AVERAGE

• How to use AVERAGE formula?
• Examples of using AVERAGE formula
• AVERAGE formula not working?
• Similar formulas to AVERAGE

Usage

Use the AVERAGE formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter and 1 optional parameter:

=AVERAGE(value1, [value2, ...])

1. value1 (required):
   The first value or range of cells to be included in the calculation of the average.
2. value2, ... (optional):
   Additional values or ranges of cells to be included in the calculation of the average.

Examples

Finding the average sales per month

Suppose you have a list of sales for each month of the year, and you want to find the average sales per month. You can use the AVERAGE function to calculate this easily.

Calculating the average of test scores

If you are a teacher and you want to calculate the average test score for a group of students, you can use the AVERAGE function on the range of test scores.

Finding the average of multiple data sets

You can use the AVERAGE function to find the average of multiple data sets. For example, you could use it to find the average temperature for each month of the year across multiple years.

Common Mistakes

Missing or incorrect range of values

One of the most common mistakes when using the AVERAGE formula is to either omit a range of values or to include the wrong range of values. Make sure to select the correct range of values that you want to calculate the average for.

Using non-numeric values in the range

The AVERAGE formula only works with numeric values. If you have text, symbols or other non-numeric values in the range, the formula will return an error. Make sure to exclude any non-numeric values from the range.

Using a single value instead of a range

The AVERAGE formula requires a range of values as input. Using a single value instead of a range will result in an error. Make sure to select a range of values that you want to calculate the average for.

Dividing by zero

If one or more of the values in the range is zero, the AVERAGE formula will return an error. Make sure to exclude any zero values from the range or handle them separately.

Incorrect syntax

Make sure to use the correct syntax for the AVERAGE formula. The formula requires at least one value as input and additional values can be separated by commas and enclosed in square brackets. For example, AVERAGE(A1:A10) or AVERAGE(A1, A3, A5).

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to AVERAGE or are often used with it in a formula:

• SUM

  The SUM function in Google Sheets adds up a range of numbers. This function is most commonly used to sum the values in a range of cells.

• COUNT

  The COUNT formula returns the number of numeric values within a specified range of cells. It is commonly used to count the number of entries in a given range that meet specific criteria, such as counting the number of sales above a certain threshold.

• MAX

  The MAX function returns the maximum value from a range of cells or a set of supplied values. It is commonly used to find the largest value in a dataset.

• MIN

  The MIN formula is a statistical function that returns the smallest value in a set of numbers. It is commonly used to find the minimum value from a range of cells or a list of values.

Learn More

You can learn more about the AVERAGE Google Sheets function on Google Support.