Mean Median Mode Calculator · Practical guide
How to Find the Range of a Data Set
Range = largest value minus smallest value — the fastest measure of how spread out your data is.
At a glance
The One-Step Formula
The range is the maximum value minus the minimum value. For the dataset 1, 2, 4, 4, 7, 7, 9, the largest value is 9 and the smallest is 1, so the range is 9 - 1 = 8. That single subtraction is the whole calculation.
Interactive tool
Mean Median Mode Calculator
Enter your own values, then compare the result with the examples below.
Results
Sorted Data: -
A Second Example With Test Scores
Suppose five students scored 62, 75, 88, 91, 97. The range is 97 - 62 = 35 points. The same dataset has a mean of 413 / 5 = 82.6 and a median of 88 — the calculator above produces all three statistics plus the sorted list in one pass.
What the Range Tells You
The range is the quickest read on spread: a range of 35 points tells you the class varied widely, while a range of 5 would signal tightly clustered scores. Bigger range means more variability.
What the Range Hides
Because it uses only the two extreme values, the range ignores everything in between and is sensitive to outliers. The datasets 1, 50, 50, 50, 51 and 1, 2, 26, 49, 51 both have a range of 50, yet their data behaves very differently. For a fuller picture of spread, pair the range with standard deviation — and always check the sorted data the calculator displays to spot any extreme values driving the range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the range be negative?
No. The maximum is always at least as large as the minimum, so the range is zero or positive. A range of zero means every value is identical.
Do I need to sort the data to find the range?
Sorting is not strictly required — you only need the largest and smallest values — but sorting makes both obvious and reduces mistakes.
Is the range the same as the span between quartiles?
No. The range uses the absolute extremes; the interquartile range uses the 25th and 75th percentiles, making it resistant to outliers.
How does one outlier affect the range?
Dramatically. Adding a single value of 200 to a dataset ranging from 1 to 9 jumps the range from 8 to 199, even though nothing else changed.