Statistics
Mean, median, and mode calculator
Paste any list of numbers to get the mean, median, mode, and range at once — plus a reminder of which “average” actually describes your data best.
- Mean (average)
- 18
- Median (middle)
- 15.5
- Mode (most common)
- none
- Range
- 38
- Count
- 6
Three kinds of “average”
“Average” is ambiguous. The mean balances the data like a see-saw, the median marks the halfway point, and the mode is the most common value. When a data set is symmetric they’re close together; when it’s skewed they can tell very different stories.
Why the choice matters
Report “average salary” as the mean and one executive’s pay can make the whole team look wealthy. Report the median and you get the person in the middle. Choosing the right summary — or noticing which one someone else chose — is a core data-literacy skill, not just arithmetic.
Keep going
See how spread out the numbers are with the standard deviation calculator, or learn to read data critically in the Statistics subject.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between mean, median, and mode?
- The mean is the arithmetic average (add everything, divide by the count). The median is the middle value when the numbers are sorted. The mode is the value that appears most often. Each is a different way to describe the “typical” value.
- When should I use the median instead of the mean?
- Use the median when your data has outliers or is skewed — like incomes or house prices. A few very large values drag the mean upward, while the median stays near the middle of the pack, so it often reflects the “typical” case more honestly.
- Can a data set have more than one mode?
- Yes. If two or more values tie for the most occurrences, the set is multimodal and all of them are modes. If every value appears once, there is no mode — this tool reports “none.”
- What is the range?
- The range is the largest value minus the smallest. It’s the simplest measure of spread, though it only reflects the two extremes, not how the rest of the data is distributed.