MEDIAN of an even number of values
With no single middle value, MEDIAN averages the middle two.
Task:
Six flats on one street sold this year. In B9 give the median sale price — the figure an estate agent would quote as typical.
Interactive Spreadsheet
Hints
+5 XPno-hints bonusSolve it on your own to keep the bonus. Each hint gets one step closer to the formula.
Variations of MEDIAN
0/3The same formula in the other shapes it takes at work.
- MEDIAN Function
The middle value, which the outlier cannot move.
CoreIntermediate - MEDIAN of an even number of values
With no single middle value, MEDIAN averages the middle two.
Intermediate - Mean minus median: a quick skew check
When the two disagree a lot, a few large values are pulling the average.
Advanced
The data in this exercise
This is the grid you start with. Cell references in the task — B6, C2 — point at the row numbers and column letters below.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flat | Price |
| 2 | 1A | 215000 |
| 3 | 2C | 198000 |
| 4 | 3B | 240000 |
| 5 | 4A | 205000 |
| 6 | 5D | 410000 |
| 7 | 6B | 225000 |
| 8 | ||
| 9 | Median |
What this exercise teachesMay contain the answer
Sorted, the prices run 198, 205, 215, 225, 240, 410 thousand: the middle pair averages to 220,000. The penthouse at 410,000 drags the mean up to 248,833 but barely touches the median, which is why property prices are quoted as medians.