Average Calculator
Your class scored 2, 4, 4, 6 on a quiz. What was the average? It depends which average you mean, and the three of them disagree here: mean 4.00, median 4.00, mode 4, range 4.00. Type your numbers below, separated by commas, spaces, or one per line. Decimals and negative numbers are fine. The calculator shows all three, plus the sorted list so you can check the working.
Enter your numbers
Result
One Set of Numbers, Three Answers
Sorted, the scores run 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9. The mean adds everything and divides by the count: sum = 4 + 8 + 6 + 5 + 9 + 8 + 7 = 47, count = 7, so mean = 47 ÷ 7 = 6.71 (6.7143… rounded to two places). The median is the middle value of the sorted set. With 7 values, the middle one is the 4th: 7. The mode is the value that appears most often. 8 appears twice, every other value appears once, so mode = 8. The range is largest minus smallest: 9 − 4 = 5. It shows how spread out the numbers are.
Notice how the three averages tell different stories. The mean (6.71) is pulled slightly down by the low value 4. The median (7) sits in the middle. The mode (8) shows the most common score. If one student had scored 100 instead of 9, the mean would jump but the median would barely move. That is why house prices and salaries are usually reported as medians.
Two details for the even-count case: with an even number of values, the median is the mean of the two middle values, and a data set can have no mode, one mode, or several.
Which One Do You Actually Want?
Use the mean when your numbers are fairly even and no single value dominates. Use the median when a few very large or very small values would drag the mean off centre. Use the mode when you want the most typical value. Shoe sizes and survey answers are classic mode cases.
The calculator needs at least one number. A single number is its own mean, median, and mode, with a range of 0. Empty entries are ignored. Text that is not a number is skipped and flagged.
Try It on These
- Even count 2, 4, 6, 8 → median is (4 + 6) ÷ 2 = 5.
- No mode 1, 2, 3, 4 → every value appears once, so there is no mode.
- Two modes 3, 3, 5, 5, 7 → modes are 3 and 5.
Asked a Lot
What is the difference between mean and median?
The mean is the sum divided by the count; the median is the middle value when the numbers are sorted. The mean uses every value, so extreme numbers pull it. The median only cares about position, so it resists extremes.
When should I use median instead of mean?
Use the median when your data has outliers, a few very high or very low values. Income and house prices are the usual examples: one billionaire in a survey of ten people wrecks the mean but barely moves the median.
What if there are two modes?
Then the data set is bimodal and both values are modes. For 3, 3, 5, 5, 7 the modes are 3 and 5. If every value appears exactly once, there is no mode.
Does the average calculator handle decimals?
Yes, decimals and negative numbers both work. Enter them separated by commas, spaces, or line breaks.
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