Wonderlic Math Practice: Number Series and Word Problems
Updated October 27, 2026
Math questions are where the Wonderlic’s time limit hurts most. The classic test gives you 50 questions in 12 minutes, about 14 seconds each, and the math isn’t hard on its own: it’s arithmetic, percentages, ratios and number series. The skill being tested is doing it quickly in your head. Here are the fast approaches, then free practice questions.
Fast approaches
| Question type | Do this first |
|---|---|
| Number series | Check the difference between terms; if that doesn’t work, check the ratio |
| Percent of a number | Use 10% as a building block: 15% = 10% + half of 10% |
| Discounts and increases | Multiply by what’s left: 20% off = × 0.8 |
| Ratios and shares | Add the parts first: a 2:3 split of 50 is 5 parts of 10 |
| Rates (speed, work) | Find the rate per one unit, then scale it |
| Averages | Total ÷ count; to find a missing value, work backward from the total |
If a problem will clearly take more than 20 seconds, make your best guess and move on.
Free Wonderlic math practice
Try to answer each in about 15 seconds.
-
What number comes next: 5, 9, 13, 17, ...?Answer: CThe series adds 4 each time: 17 + 4 = 21.
-
What number comes next: 81, 27, 9, 3, ...?Answer: BEach number is divided by 3: 3 ÷ 3 = 1.
-
A $60 item is marked 15% off. What is the sale price?Answer: C10% of $60 is $6 and 5% is $3, so 15% is $9. $60 − $9 = $51.
-
$50 is split between two people in a 2:3 ratio. How much does the larger share get?Answer: C2 + 3 = 5 parts, so each part is $10. The larger share is 3 parts: $30.
-
Three workers each earn $15 an hour. How much do they earn together in an 8-hour day?Answer: COne worker earns 15 × 8 = $120 a day, so three earn $360.
-
The average of four numbers is 12. Three of them are 10, 14 and 9. What is the fourth?Answer: DThe total must be 4 × 12 = 48. The three known numbers add up to 33, so the fourth is 48 − 33 = 15.
-
What number comes next: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ...?Answer: CThese are square numbers (1², 2², 3², 4², 5²), so the next is 6² = 36.
More practice
See the question types guide and the Wonderlic test guide.
Score higher on your Wonderlic and get the job
- All 193 questions across verbal, math and logic
- A short explanation for every answer, with the fastest way to solve it
- Unlimited full 50-question practice exams with the question types mixed, as on the real test