Median examples

Odd list {8, 9, 5, 1, 6}

Sort: {1, 5, 6, 8, 9}. Five numbers, so the third is the median: 6. Mean is 5.8 — close, because the set is tight.

Even list {8, 9, 5, 1, 7, 2}

Sort: {1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9}. The two centre values are 5 and 7. Median = (5 + 7) / 2 = 6.

Outlier {12, 13, 11, 14, 900}

Sort: {11, 12, 13, 14, 900}. Median = 13. Mean ≈ 190 — the 900 pulls it. If you are describing a “typical” value, 13 is the honest headline.

Try them on the calculator

The Example button loads a similar odd set. Paste any of the lists above, including new lines from a spreadsheet column.

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