1998 SAT and IQ Scores by State

Sources: College Board press releases and SAT to IQ conversion chart

The calculated average IQ's below are questionable for 22 states. In these states, less than 20% of high school graduates took SAT tests, probably the brighter ones. Those questionable IQ's are replaced by ACT scores in overall state IQ numbers calculations. 1998 seems to be the last easy-to-use information on state SAT's, including pre-calculated % of students taking SAT's. The College Board does have later data at http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2004/reports.html But... (1) There are numbers but not % of students taking SAT's. One might find numbers of high school seniors in a state at another website (2) Information on each state is in a separate report (3) All reports are in PDF format, which does not foster easy data manipulation See the comment (plus my answer) on Use of SAT's on Tue, 16 Nov 2004 at http://SQ.4mg.com/usingSQ.htm . The College Board works hard to discourage simple state score comparisons, and Sloan can understand why. But that does make SAT research a challenge!

SAT by State	Recentered			From chart
STATES	Verbal	Math.....	Composite	IQ of SAT test takers	Estimated IQ of all *	% HS grads taking SAT
Iowa	593	601	1194	123	113 ?	5%
North Dakota	590	599	1189	122	112 ?	5%
Minnesota	585	598	1183	122	112 ?	9%
Wisconsin	581	594	1175	121	111 ?	8%
Kansas	582	585	1167	121	111 ?	9%
South Dakota	584	581	1165	121	111 ?	5%
Illinois	564	581	1145	119	109 ?	14%
Missouri	570	573	1143	119	109 ?	9%
Utah	572	570	1142	119	109 ?	4%
Nebraska	565	571	1136	118	108 ?	9%
Oklahoma	568	564	1132	118	108 ?	8%
Michigan	558	569	1127	118	108 ?	11%
Arkansas	568	555	1123	118	108 ?	6%
Tennessee	564	557	1121	118	108 ?	14%
Alabama	562	558	1120	117	107 ?	8%
Louisiana	562	558	1120	117	107 ?	9%
Mississippi	562	549	1111	117	107 ?	4%
New Mexico	554	551	1105	116	106 ?	12%
Kentucky	547	550	1097	116	106 ?	12%
Wyoming	548	546	1094	116	106 ?	11%
Montana	543	546	1089	115	105	21%
Idaho	545	544	1089	115	105 ?	15%
Colorado	537	542	1079	114	104	30%
Ohio	536	540	1076	114	104	24%
Oregon	528	528	1056	113	103	50%
Arizona	525	528	1053	113	103	28%
Washington	524	526	1050	112	102	47%
New Hampshire	523	520	1043	112	104	70%
Alaska	521	520	1041	112	102	47%
West Virginia	525	513	1038	111	101 ?	17%
Nevada	510	513	1023	110	100	31%
Connecticut	510	509	1019	110	102	79%
National Avg.	505	512	1017	110	100	41%
Massachusetts	508	508	1016	110	103	80%
Maryland	506	508	1014	110	101	64%
California	497	516	1013	110	100	45%
Vermont	508	504	1012	110	102	70%
Virginia	507	499	1006	109	100	68%
Maine	504	501	1005	109	100	68%
New Jersey	497	508	1005	109	100	69%
Florida	500	501	1001	109	99	48%
New York	495	503	998	109	101	73%
Indiana	497	500	997	109	99	57%
Hawaii	483	513	996	109	99	54%
Rhode Island	501	495	996	109	100	69%
Texas	494	501	995	108	98	48%
Delaware	501	493	994	108	99	66%
Pennsylvania	497	495	992	108	100	71%
North Carolina	490	492	982	107	97	59%
Georgia	486	482	968	106	97	63%
D.C.	488	476	964	106	96	50%
South Carolina	478	473	951	105	95	57%

* Estimated IQ for all citizens of a state is normally set 10 points less than the IQ of SAT test takers, to make a national average of 100 IQ. This difference is proportionally reduced when over 60% of high school grads take the SAT. The overall results also fit better with 4^th grade test results.

Go to: The best State IQ estimates available, including the data above

Go to: Basic facts on IQ

Go to: Research on IQ in an Individual's Success

Go to: Home page

Comments to: VanSloan@yahoo.com

1998 SAT and IQ Scores by State

SAT by State