What is Nikola Tesla's IQ?
Nikola Tesla's IQ is quoted as anything from 160 to 310, depending which site you land on. He never took a test. The spread of 150 points is a better description of the sources than of Tesla.
A quick, honest note. This number circulates online with no traceable origin. We publish it because you came to read it, and label it what it is: lore.
Where does the 160–310 number come from?
Tesla attracts inflated numbers more than almost anyone, partly because his reputation online has drifted from "important electrical engineer" toward something closer to folklore.
The upper figures are not merely unsupported, they are outside the range the scale defines. A deviation IQ of 310 does not describe a very rare person; it describes a point the distribution does not reach.
His documented contributions to alternating-current systems stand on their own and need no number attached.
How rare would a 310 IQ be?
If the 310 end of that range were literally true, it would be extraordinarily rare — rarer than1 in ∞ people. That alone is a good reason to treat any confident-sounding celebrity IQ number with a raised eyebrow.
Too rare to draw — a grid with one highlighted dot in ∞ would be a solid wall of gray.
What a score like this would mean
A 310 would sit in the very superior · gifted range — about one person in ∞. Fill a large concert hall and you would expect nobody in the room to clear it.
Stop reading estimates about strangers. Sixteen questions and about ten minutes gets you a number that is actually yours.
Frequently asked questions
What was Nikola Tesla's IQ?
Unknown. He never took a test, and quoted figures range from 160 to 310 with no source behind any of them.