Statistical analysis in Excel doesn’t have to be complex. Whether you’re analyzing sales data, conducting market research, or evaluating student performance, Excel’s built-in statistical functions help you uncover insights quickly and accurately. This comprehensive guide walks you through essential statistical calculations in Excel, from basic measures to advanced probability distributions.

Calculate Basic Statistical Measures in Excel

Central Tendency Measures

1. AVERAGE Function Calculate the arithmetic mean of a dataset:

=AVERAGE(range)

Example:

Sales Data	AVERAGE Formula	Result
100, 150, 200, 175, 225	=AVERAGE(A1:A5)	170

1. MEDIAN Function Find the middle value in your dataset:

=MEDIAN(range)

Example:

Test Scores	MEDIAN Formula	Result
85, 92, 78, 95, 88	=MEDIAN(A1:A5)	88

1. MODE Function Identify the most frequently occurring value:

=MODE.SNGL(range)

Example:

Product Ratings	MODE Formula	Result
4, 5, 4, 3, 4, 5	=MODE.SNGL(A1:A6)	4

Data Spread Calculations

1. MIN and MAX Functions

=MIN(range)

=MAX(range)

Example:

Temperature Data	MIN Formula	MAX Formula	Range
68, 72, 75, 70, 73	=MIN(A1:A5) = 68	=MAX(A1:A5) = 75	7

1. COUNT and COUNTA Functions

=COUNT(range) // Counts numbers only

=COUNTA(range) // Counts non-empty cells

Example:

Mixed Data	COUNT Formula	COUNTA Formula
10, “text”, 20, TRUE, 30	=COUNT(A1:A5) = 3	=COUNTA(A1:A5) = 5

1. SUMIF and COUNTIF Functions

=SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum_range])

=COUNTIF(range, criteria)

Example:

Region	Sales
North	1000
South	1500
North Try the Free Spreadsheet Extension Over 500,000 Pros Are Raving About Stop exporting data manually. Sync data from your business systems into Google Sheets or Excel with Coefficient and set it on a refresh schedule. Get Started	1200

=SUMIF(A2:A4, “North”, B2:B4) // Result: 2200

=COUNTIF(A2:A4, “North”) // Result: 2

Analyze Data Distribution and Variance

Standard Deviation and Variance

1. STDEV.S and STDEV.P Functions

=STDEV.S(range) // Sample standard deviation

=STDEV.P(range) // Population standard deviation

Example:

Data Points	STDEV.S	STDEV.P
10, 12, 15, 14, 11	=STDEV.S(A2:A6) = 2.07	=STDEV.P(A2:A6) = 1.85

1. VAR.S and VAR.P Functions

=VAR.S(range) // Sample variance

=VAR.P(range) // Population variance

Example:

Data Set	VAR.S	VAR.P
5, 8, 6, 9, 7	=VAR.S(A2:A6) = 2.5	=VAR.P(A2:A6) = 2

Quartiles and Percentiles

1. QUARTILE.INC Function

=QUARTILE.INC(range, quart)

Example:

Data	Q1 (quart=1)	Q2 (quart=2)	Q3 (quart=3)
10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40	=QUARTILE.INC(A2:A8,1) = 17.5	=QUARTILE.INC(A2:A8,2) = 25	=QUARTILE.INC(A2:A8,3) = 32.5

Next Steps

Excel’s statistical functions transform complex data analysis into simple calculations. From basic averages to advanced probability distributions, these functions help you understand your data better and make informed decisions.

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