Median Examples

Find the median of the numbers

80, 72, 93, 85, 92, 60, 55.

First we put the numbers in order:

55, 60, 72, 80, 85, 92, 93

Then we take off one number from each end:

60, 72, 80, 85, 92

We do it again:

72, 80, 85

And again:

80

Boom, baby. The median of these numbers is 80.

Find the median of the numbers

4, 4, 4, 7, 3, 9, 8.

When putting a list of numbers in order, if the original list has multiple copies of the same number, be sure to keep all those copies in the new list. We put the numbers in order:

3, 4, 4, 4, 7, 8, 9

After crossing out 3 and 9, 4 and 8, and 4 and 7, we see that the median is 4.

If we had incorrectly kept only one copy of the 4, then we would have found the median of the list to be 7. We know 4 never would have forgiven us. That's one number that knows how to hold a grudge.

Find the median of the list

2, 4, 5, 6.

We cross off the top and bottom numbers:

4, 5

Now we have two "middle" numbers, and we take their average:

The median is 4.5.