Mean, Median & Mode from a List
Paste a list of numbers and get the arithmetic mean, median, mode and range instantly — with the sorted values shown.
How it works
mean = Σx ÷ n · median = middle of the sorted list (average of two middles if n is even) · mode = most frequent value(s)
These three "measures of center" summarize a data set in different ways. The mean is the arithmetic average and uses every value, so outliers pull it. The median is the middle of the sorted list and resists outliers. The mode is the most common value — useful for categorical or repeated data, and a set can have one, several, or no mode at all.
Worked example
For 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, 8: the sum is 116, so the mean is 116 ÷ 7 ≈ 16.57. Sorted the list is 4, 8, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, and the middle (4th) value is 15, the median. The value 8 appears twice while all others appear once, so the mode is 8.
Sources: Central tendency — Wikipedia
Frequently asked questions
When should I use the median instead of the mean?
Use the median when the data has outliers or is skewed, such as incomes or house prices. A few very large values inflate the mean but barely move the median, so the median better represents a "typical" value in those cases.
Can a data set have more than one mode?
Yes. If two or more values tie for the highest frequency, the set is multimodal and all of them are modes. If every value appears exactly once there is no mode, which this calculator reports explicitly.
How is the median found for an even count of numbers?
Sort the numbers and take the average of the two middle values. For example, in a list of 8 numbers the median is the mean of the 4th and 5th values after sorting.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.