Mean Median Mode Calculator
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Calculate mean, median, and mode from any list of numbers. Also shows range, min, max, sum, and sorted data.
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Central tendency describes the center or typical value of a data set. The three main measures each answer a slightly different question about where the middle of the data is, and each is more useful in certain situations than the others.
For data sets with significant outliers (extreme high or low values), the median is usually a better measure of the typical value than the mean. This is why income data is almost always reported as median income rather than mean income: a small number of very high earners can pull the mean far above where most people's incomes actually fall.
The mean is the sum of all values divided by the count. It is the most familiar average and is useful when the data is roughly symmetric and has no extreme outliers. It accounts for every value in the data set, which makes it sensitive to extreme values.
The median is the middle value when the data is sorted in order. If there are an even number of values, the median is the average of the two middle values. The median is resistant to outliers and gives a better sense of where most of the data falls when the distribution is skewed.
The mode is the most frequently occurring value in the data set. A data set can have one mode, multiple modes, or no mode if all values are unique. The mode is the only measure of central tendency that can be used with non-numerical data, making it useful for categorical information like the most common color or most popular choice.