How To Count The Number Of Items Less Than The Average

Example

=COUNTIF(B3:B10,”<“&AVERAGE(B3:B10))

Generic Formula

=COUNTIF(Numbers,”<“&AVERAGE(Numbers))

Numbers – This is the range of numbers from which you want to count the number of items less than the average.

What It Does

This formula will take the average of a numerical range then return the count of the items in the range that are less than the average.

How It Works

AVERAGE(Numbers) will return the arithmetic mean or average of the Numbers. In our example this is (13+5+7+9+20+3+4+6)/8 = 8.4. “<"&8.4 then creates the text string “<8.4" which is used as a condition in our COUNTIF function.

COUNTIF(Numbers,”<8.4") will then count all the numbers in our list which are less than 8.4. In our example this results in 5 since there are 5 numbers in the list that are less than 8.4.

About the Author

John MacDougall

John is a Microsoft MVP and qualified actuary with over 15 years of experience. He has worked in a variety of industries, including insurance, ad tech, and most recently Power Platform consulting. He is a keen problem solver and has a passion for using technology to make businesses more efficient.