Home »
Excel-Built-In-Functions »
Excel-Statistical-Functions »
Excel-Median-Function
The Excel MEDIAN Function
Function Description
The Excel MEDIAN function returns the statistical median (the middle value) of a list of supplied numbers.
The syntax of the function is:
MEDIAN( number1, [number2], ... )
where the number arguments are a set of one or more numeric values
(or arrays of numeric values), for which you want to calculate the median
Note that:
-
If there is an even number of values in the supplied data set, the average of the two middle
values is returned;
-
If a supplied array contains empty cells, text, or logical values, these values are ignored
when calculating the median.
-
In current versions of Excel (Excel 2007 & later), you can provide up to 255
number arguments to the Median function, but in Excel 2003, the
function can only accept up to 30 number arguments. However,
each of the number arguments can be an array of many values.
Excel Median Function Examples
The following spreadsheet shows three examples of the Median function:
|
Formulas:
| |
A |
B |
| 1 |
1 |
=MEDIAN( A1:A7 ) |
| 2 |
4.5 |
=MEDIAN( A1:A7, 12 ) |
| 3 |
7 |
=MEDIAN( A1:A8 ) |
| 4 |
8 |
|
| 5 |
9 |
|
| 6 |
13 |
|
| 7 |
14 |
|
| 8 |
|
|
|
Results:
| |
A |
B |
| 1 |
1 |
8 |
| 2 |
4.5 |
8.5 |
| 3 |
7 |
8 |
| 4 |
8 |
|
| 5 |
9 |
|
| 6 |
13 |
|
| 7 |
14 |
|
| 8 |
|
|
|
Note that, in the above examples:
-
The example in cell B2 receives an even number of values and so the median is calculated to be
the average of the two middle values, 8 and 9;
-
The example in cell B3 includes the blank cell, A8. This cell is ignored in the median calculation.
For further details of the Excel Median function, see the
Microsoft Office website.