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Median Calculator — How It Works

Median Calculator math calculator arithmetic

Median Calculator — How It Works

The median is the middle value in a sorted list of numbers — it’s often a better “typical value” than the mean when a data set has outliers.

How it’s calculated

  1. Sort the numbers from smallest to largest.
  2. If there’s an odd number of values, the median is the middle one.
  3. If there’s an even number of values, the median is the average of the two middle values.

Example

Numbers: 4, 7, 8, 12, 19, 21
Sorted:  4, 7, 8, 12, 19, 21
Median = (8 + 12) / 2 = 10

Median vs. mean

The median isn’t pulled around by extreme values the way the mean is. For example, the data set 1, 2, 3, 1000 has a mean of 251.5 but a median of 2.5 — the median better represents most of the data.

Try the Median Calculator — instant results, no sign-up.

FAQ

Is this free?

Yes — the Median Calculator runs entirely in your browser, no sign-up required.