Enter a list of numbers to get the mean, median, mode, sum, count, and range. Steps are shown for each measure so you can see how every value is reached.
The average (mean) of a data set equals the sum of all values divided by the count of values. It sits alongside the median and mode as the three main measures of central tendency.
Each of the three measures tells you something different about the center of your data:
Notice that the mean (6.4) sits above the median (5) because 12 pulls it up. When a data set has outliers, the median often gives a more useful picture of the center.
For further reading on measures of central tendency, see Average on Wikipedia.
Need spread as well as center? The standard deviation calculator gives variance and SD for the same data set.
Add all the numbers together, then divide by how many numbers there are. For example, the average of 3, 7, and 5 is (3 + 7 + 5) / 3 = 15 / 3 = 5.
Sum every value in your data set, then divide by the count of values. This gives the arithmetic mean, which is what most people mean by 'average'.
Step 1: add all numbers together to get the sum. Step 2: count how many numbers you have. Step 3: divide the sum by the count. The result is the mean average.
An average calculator takes a list of numbers and returns the mean (arithmetic average), median (middle value), mode (most common value), sum, count, and range in one step.
Editor at Encore Editorial, Chris Terry sets the editorial standards here and turns dense topics into plain English. He has written widely on education, finance, and consumer markets.