How to Calculate Population Variance with VAR.P

Use VAR.P when your data covers every member of a group — like every unit in a building — to measure exact variability.

You will learn to

• Calculate a population variance
• Measure the variance of a change between two columns
• Find the variance for a subgroup

How it works

VAR.P returns the variance of a complete population: the average squared distance from the mean, dividing by n. Use it when the data includes every member of the group you are describing — every unit in a building, every store in a chain — and you are not estimating anything about a wider group.

Variance is reported in squared units (kWh² for energy use), so convert to a standard deviation with SQRT or STDEV.P when you explain the result to someone. If your data is only a sample, use VAR.S.

=VAR.P(C2:C11)