Easily find the median (the middle value) of a set of numbers with our free online calculator. A great tool for statistics and getting a truer sense of the "average." 

When "Average" Is Misleading, You Need the "Median."

Let's say you're looking to move to a new neighborhood, and you want to know the "average" household income. You find five houses on a street with these annual incomes: $50,000, $52,000, $55,000, $58,000, and $1,000,000.

The mathematical "average" (or mean) is over $243,000! This is technically correct, but it's also completely misleading. That one outlier—the mansion at the end of the street—is skewing the entire result. A much truer representation of the typical income on that street is the median: the number right in the middle, which is $55,000.

Why the Median is a More Honest "Average"

The median is the middle number in a sorted list of data. It's a powerful statistical tool because it isn't affected by extreme outliers. You should use the median instead of the mean when:

• Your data has a few unusually high or low values (like in our salary example).

• You want to find the true midpoint of a dataset.

• You are analyzing things like home prices or income, which are often skewed by a few very high numbers.

• You are a student learning about different measures of central tendency.

How to Find the Median of Any Number Set

You could sort the list and find the middle yourself, but why bother? The calculator does it for you.

1. Open the Median Calculator: Go to the FreeXTool Median Calculator.

2. Enter Your Numbers: Type or paste your set of numbers into the input box, separated by commas or spaces.

3. Click "Calculate": The tool will instantly sort your data and identify the median value.

Pro-Tip: What if There's an Even Number of Values?

It's easy to find the middle of a list with 5 numbers. But what about a list with 6? In that case, the median is the average of the two middle numbers. For example, in the list 2, 4, 6, 8, the two middle numbers are 4 and 6. The average of 4 and 6 is (4+6)/2 = 5. So, the median is 5. Our calculator handles this automatically.

Get a clearer picture of your data with these statistical tools:

• Average Calculator (Mean)

• Mode Calculator

• Percent Calculator