Enter a list of numbers separated by commas to instantly calculate the mean, median, mode, range, and other basic statistics.
This tool calculates the three most common measures of central tendency for a data set: mean (average), median (middle value), and mode (most frequent value). It also typically calculates range. These statistics are foundational in data analysis, used to summarize and understand the general characteristics of a data set.
Mean = Sum of all values ÷ Number of values. Median = the middle value when data is sorted (or the average of the two middle values if the data set has an even count). Mode = the value(s) that appear most frequently in the data set.
Enter your list of numbers separated by commas or spaces, and the calculator instantly returns the mean, median, mode, and range of the data set.
Example: For the data set 2, 4, 4, 6, 8: Mean = (2+4+4+6+8)/5 = 4.8. Median = 4 (the middle value when sorted). Mode = 4 (appears twice, more than any other value).
When should I use median instead of mean? Median is more useful than mean when a data set has extreme outliers, since mean can be heavily skewed by very large or very small values, while median remains representative of the "typical" value.
Can a data set have more than one mode? Yes, if two or more values tie for the highest frequency, the data set is called bimodal (two modes) or multimodal (more than two); if no value repeats, there is no mode.
What if my data set has an even number of values, for the median? The median is calculated as the average of the two middle values once the data is sorted in order.
What is range and how is it different from these three? Range measures the spread of the data (highest value minus lowest value), while mean, median, and mode describe central tendency — the range doesn't tell you where the "center" of the data is.
Why do income and housing price statistics often report median instead of mean? Because these data sets typically have a long tail of very high values that would pull the mean upward, making median a more accurate representation of a "typical" value.