How to calculate average on excel

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How to calculate averages in Excel

Believe it or not, there are many different kinds of averages, and different ways to go about calculating them. The following methods are covered in this resource:

• AVERAGE
• AVERAGEA
• AVERAGEIF
• MEDIAN
• MODE
• Bonus: Nesting AVERAGE, LARGE and SMALL functions

AVERAGE

The most universally accepted average is the arithmetic mean, and Excel uses the AVERAGE function to find it. The Excel AVERAGE function is used to generate a number that represents a typical value from a range, distribution, or list of numbers. It is calculated by adding all the numbers in the list, then dividing the total by the number of values within the list. 

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Syntax

The AVERAGE function in Excel is straightforward. The syntax is:

=AVERAGE(number1, [number2],...)

Ranges or cell references may be used instead of explicit values.

The AVERAGE function can handle up to 255 arguments, each of which may be a value, cell reference, or range. Only one argument is required, but of course, if you’re using the AVERAGE function, it’s likely you have at least two. 

The formula below will calculate the average of the numbers 100, 95, and 80.

=AVERAGE(100,95,80)

To calculate the average of values in cells B2, B3, B4, and B5 enter:

=AVERAGE(B2:B5)

This can be typed directly into the cell or formula bar, or selected on the worksheet by selecting the first cell in the range, and dragging the mouse to the last cell in the range. 

In order to calculate the average of non-contiguous (non-adjacent) cells, simply hold the Control key (or Command key — Mac users) while making the selections. 

If typing the cell references directly into the cell or formula bar, non-contiguous references are separated by commas. For example: 

=AVERAGE(B2:B5,B8)

Remarks

When using the AVERAGE function, bear the following in mind.

• Text values and empty cells are ignored.

The word “Sick” in cell B6 (below) causes the AVERAGE function to ignore that cell altogether. This means that the average score in cell I6 was computed using the values in the range C8 to H8, and the total was divided by 6 subjects instead of 7. 

• Zero values are included. 

When determining the number of values to divide the total by, zeros are considered valid amounts and will therefore reduce the overall average of the distribution. Notice that Student J’s average is quite different from Student E’s average, even though their grade totals were similar.

AVERAGEA

In order to eliminate this discrepancy, the AVERAGEA function may be used to include all values within a distribution, including text. The format is similar:

=AVERAGEA(value1, [value2],...)

A range or cell references may be used instead of explicit values.

AVERAGEA evaluates text values as zero, while the logical value TRUE is evaluated as 1. The logical value FALSE is considered a zero. 

Compare the difference in results between using AVERAGE and AVERAGEA in the example below.

The averages for Student E and Student J are now similar when using the AVERAGEA function.

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AVERAGEIF

There are ways to find the average of only the numbers that satisfy certain criteria. With the AVERAGEIF function, Excel looks within the specified range for a stated condition, and then finds the arithmetic mean of the cells that meet that condition.

The syntax of the AVERAGEIF function is:

=AVERAGEIF(range,criteria,[average_range])

• The range is the location where we can expect to find cells that meet the criteria.
• The criteria are the value or expression that Excel should look for within the range.
• Average_range is an optional argument. This is the range of cells where the values to be averaged are located. If the average_range is omitted, the range is used.

AVERAGEIF example 1 

For example, from this list of various fruit prices, we can ask Excel to extract only the cells that say “apples” in column A, and find their average price from column B.

AVERAGEIF example 2

The criteria in an AVERAGEIF function may also be in the form of a logical expression, as in the example below:

=AVERAGEIF(B4:H4,"<>0")

The above formula will find the average of the values in the range B4 to H4 that are not equal to zero. Note that the third (optional) argument is omitted, therefore the cells in the range are used to calculate the average.

Since cells that are evaluated as zeros are omitted due to our criteria, notice the difference in Student E and J’s results below when using the AVERAGEIF function. 

In order to find the average of cells that satisfy multiple criteria, use the AVERAGEIFS function.

The arithmetic mean may be the most commonly-used method of finding the average, but it is by no means the only one. One outcome of using the arithmetic mean is that it allows very high or very low numbers to sway the outcome, thereby significantly altering the results. 

