Mean, median and mode explained
The three common measures of centre are the mean (the average), the median (the middle value when sorted) and the mode (the value that appears most often). For 2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 the mean is 24 ÷ 6 = 4, the median of the sorted list is 4, and the mode — the most frequent value — is also 4. If the mean alone is all you need, the average calculator is the quicker route.
How to use this calculator
Enter your numbers in the value fields and leave unused fields blank. The result shows the mean, the median and the mode together. When no value repeats, the mode is reported as none. To measure spread instead of centre, try the range rule of thumb calculator.
You do not need to sort the values yourself — the calculator orders them before finding the median. Enter each observation separately rather than pre-averaging groups, since collapsing values first changes both the median and the mode.
Which average should you use?
The mean uses every value but is pulled by extremes; the median resists outliers and suits skewed data; the mode is best for categories or the most typical value. When the mean sits far from the median, the data is likely skewed — you can quantify that with the skewness calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I find the mean, median and mode?
- The mean is the sum divided by the count, the median is the middle sorted value, and the mode is the most frequent value. For 2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 all three are 4.
- What if no value repeats?
- Then there is no mode. This calculator reports the mode as none when every value appears just once.
- Can a data set have more than one mode?
- Yes. If two or more values tie for the highest frequency, all of them are modes and are listed together.
- When is the median better than the mean?
- The median is better for skewed data or data with outliers, because it is not pulled toward extreme values.
- How is the median found when there is an even number of values?
- Take the two middle values after sorting and average them. With six values, the median is the mean of the third and fourth entries, which is why a median can be a number that never appears in the data itself.