The People of Mensa
Who is Mensa For?
Mensa is for those who rejoice in the exercise of the mind. If you enjoy mental challenges and revel in the interplay of ideas, Mensa is an organization that will stretch your mind and expand your horizons. Mensa is an international society that has one — and only one — unique qualification for membership: you must score in the top two percent of the population on a standardized IQ test.What kind of people are Members of Mensa?
Mensa: We Think, Therefore We Are. Mensans are the kind of people you meet every day . . . except that they enjoy using their minds more than most. And they have IQ scores that would impress some of their neighbors!Today there are some 100,000 Mensans in 100 countries throughout the world. There are active Mensa organizations in 18 countries in Europe, North America and around the Pacific Rim. American Mensa, Ltd. has some 150 local chapters with more than 50,000 members. Founded at Oxford University in 1946, Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.
There is simply no one prevailing characteristic of Mensa members other than high IQ. There are Mensans for whom Mensa provides a sense of family, and others for whom it is casual. There have been many marriages made in Mensa; but for many people, Mensa is simply a stimulating opportunity for the mind. Almost certainty most Mensans have a good sense of humor, and they like to talk. And, usually, they have a lot to say.
Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 49. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers — you name it. There are famous Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many, many whose names you wouldn't know.
American Mensa Ltd. Demographics
- 64.4% male, 35.4% female (0.2% won't say)
- 54% between 30-49 years of age, 14% under 29, 0.32% over 80
- 31.2% in first marriage, 29.82% never married, 13.32% divorced once, 9.53% in second marriage after a divorce
- Just over half have no children, 12.4% have one child, 18.66% have 2, 9.95% have 3, 4.37% have 4, 1.29% have 9+
- about 30% earn $20-40,000, 10% earn $50-75,000, 9% earn $40-50,000 and about 0.5% earn more than $250,000.
- 17.93% Master's degree or equivalent, 17.56% four year graduates, one in 11 are Ph.D.s.
- 41% work in private industry, 13% in government, 13% self employed.
- 88% European ancestry.
- 49% Christian, 3% Unitarian, 9% Jewish, 7% agnostic, 3.6% atheist, 9% no religion
- 14% only children, 19+% older of two, 12.5% younger of two, 11.5% oldest of three, 6.8% middle of three, 5.8% youngest of three, 9.7% oldest of more than three, 10.8% middle of four or more, 4.4% youngest of four or more
- Computer-related occupations 10%, 3.75% own their own business, Electrical Engineers are 2.6%, 7.5% are in education, 3% lawyers, 0.11% judges, 0.02% are in astronomy.
Return to "Frequently Asked Questions." Mensa Members Around the World
Country Members USA 50,483 UK and Ireland 35,608 Canada 2,546 Malaysia 2,181 Germany 1,204 Finland 1,107 Yugoslavia 1,100 Australia 961 Netherlands 922 Czechoslovakia 715 France 708 Poland 700 Italy 400 South Africa 395 New Zealand 327 Denmark 295 Austria 287 Channel Islands 257 Spain 251 Singapore 245 India 200 Sweden 146 Belgium 117 Japan 101 Switzerland 101 Hong Kong 100 OTHER 320 Total Worldwide Membership: 101,813
Return to "All About Mensa and MWM."
Metropolitan Washington Mensa