Take for example, the following list of numbers:

22, 1, 14, 21, 15, 16, 18, 100, 19, 19, 22, 25, 18

Finding the arithmetic mean would give a result of 23.8.

However, looking closely at the distribution of the numbers on the list, we would hardly say that 23.8 is the average value of those numbers. The problem, of course, is that the number 100 is an outlier and increased the sum of the numbers. 

Therefore, in some situations, it is more desirable to use the MEDIAN function. This function determines the numerical order of the values being evaluated and uses the one in the middle as the average. 

The syntax is:

=MEDIAN(number1, [number2], …)

A range or cell references may be used instead of explicit values.

In the above example, the numerical order would be: 

1, 14, 15, 16, 18, 18, 19, 19, 21, 22, 22, 25, 100

There are 13 numbers in the distribution, making the seventh number the middle value. Therefore, the median would be 19.

If the number of values is an even number, the median would be determined by finding the average of the two numbers in the middle of the distribution. So, for the values 7,9,9,11,14,15 the median would be (9+11)/2=10.

The MEDIAN function ignores cells that contain text, logical values, or no value.

MODE

A third method for determining the average of a set of numbers is finding the mode, or the number that is repeated most often. 

There are currently three “mode” functions within Excel. The classic, MODE, follows the syntax of:

=MODE(number1, [number2],...)

In this function, Excel evaluates the values within the list or range, and selects the most frequently occurring number as the average value of the group.

However, there are occasions when more than one number could be considered the mode. For example, consider the following list:

1, 14, 15, 16, 18, 18, 19, 19, 21, 22, 22, 25, 100

The numbers 18, 19, and 22 each appear two times. Which one is the mode? Microsoft chooses the first-appearing value as the mode — in the above case, 18.

If these same numbers were arranged in the reverse order, then 22 would be considered the mode. 

If the numbers were arranged in a random order, then Excel would select from 18, 19, and 22 based on whichever number appeared in the distribution first.

For example, in the list: 

19, 22, 1, 14, 21, 15, 16, 18, 100, 19, 22, 25, 18

The MODE function considers 19 as the mode.

MODE.MULT

The MODE.MULT function is a solution to the discrepancies experienced in the above scenario. It allows us to anticipate and account for the possibility that there may be more than one mode within a group of numbers. 

The syntax is:

=MODE.MULT(number1, [number2],...)

Since MODE.MULT is an array (CSE) function, these are the steps when using this function:

1. Select a vertical range for the output 
2. Enter the MODE.MULT formula
3. Simultaneously select Control + Shift + Enter 

Pressing Control + Shift + Enter (CSE) together will cause Excel to automatically place braces (curly brackets) around the formula, and will return a “spill” of results equal to the number of cells selected in Step 1. If there is more than one mode, they will be displayed vertically in the output cells. The MODE.MULT function will return the “#N/A” error if:

• there are no duplicate values, or
• there are no additional modes in the output range. 

MODE.SNGL

Like the MODE.MULT function, the MODE.SNGL function was rolled out with Excel 2010. The syntax is:

=MODE.SNGL(number1, [number2],...]

The MODE.SNGL function behaves like the classic MODE function in determining the output.

Creative uses of the AVERAGE function

Top 3

We can combine the AVERAGE function with the LARGE function to determine the average of the top “n” number of values. 

The LARGE function extracts the n^th  largest number from a range, using the format

=LARGE(array, k)

where k is the n^th number.

Using this format, we can display a number in the 1st, 2nd, 5th, or any rank. 

In order to get the average of the three largest numbers in a range, we would nest the AVERAGE and LARGE functions as follows:

=AVERAGE(LARGE(array, {1,2,3}))

When we type braces around the k argument, Excel identifies the first, second, and third largest numbers in the array, and the AVERAGE function finds their average.

Bottom 3

We can use a similar logic to find the bottom 3 of a group of numbers using the SMALL function.

The following format will find the average of the three smallest numbers in the array.

