Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.
Last reviewed:
How to find the second largest value in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:RANK & statistical aggregatesExcel & Google Sheets
=LARGE(A2:A4,2)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Scores |
| 95 |
| 88 |
| 72 |
=LARGE(A2:A4,2)→88
Try it with your data
Edit the grid or formula, then run it through a real spreadsheet engine — no signup.
Sample data — click any cell to edit
Runs server-side · free · no signup
Step by step
- 1Enter your numeric data in a column, for example A2:A20.
- 2In an empty cell, type =LARGE(A2:A20,2) and press Enter — this returns the second largest value in the range.
- 3To find the third largest, change 2 to 3: =LARGE(A2:A20,3).
- 4To return the row label of the second largest value, combine with INDEX MATCH: =INDEX(B2:B20,MATCH(LARGE(A2:A20,2),A2:A20,0)).
Tips
- LARGE handles duplicate values by treating each occurrence separately — if the max appears twice, LARGE(range,1) and LARGE(range,2) both return the same maximum value.
Working on a sheet you inherited? Run the Auditor on the whole file first — it flags every #REF!, #N/A, broken column pattern, and inconsistent formula in seconds, free, no signup.
Frequently asked
What's the difference between LARGE and MAX?
MAX always returns the largest value; LARGE(range,N) returns the Nth largest. LARGE(range,1) is equivalent to MAX, while LARGE(range,2) gives the second largest.
How do I find the second largest unique value (ignoring duplicates)?
In Excel 365 or Google Sheets: =LARGE(UNIQUE(A2:A20),2) — wrap UNIQUE around the range to deduplicate before finding the second largest.
More on RANK & statistical aggregates
See all →Reference
RANK.EQ
Returns the rank of a number in a list, assigning the same rank to ties (same as RANK). Essential for leaderboards.
How-toHow to rank values
Rank a number against a list with RANK — highest first or lowest first. Works the same in Excel and Google Sheets.
ReferenceRANK.AVG
Returns the rank of a number, averaging ranks for ties. Useful in statistical analysis where tied ranks should not cluster.
How-toHow to calculate standard deviation
Measure how spread out your numbers are with STDEV for a sample or STDEVP for a whole population. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
ReferencePERCENTILE
Returns the k-th percentile value from a dataset. Useful for performance benchmarking and threshold analysis.
How-toHow to calculate a weighted average
Combine values and their weights with SUMPRODUCT divided by the total weight. Works the same in Excel and Google Sheets.