Mean, Median, Mode Calculator
Definitions
• Mean: Average of all numbers
• Median: Middle value when sorted
• Mode: Most frequently occurring value(s)
Find the mean, median and mode of a list of numbers and see the data sorted. Comparing the mean with the median shows at a glance whether a few extreme values are pulling the average.
Formula
Worked Example
The sum is 59, so the mean is 59 ÷ 6 = 9.83. With six values the median is the average of the 3rd and 4th, (5 + 7) ÷ 2 = 6, and 5 appears most often. The single value of 30 pulls the mean above five of the six values, while the median stays in the middle of the data.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I use the median instead of the mean?
When the data is skewed or has outliers, such as incomes, house prices or response times. One very large value changes the mean a lot but the median hardly at all, so the median describes a typical value better.
Can a data set have more than one mode, or none?
Yes. If two values tie for the most appearances the data is bimodal, and both are modes. If every value appears once there is no mode.
How do I find the median of an even number of values?
Sort them and average the two in the middle. For 2, 4, 7, 10 the median is (4 + 7) ÷ 2 = 5.5, which need not be one of the values.