How to Calculate the Median of Shaded Cells in Excel

Use Excel to calculate the median of your data.

Calculating the median of a range of numbers is helpful in finding the midpoint in a set of numbers such as a student's grades, income or other data sample. The median is one of three measures of central tendency, along with the mean or average and the mode. Instead of calculating the median by hand, Excel 2010 has a function you can use to calculate the median of a designated set of numbers on a worksheet.

Instructions

1. Open Excel and the worksheet for which you want to calculate the median.

2. Click on the cell where you want Excel to enter the median result.

3. Select "Formulas" from the menu options at the top of your page.

4. Click "Insert Function" at the far left of the options in the "Function Library" tab. You can also select "More Functions" from the "Function Library" tab followed by "Statistics," then scroll down to find "MEDIAN" instead. If you do this, you do not need to complete Steps 5 and 6.

5. Type "Median" into the box under "Search for a function" then click "Go."

6. Click "MEDIAN" in the return results under "Select a function" and click "OK."

7. Click on the first cell you want calculated in the median and drag your mouse to highlight the other cells you want included in the median. If it is a range of cells that are not consecutive, hold down Ctrl as you click on each cell you want in the calculation.

8. Press Enter on your keyboard once you have the shaded cells selected. Your median is entered into the box you chose in Step 2.

Tips & Warnings

• Excel automatically selects the cells in the column above or the row to the left of where you placed your mouse in Step 2 when you select the median function. If those are the cells you want included in the median, you do not have to complete Step 7.

References

• Microsoft Office: Calculate the Median of a Group of Numbers
• Microsoft Office: MEDIAN Function
• Microsoft Office: Get to Know Excel 2010, Create Formulas