The mean is the average or the most common value in a set of numbers. In this article, we will learn how to calculate the mean in Excel.
Steps to Calculate Mean in Excel
Let us consider the following dataset of a group of students with their marks:
We are interested in finding the mean of the marks scored by the students. To calculate the mean in Excel, we use an in-built AVERAGE function. The syntax of the AVERAGE function is =AVERAGE(start cell reference:end cell reference).
- Select the cell where you want to display the mean.
- Type the formula =AVERAGE( and select the data range containing the values for which mean value is sought.
- Finish the formula with ) and press the Enter key.
In this example, we enter the formula =AVERAGE(B2:B11) in cell B13, to get the mean of the marks obtained by students:
Note: The AVERAGE function ignores empty cells and cells that do not include any numbers.
Conclusion
In this article, we learned how to calculate the mean in Excel using the AVERAGE formula.