The MEDIAN function is a statistical function which returns the value at the center of a range. While the AVERAGE function sums and then divides a range by the number of valid arguments, MEDIAN orders valid arguments from smallest to largest and returns the number at the center of the range, if there is no central number then the average of the two central numbers is returned.

This is the format of the MEDIAN function:

=MEDIAN(RANGE 1, RANGE 2, RANGE 3, etc…)

Here is an example of the MEDIAN function:

=MEDIAN(2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8, 23, 26, 45, 54, 56, 57, 65, 456) -> 8, 23 = 15.5

MEDIAN function returning the value of the number exactly in the center of the selected range

This function is valuable when you want to take descriptive statistics of a data set or group of results. It is especially useful when comparing against an average, something which is easily influenced by outliers. Median values can often times be more representative in certain situations than an average.

An example of a functional implementation of this would be during times of volatility, there may be drastic changes in the spending patterns of individuals. These can cause drastic outliers in sales and demand for goods, which will in turn impact future demand forecasts once markets stabilise. In this situation, taking the median value of your information may help mitigate the impacts of the volatile period on your future budget and demand plans.

=MEDIAN(DATA RANGE 1)