Transparent method
The formula
Worked example
Example inputs
How to interpret the result
Range and midrange are both built from just the two extreme values in a dataset and ignore everything in between, which makes them fast to compute and easy to distort. One unusually high or low reading can swing both figures substantially even if every other value in the set stayed exactly the same.
Before you rely on it
What to check
Scan the full dataset for an obvious outlier before trusting range or midrange as a description of the typical spread. A single stray value can dominate both.
The common error
Where people go wrong with range & midrange calculator
Treating midrange as equivalent to the average. Midrange only looks at the two endpoints; mean uses every value, and the two can differ substantially whenever the data isn't evenly distributed between its extremes.
Step by step
The worked example, input by input
| Input | Value used |
|---|---|
| Value 1 | 12 |
| Value 2 | 18 |
| Value 3 | 9 |
| Value 4 | 22 |
| Value 5 | 15 |
| Value 6 | 20 |
| Range | 13 |
| Midrange | 15.5 |
Where the inputs come from
Enter the values in your list. The range is the largest value minus the smallest, and the midrange is their average. Both use only the two extreme values, so make sure neither is a mistake. Use numbers in the same units. The tool handles six values, so for larger sets find the minimum and maximum first.
When the result stops applying
A single outlier can make the range huge, which is why the interquartile range and standard deviation are often preferred. The midrange is not the same as the mean or median and is rarely used except for symmetric data. Neither measure shows the shape of the distribution.
What to compare it with
Get more robust measures on the standard deviation and mean and median calculators, and see how far a value lies from the mean on the z-score page. The percent difference and percentage change calculators compare values. The weighted average calculator handles importance.
People also ask
Frequently asked questions
What is the range of a data set?
The difference between the largest and smallest values, a simple measure of how spread out the data is.
What is the midrange?
The average of the largest and smallest values, which gives the point halfway between the extremes.
Why is the range a limited measure?
It depends only on two values, so one unusual value changes it a lot, and it ignores the rest of the data.