Skip to content

Lessons in your language are coming soon. Formulas already work in your Excel language.

This page isn't translated yet, so its text is in English. Function names and formulas are shown in your Excel language.

Excel function · Statistics

MEDIANE(MEDIAN)

Returns the middle value of a set of numbers.

What it does

MEDIAN sorts the numbers and returns the one in the middle. With an even count, it averages the two middle ones. A few extreme values barely move it, which makes it a fairer "typical" value than the average for things like salaries or house prices.

Syntax

=MEDIANE(number1; [number2]; …)

Arguments in square brackets are optional, and … means you can add more of the same. In this Excel language, arguments are separated by ;

Arguments

number
The first number, cell or range. Add more arguments for other ranges.

Example

Five salaries in thousands: what is the typical salary?

ABC
1Salary (k)Median
23035
332
435
538
6120

The formula in C2:

=MEDIANE(A2:A6)

Result: 35

Sorted, the salaries are 30, 32, 35, 38, 120. The middle one is 35. The average would be 51, pulled up by the single 120.

Common mistakes

  • Expecting it to be one of the values when the count is even. Then it is halfway between the two middle values.
  • Sorting the data first. MEDIAN doesn't need sorted data.

In other Excel languages

Excel translates function names, and in some languages the argument separator too. Type the name your Excel shows.

Excel languageFunction nameSeparator
EnglishMEDIAN,
DeutschMEDIAN;
FrançaisMEDIANE;
Español (España)MEDIANA;
Español (México)MEDIANA,
日本語MEDIAN,
한국어MEDIAN,
繁體中文MEDIAN,
ไทยMEDIAN,
ខ្មែរMEDIAN,
Tiếng ViệtMEDIAN;

Practise it

More from this module

All functions