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How to find the median of a range in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:AVERAGE & central tendencyExcel & Google Sheets
=MEDIAN(B2:B6)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Salesperson | Revenue |
| Alice | 300 |
| Bob | 500 |
| Carol | 200 |
| Dave | 800 |
| Eve | 450 |
=MEDIAN(B2:B6)→450
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Step by step
- 1Select the output cell.
- 2Type =MEDIAN(.
- 3Select or type the range of numbers, e.g. B2:B6.
- 4Close the parenthesis and press Enter.
- 5MEDIAN automatically ignores text and blank cells.
Tips
- MEDIAN is not affected by extreme outliers the way AVERAGE is — it is a robust measure of center.
- For a conditional median (e.g. median of a region), use =MEDIAN(IF(A2:A6="North",B2:B6)) as an array formula (Ctrl+Shift+Enter in older Excel; just Enter in Excel 365 and Google Sheets).
- MEDIAN ignores blank cells and text.
- With an even count of numbers, MEDIAN averages the two middle values.
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Frequently asked
How do I calculate a conditional median?
In Excel 365 or Google Sheets: =MEDIAN(IF(A2:A6="North",B2:B6)). In older Excel, confirm with Ctrl+Shift+Enter to make it an array formula.
What does MEDIAN return for an even number of values?
It returns the arithmetic mean of the two middle values when the count is even.
More on AVERAGE & central tendency
See all →How-to
How to calculate an average
Use the AVERAGE function to calculate the arithmetic mean of a range of numbers in Excel or Google Sheets.
How-toHow to average ignoring zeros
Use AVERAGEIF with a "<>0" criterion to calculate an average that excludes zero values from the calculation.
How-toHow to average ignoring blank cells
AVERAGE naturally ignores blank cells; use AVERAGEIF with "<>" to also ignore text placeholders like dashes.
How-toHow to average with a condition
Use AVERAGEIF to compute the mean of values in one column where a corresponding column meets a specified criterion.
How-toHow to calculate a moving average
Compute a rolling average for each row using AVERAGE with a fixed-window OFFSET or INDEX formula anchored to each row.
How-toHow to find the most common value
Use MODE for numbers or COUNTIF-based logic for text to find the value that appears most frequently in a dataset.