How to Find the Median of an Even Number of Items

The median of a set of numbers refers to the number than lands in the very middle. This is not a problem when finding the median in an odd-numbered list. In that case, you simply arrange the numbers in numeric order, then find the number in the smack-dab middle of it. When working with an even number of items however, there is a little more math involved to find the median.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

Instructions

1. Rewrite all of the numbers so they are in numeric order, starting with the smallest number to the largest.

2. Circle the two numbers that are in the middle with your pencil (so you'll remember which numbers are in the middle).

3. Add together the two numbers that you circled with your calculator.

4. Divide the numbers by two to get the average of the two numbers.

5. Write the average that you got down on your paper. The average of the two middle numbers is your median.

Tips & Warnings

• Example problem: 34, 12, 17, 27, 32, 23, 15, 31

• 1.) Rearrange the numbers from lowest to highest: 12, 15, 17, 23, 27, 31, 32, 34

• 2.) The two middle numbers are: 23 and 27.

• 3.) 23 + 27 = 50

• 4.) 50 / 2 = 25

• 5.) The median of this set of numbers is 25.

References

• Class Brain: Median, Mean and Mode
• Math is Fun: How to Calculate the Median Value