=AVERAGE(SMALL(array, {1,2,3}))

The three main methods of finding the average within Excel are the AVERAGE (mean), MEDIAN (middle), and MODE (frequency) functions. They are all easy to use, so choose the one that’s right for your type of data and the questions you want to answer.

Learn more Excel formulas and functions

To learn more useful formulas, functions, and real-world Excel skills, try the GoSkills Basic and Advanced Excel course today. 

AVERAGE and AVERAGEA functions are used to calculate the arithmetic average of the arguments of interest in Excel. The average is calculated in the classical way — summing all the numbers and dividing the sum by the number of these numbers. The main difference between these functions is that they process differently non-numeric types of values that are in Excel cells. More about everything in more detail.



Examples of using the AVERAGE function in Excel

AVERAGE function refers to the Statistical group. Therefore, to call this function in Excel, you must select the tool: “FORMULAS” — “Functions Library” — “More functions” — “Statistical” — “AVERAGE”. Or call the «Insert Function» dialog box (SHIFT + F3) and select the «Statistical» option from the «Category:» drop-down list. After that, in the “Select function:” field there will be a list of categories with statistical functions where the AVERAGE is located, as well as AVERAGEA.

If there is a range of B2:B8 cells with numbers, then the formula =AVERAGE(B2:B8) will return the average value of the given numbers in this range:

The syntax is the following: =AVERAGE(number1,[number2],…), where the first number is a required argument, and all subsequent arguments (up to the number 255) are optional for filled. That is, the number of selected source ranges cannot exceed more than 255:

The argument can have a numeric value, be a reference to a range or array. Text and logical values in the range are completely ignored.

The arguments of the AVERAGE function can be represented not only by numbers, but also by names or references to a specific range (cell) containing a number. The logical value and textual representation of the number, which is directly entered into the argument list, is taken into account.

If the argument is represented by a reference to a range (cell), then its text or logical value (reference to an empty cell) is ignored. In this case, cells that contain zero are counted. If the argument contains errors or text that cannot be converted to a number, then this results in a common error. To take into account logical values and the textual representation of numbers, it is necessary to use in the calculations the AVERAGEA function, which will be discussed further.

The result of the function in the example in the picture below is the number 4, since logical and text objects are ignored. Therefore:

(5 + 7 + 0 + 4) / 4 = 4

When calculating averages, you need to take into account the difference between a blank cell and a cell containing a zero value, especially if the «Show a zero in cells that have zero values» option is cleared in the Excel dialog box. When checked, empty cells are ignored, but zero values are not. To remove or set this flag, open the “FILE” tab, then click on “Options” and select in the category “Advanced” group “Display options for this worksheet:”, where it is possible to check the box:

The results of another 4 tasks are summarized in the table below:

As you can see in the example, in cell A9, the AVERAGE function has 2 arguments: 1 — a range of cells, 2 — an additional number 5. The same can be specified in the arguments and additional ranges of cells with numbers. For example, as in cell A11.



Formulas with examples of using the AVERAGEA function

AVERAGEA function differs from AVERAGE in that the true logical value of “TRUE” in the range is equal to 1, and the false logical value of “FALSE” or the text value in the cells is equal to zero. Therefore, the result of calculating the AVERAGEA function is different:

The result of the function returns the number in the example 2,833333, since the text and logical values are taken as zero, and the logical TRUE is equal to one. Consequently:

(5 + 7 + 0 + 0 + 4 + 1) / 6 = 2.83

Syntax:

=AVERAGEA(value1,[value2],…)

The arguments of the AVERAGEA function are subject to the following properties:

1. «Value1» is mandatory, and «value2» and all values that follow it are optional. The total number of cell ranges or their values can be from 1 to 255 cells.
2. The argument can be a number, a name, an array, or a reference containing a number, as well as a textual representation of the number or a logical value, for example, “true” or “false”.
3. The logical value and textual representation of the number entered in the argument list is taken into account.
4. An argument containing the value “true” is interpreted as 1. An argument containing the value “false” is interpreted as 0 (zero).
5. Text contained in arrays and references is interpreted as 0 (zero). An empty text («») is also interpreted as 0 (zero).
6. If the argument is an array or reference, then only the values included in this array or reference are used. Empty cells and text in the array and reference are ignored.
7. Arguments that are error values or text that cannot be converted to numbers cause errors.

