State Compare to the World?
A US state average of 94–104 sits comfortably in the middle-to-upper band globally. The same measurement approach applied across nations puts most developed countries in the high 90s to mid 100s. If you want to see where the United States lands against Japan, South Korea, and the rest of the world, our companion breakdown covers the full national picture.
One honest note on all of this: group averages tell you nothing about any individual. Your personal score is not set by your zip code. The only way to know your own number is to measure it directly. At iq-test-official.site, our full assessment is 30 questions across four cognitive domains, scored against the standard mean of 100 — the test is free to take, and a detailed report is available at the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Which US state has the highest average IQ?
A: Massachusetts, at an estimated 104.3, as of 2026. New Hampshire (104.2) and North Dakota (103.8) follow closely. The top of the list is concentrated in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, driven mainly by school funding and educational attainment rather than any innate advantage.
Q: Which state has the lowest average IQ?
A: Mississippi, at an estimated 94.2. Louisiana (95.3) and California (95.5) are next. These numbers reflect test-score gaps tied to poverty and language background, not the actual intelligence of residents — California's low ranking despite Silicon Valley makes that clear.
Q: What is the average IQ in the United States?
A: About 98 overall. By definition the IQ scale is centered on 100 as the population mean, and US state estimates cluster tightly between 94 and 104 — a total spread of only around 10 points.
Q: Are state IQ rankings actually reliable?
A: Only as broad tiers, not exact ranks. State IQ figures are estimates built from NAEP and PIAAC test scores, not administered IQ tests. They measure educational outcomes and test conditions, so the precise ordering shifts year to year and should not be read as a ranking of raw ability.
References
- World Population Review — Average IQ by State 2026
- McDaniel, M.A. (2006). Estimating state IQ: Measurement challenges and preliminary correlates. Intelligence, 34(6). NIH/PMC summary
- National Center for Education Statistics — NAEP (The Nation's Report Card)
Last updated: July 13, 2026
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