What Is AOC’s IQ?

What is AOC's IQ? No official score exists—estimates from her Boston University honors degree and science fair win suggest 115–120, top 10%. Unverified claims online are baseless.

Dr. Russell T. WarneChief Scientist

Public curiosity often extends to the intelligence of prominent figures such as U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. However, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has not ever stated that she has taken an IQ test, and so it is unlikely that there is an IQ score for her.

It is possible to estimate IQ based on college admissions scores, such as the SAT and ACT. However, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has not revealed these scores, and any school or university that has them is prevented from disclosing them by federal privacy laws.

The best proxy available for estimating Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s intelligence is her academic accomplishments. She graduated cum laude (i.e., with academic honors) from Boston University with bachelor’s degrees in economics and international relations. When she started at Boston University, the average incoming student had an SAT score of approximately 1260 (out of 1600). This corresponds to an IQ of approximately 114. Nationwide, economics majors (grouped with business majors in government reports) have approximately average intelligence compared to college students.

Based on this information it is reasonable to believe that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is smarter than average. If she were as bright as the typical economics major, her IQ would be about 100-110. But attending Boston University and graduating with honors means her IQ is probably much higher: 115 to 120 is probably a conservative minimum estimate.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has academic accomplishments at the level one would expect for this level of intelligence. In addition to graduating college with honors, in high school she won 2nd place in the International Science and Engineering Fair in the microbiology category.

While there is no evidence that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has taken an IQ test, she has the academic accomplishments of a very bright person. If her IQ is 120, then her intelligence would be in the top 10% of the population. It’s possible that she is brighter than this. Only professionally-developed tests can provide more accuracy than this. If Ms. Ocasio-Cortez -- or anyone else -- wants to take an IQ test to reveal their level of intelligence, they can take the RIOT at riotiq.com.

Watch “Hidden Talents Behind Bars: How Harsh Environments Reshape Intelligence” with Dr. Michael Woodley on the Riot IQ YouTube channel for a deeper look at how environment and opportunity shape human intelligence.