Tina Fey's IQ: 138
Tina Fey
Estimated IQ
138
Known For
30 Rock creator, SNL head writer, Emmys, first female head writer of SNL
About Tina Fey
Tina Fey became the first female head writer in Saturday Night Live history in 1999 and used that platform to build one of the most acclaimed television careers of the 21st century — she created, wrote, and starred in 30 Rock, which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series four consecutive times (2007-2010), setting a record that stood for years. She studied drama at the University of Virginia and honed her improvisational skills at The Second City in Chicago, where she rose quickly through the ranks to become one of the company's most celebrated alumni. Her Sarah Palin impression during the 2008 election cycle became a cultural phenomenon that demonstrably affected public perception of the actual candidate. She has written a bestselling memoir (Bossypants) that is as substantive about the craft of comedy and the experience of being a woman in male-dominated creative industries as it is funny.
What an IQ of 138 Means
Fey's estimated IQ of 138 places her in the highly gifted range, and this is evident throughout her work. 30 Rock operates at a reference density and comedic sophistication that is unusually high even for prestige television — the show rewards repeat viewing and multiple levels of engagement, from broad jokes to dense cultural allusions to structural parody of television conventions. Her ability to write, produce, perform, and run a major television show simultaneously demonstrates executive function and organizational intelligence of the highest order. Her memoir demonstrates that her verbal intelligence extends to prose as well as performance.
How Tina Fey Compares
To understand where this falls on the IQ scale, see our complete IQ score ranges guide, or learn what IQ actually measures.
Famous IQ Comparison
| Person | Estimated IQ | Known For |
|---|---|---|
| Tina Fey | 138 | 30 Rock creator, SNL head writer, Emmys, first female head writer of SNL |
| Steve Jobs | 130–145 | Apple co-founder, iPhone, Macintosh |
| Mark Zuckerberg | 140–150 | Facebook/Meta founder, social media pioneer |
| Barack Obama | 130–145 | 44th US President, Harvard Law Review |
| Jeff Bezos | 145–155 | Amazon founder, Blue Origin, richest person |
| Warren Buffett | 130–145 | Investor, Berkshire Hathaway, Oracle of Omaha |
| Shakira | 130–140 | Singer, songwriter, speaks 7 languages |
See the complete famous IQ list or check what an IQ of 138 means.
Careers That Match an IQ of 138
- Professor — typical IQ range: 120–135
- Judge — typical IQ range: 120–135
- Surgeon — typical IQ range: 120–135
Explore the full IQ by career chart.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tina Fey's IQ?
Tina Fey's IQ is estimated at approximately 138, placing her in the top 0.5% of the population. She studied drama at the University of Virginia, trained at The Second City, and became the first female head writer in SNL's history. This estimate reflects her academic training, the structural sophistication of 30 Rock (which operates at a comedic reference density rarely matched in television), her demonstrated ability to run a major television production as writer-producer-performer simultaneously, and the verbal intelligence of her memoir Bossypants.
How did Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression affect the 2008 election?
Fey's Palin impression, which debuted on SNL the week after Palin's Republican National Convention speech, had a measurable effect on public perception of the actual candidate. Political scientists studying the election documented that significant portions of the public confused quotes from Fey's impression with actual Palin statements. The impression was effective not because it was mean but because it was structurally accurate: Fey identified and amplified authentic Palin speech patterns — incomplete sentences, confidence disconnected from knowledge, a specific brand of folksy condescension — rather than simply mocking appearance. The impression is a study in satirical intelligence.
What makes 30 Rock unusual among comedy series?
30 Rock is unusual in operating at multiple simultaneous levels of comedic sophistication — it can be enjoyed as a broad workplace comedy, as a satire of television production, as a meditation on gender and power in creative industries, or as a dense network of cultural allusions and structural jokes that reward close attention. Episodes that work as simple comedies on first viewing reveal additional layers of structural and referential comedy on repeat viewing, which is rare even in critically acclaimed television. The show was also unusual in its density: 30 Rock averaged more jokes per episode than almost any other scripted comedy of its era, a product of Fey's SNL-trained economy of language and her ability to run multiple comedic threads simultaneously.
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MyIQScores Editorial Team
Researchers in cognitive psychology, psychometrics & educational science
Last updated
May 10, 2026
All content on MyIQScores is reviewed for scientific accuracy against peer-reviewed research in cognitive psychology and psychometrics. Our editorial team cross-references each article with published literature before publication and updates pages whenever new research warrants a revision.