Mean, Median, Mode Calculator
What's the average of your data — and which average? Paste a list of numbers separated by commas, spaces, or new lines and get the mean, median, mode, and range, plus count, sum, min, and max.
Mean
5.2
sum ÷ count
Median
4
middle value
Mode
4
appears 2×
Count
5
Sum
26
Range
7
max − min
Min / Max
2 / 9
Sorted: 2, 4, 4, 7, 9
The mean uses every value, so one extreme number drags it — add a billionaire to a room of teachers and the mean income soars while the median barely moves. With an even count there is no single middle value, so the median is the average of the two middle ones.
Three Averages, Three Answers
Take the set {2, 4, 4, 7, 9}: the mean is the sum divided by the count, 26 ÷ 5 = 5.2; the median is the middle of the sorted list, 4; the mode is the most frequent value, also 4; and the range is max minus min, 9 − 2 = 7. They disagree on purpose — the mean weighs every value, the median ignores how extreme the ends are, and the mode only cares about repetition. With an even count there is no single middle number, so the median averages the two middle ones.
Which average to use
Mean sum ÷ count symmetric data, no outliers
Median middle sorted value skewed data (incomes, house prices)
Mode most frequent value categories, most common answer
Range max − min quick spread check
{2, 4, 4, 7, 9} → mean 5.2 · median 4 · mode 4 · range 7Frequently Asked Questions
When should I use the median instead of the mean?
When the data is skewed or has outliers. House prices and incomes are the classic cases: one mansion in the dataset drags the mean up while the median — the middle value — barely moves. For symmetric data without outliers the two land close together and the mean is fine.
How do I find the median with an even number of values?
Sort the list and average the two middle values. For {2, 4, 7, 9} the middle pair is 4 and 7, so the median is (4 + 7) ÷ 2 = 5.5. With an odd count like {2, 4, 4, 7, 9} there's a single middle value — here, 4.
Can a data set have more than one mode — or no mode at all?
Both happen. If two values tie for the highest frequency the set is bimodal and both are reported — {1, 1, 2, 3, 3} has modes 1 and 3. If every value appears exactly once, there's no mode at all, which is common in small samples of measured data.
What does the range tell me that the other numbers don't?
The range is just max minus min — for {2, 4, 4, 7, 9} that's 9 − 2 = 7 — so it's the fastest possible spread check. But it uses only the two extreme values, so a single outlier defines it completely; standard deviation is the sturdier spread measure because it uses every point.