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Confidence: speculative
Speculative

What is Stephen Hawking's IQ?

Stephen Hawking's IQ is widely quoted as 160. He never published a score, and when a journalist asked him about his, he replied that he had no idea — adding that people who boast about their IQ are losers.

160circulated figure

Written and reviewed by the myfreeiqtest editors.

Stephen Hawking smiling in his wheelchair, wearing glasses and a tweed jacket, an office desk behind him. Black and white.Stephen HawkingTheoretical physicist, cosmologist

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 number come from?

The most reliably documented fact about Hawking's IQ is that he declined to discuss it.

ClaimWhere it traces toHow solid
"IQ 160"Popular lists; no original source or test recordWeak
Declined to state his IQInterview with The New York Times, 2004Strong
Table 1 · Every thread behind the figure, and how much weight it can carry.

Asked in a 2004 interview what his IQ was, Hawking said he had no idea, and offered the line about boasters that has followed the quote ever since. It is the closest thing to a primary source that exists on this question, and it says nothing about the number.

The 160 that circulates has the same provenance as Einstein's: none. It is a placeholder that fits the cultural slot marked "physicist".

There is a mild irony in the number being repeated on sites that use it to sell IQ tests, given the man's stated view of the exercise.

How rare would a 160 IQ be?

If the 160 figure were literally true, it would be extraordinarily rare — rarer than1 in 31,560 people. That alone is a good reason to treat any confident-sounding celebrity IQ number with a raised eyebrow.

IQ scoreaverage160Stephen Hawking55100 · average130160180
Figure 1 · The marker is dashed because the number is an estimate.
1 in 31,560

Too rare to draw — a grid with one highlighted dot in 31,560 would be a solid wall of gray.

Figure 2 · A 160 would make Hawking 1-in-31,560 smart.

What a score like this would mean

A 160 would sit in the very superior · gifted range — about one person in 31,560. Fill a large concert hall and you would expect nobody in the room to clear it.

See what that band actually means:Is 160 IQ good?The full IQ scale
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Others often compared to Hawking

See all celebrity IQ estimates
Albert Einstein in later life, seated, wearing a jacket and looking toward the camera.Albert EinsteinTheoretical physicist, Nobel laureate160SpeculativeRead full IQ profileRichard Feynman resting his chin on his hand, in a suit and striped shirt, smiling. Black and white.Richard FeynmanPhysicist, Nobel laureate125ReportedRead full IQ profileGodfrey Kneller's painted portrait of Isaac Newton, in a dark coat and white cravat with long curled hair.Isaac NewtonPhysicist and mathematician190SpeculativeRead full IQ profile

Frequently asked questions

What was Stephen Hawking's IQ?

Unknown. He never published a score and said in a 2004 interview that he had no idea what it was.

Did Stephen Hawking say anything about IQ?

Yes — asked about his own, he said people who boast about their IQ are losers.

Where does the figure of 160 come from?

No traceable source. It appears in popular lists without any test record behind it.