The results of the feature of AVERAGEA are summarized in the table below:

Download examples with functions AVERAGE for Excel

Attention! When calculating the mean values in Excel, you need to take into account the differences between a blank cell and a cell containing a zero value (especially if the “Show a zero in cells that have zero values” in “Option” is unchecked in the options dialog box). When checked, empty cells are not counted, and zero values are counted. To check the box on the “FILE” tab, select the “Option” command, go to the “Advanced” category, where find the section “Show options for the next sheet” and set the flag there.

The AVERAGE function calculates the average of numbers provided as arguments. To calculate the average, Excel sums all numeric values and divides by the count of numeric values.

AVERAGE takes multiple arguments in the form number1, number2, number3, etc. up to 255 total. Arguments can include numbers, cell references, ranges, arrays, and constants. Empty cells, and cells that contain text or logical values are ignored. However, zero (0) values are included. You can ignore zero (0) values with the AVERAGEIFS function, as explained below.

The AVERAGE function will ignore logical values and numbers entered as text. If you need to include these values in the average, see the AVERAGEA function.

If the values given to AVERAGE contain errors, AVERAGE returns an error. You can use the AGGREGATE function to ignore errors.

Basic usage

A typical way to use the AVERAGE function is to provide a range, as seen below. The formula in F3, copied down, is:

=AVERAGE(C3:E3)

At each new row, AVERAGE calculates an average of the quiz scores for each person.

Blank cells

The AVERAGE function automatically ignores blank cells. In the screen below, notice cell C4 is empty, and AVERAGE simply ignores it and computes an average with B4 and D4 only:

However, note the zero (0) value in C5 is included in the average, since it is a valid numeric value. To exclude zero values, use AVERAGEIF or AVERAGEIFS instead. In the example below,  AVERAGEIF is used to exclude zero values. Like the AVERAGE function, AVERAGEIF automatically excludes empty cells.

=AVERAGEIF(B3:D3,">0") // exclude zero

Mixed arguments

The numbers provided to AVERAGE can be a mix of references and constants:

=AVERAGE(A1,A2,4) // returns 3

Average with criteria

To calculate an average with criteria, use AVERAGEIF or AVERAGEIFS. In the example below, AVERAGEIFS is used to calculate the average score for Red and Blue groups:

=AVERAGEIFS(C5:C14,D5:D14,"red") // red average
=AVERAGEIFS(C5:C14,D5:D14,"blue") // blue average

The AVERAGEIFS function can also apply multiple criteria.

Average top 3

By combining the AVERAGE function with the LARGE function, you can calculate an average of top n values. In the example below, the formula in column I computes an average of the top 3 quiz scores in each row:

Detailed explanation here.

Weighted average

To calculate a weighted average, you’ll want to use the SUMPRODUCT function, as shown below:

Read a complete explanation here.

Average without #DIV/0!

The average function automatically ignores empty cells in a set of data. However, if the range contains no numeric values, AVERAGE will return a #DIV/0! error. To avoid this problem, you can check the count of values with the COUNT function and the IF function like this:

=IF(COUNT(range)>0,AVERAGE(range),"") // check count first

When the count of numeric values is zero, IF returns an empty string («»). When the count is greater than zero, AVERAGE returns the average. This example explains this idea in more detail.

Manual average

To calculate the average, AVERAGE sums all numeric values and divides by the count of numeric values. This behavior can be replicated with the SUM and COUNT functions manually like this:

=SUM(range)/COUNT(range) // manual average calculation

Notes

• AVERAGE automatically ignores empty cells and cells with text values.
• AVERAGE includes zero values. Use AVERAGEIF or AVERAGEIFS to ignore zero values.
• Arguments can be supplied as constants, ranges, named ranges, or cell references.
• AVERAGE can handle up to 255 total arguments.
• To see a quick average without a formula, you can use the status bar.