Mean, Median & Mode Explained (With Examples)

“Average” can mean three different things — mean, median, or mode. Each tells you something different about a set of numbers. Here's what they are and how to calculate them.

Calculate them all at once

Paste your numbers into the Average Calculator to get the mean, median, mode, range, sum, and count instantly — no manual math.

We'll use this example set: 10, 15, 15, 20, 40.

Mean (the everyday average)

Add all the numbers, then divide by how many there are.

(10 + 15 + 15 + 20 + 40) ÷ 5 = 100 ÷ 5 = 20.

Median (the middle value)

Sort the numbers and take the middle one. With an even count, average the two middle values.

Sorted: 10, 15, 15, 20, 40 → the median is 15.

Mode (the most common value)

The value that appears most often. 15 appears twice, everything else once → the mode is 15. If nothing repeats, there is no mode.

Range (the spread)

The largest value minus the smallest: 40 − 10 = 30.

When to use which

• Mean — good for evenly spread data, but a single outlier can skew it.
• Median — better when there are outliers (e.g. income or house prices), since it isn't pulled by extremes.
• Mode — useful for categories or finding the most common value.

FAQ

Can there be more than one mode?

Yes — if several values tie for most frequent, all of them are modes.

What's the difference between mean and average?

“Average” usually means the mean, but median and mode are also types of average.