How to Find the Median in Excel with MEDIAN

Find the true middle of your data with MEDIAN — the average that one extreme value can’t drag around.

You will learn to

• Find the middle value of a list with MEDIAN
• Explain why the median resists outliers
• Take the median of one group with MEDIAN(IF(...))

How it works

MEDIAN sorts your numbers and returns the one in the middle. With an even count it averages the two middle values. =MEDIAN(C2:C10) ignores text and blank cells, so you can point it at a whole column of prices, times or salaries.

Use the median instead of the average whenever a few extreme values could mislead you — house prices, incomes and delivery times are classic examples. One $1.45M mansion can push a street’s average price up by more than $100,000, while the median barely moves.

=MEDIAN(C2:C10)