How rare is perfect pitch?

Perfect pitch, the ability to identify or recreate a musical note without a reference tone, is quite rare. Even among highly trained musicians, such as those at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, only about one in ten musicians possess perfect pitch. This trait also has a heritable component, accounting for about 30-40% of variability in the trait, but heritability is relatively low. Additionally, early ear training can significantly improve the chances of developing perfect pitch 1.