Mode Calculator - Most Frequent Value, Bimodal or None

    Which value turns up most often? Paste numbers or words to get the mode with its count and share, see bimodal and no-mode lists named as such, and group measurements that never repeat.

    Parameters

    Enter data for calculations

    Numbers, or one category per line

    Leave empty to let the tool decide

    Only used for words

    Optional, groups measurements into classes

    Changes the row order, not the result

    Optional, shown in the result heading

    Form progress0 / 1 fields

    💡 Fill in all required fields to unlock the calculate button

    The most common value in a list, and the cases where there is none

    Nine pairs of shoes sold on a Saturday, in sizes 38, 39, 40, 40, 41, 41, 41, 42 and 43: the mode is 41, because it turns up 3 times, which is 33.3% of the sales. Paste numbers or category names, and the calculator returns the mode with its count and share, flags lists that have two modes or none at all, shows what Excel's MODE.SNGL and MODE.MULT would return for the same numbers, and can group continuous measurements into classes when nothing repeats exactly.

    Six boxes, and only the first one is required

    1. Data - numbers separated by spaces, commas or new lines, or categories one per line. Semicolons also separate entries, which keeps answers like "very good" in one piece.
    2. Read the list as - leave it empty and the tool decides; choose categories when numbers are really labels, such as jersey numbers or zip codes.
    3. Letter case - only matters for words. If "Yes" and "yes" both appear and this is empty, the tool asks you rather than guessing.
    4. Class width - optional, for measured data where nothing repeats. A width of 0.1 puts 12.31 and 12.38 in the same class.
    5. Sort the table by - count or value. It changes the order of the rows, never the answer.
    6. Read the result - the headline gives the mode, the tiles give its count and share, and the verdict names the shape: unimodal, bimodal, multimodal or no mode.

    Finding a mode by hand, the way the tool does it

    1
    Tally every distinct value.
    For 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 (people per household on one street) the tally reads 1: 1, 2: 3, 3: 2, 4: 1, 5: 1.
    2
    Find the highest count and every value that reaches it.
    Here only 2 reaches 3, so the street has one mode: 2 people, in 37.5% of the homes.
    3
    Check the two cases that have no mode.
    If every value appears once, nothing is typical. If every value appears the same number of times, such as 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, nothing stands out either, and the calculator reports no mode instead of listing all three.
    4
    Compare with the median and the mean.
    The same street gives a median of 2.5 and a mean of 2.75. The mean sits above the median because of the single five-person home, a hint of a longer tail on the high side.

    Mode, median or mean: which average answers your question

    All three are called averages, but they answer different questions. The table sets them side by side.

    Property Mode Median Mean
    Works on wordsYesOnly if the words have an orderNo
    Is always one of your valuesYesNot always with an even countRarely
    Moves when one extreme value changesNoNoYes
    Can be missing or come in pairsYesNoNo
    Best question it answersWhat do most people pick?What does the middle case look like?What is the total spread evenly?
    VerdictStock and sizes: mode. Incomes and house prices: median. Budgets and totals: mean.

    What a spreadsheet returns for the same list

    Excel and Google Sheets have two mode functions. MODE.SNGL gives one number, MODE.MULT gives every tied value, and both skip text. The rows below use short lists such as 5, 5, 5, 7, 7.

    Your list MODE.SNGL MODE.MULT This calculator
    Five repeated three times, seven twice555
    Five and seven twice each, nine once55 and 75 and 7, bimodal
    Every value twice1 (the first one listed)1, 2 and 3No mode
    Nothing repeats#N/A#N/ANo mode
    A column of words#N/A, text is skipped#N/AThe most common word

    Five lists and what the calculator says about each

    Survey answers: very good; good; very good; poor; good; very good.
    Result: very good, 3 of 6 answers, 50.0%. No median or mean, because these are labels.
    Quiz scores: 5, 5, 7, 7, 9.
    Result: bimodal, 5 and 7, 40.0% each and 80.0% together. Excel's MODE.SNGL shows only 5, the tied value that comes first.
    Dice rolled six times: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3.
    Result: no mode, every number rolled appears twice. MODE.SNGL would still print 1.
    Bolt lengths in mm: 12.31, 12.47, 12.52, 12.58, 12.63, 12.71, 12.74, 12.88, 12.55, 12.66, class width 0.1.
    Result: no exact mode, modal class 12.5 to 12.6 with 3 values, grouped estimate 12.566667.
    Download sizes pasted from a script: 0.1, 0.2, 0.30000000000000004, 0.3, 0.2.
    Result: 0.2 and 0.3 tie at 2 each. The long binary leftover counts as 0.3.

    The grouped estimate uses the classic formula L + (f1 - f0) / ((f1 - f0) + (f1 - f2)) × h. For the bolts the modal class starts at L = 12.5 with f1 = 3, the class below holds f0 = 1, the class above f2 = 2, and h = 0.1, so the estimate is 12.5 + 2 / 3 × 0.1 = 12.566667.

    Mistakes that give the wrong mode

    Typing 1,000 for a thousand. In a list, the comma splits it into 1 and 000. The calculator refuses such a list and asks for 1000 instead of quietly counting the wrong numbers.
    Reporting one mode when there are two. Excel's MODE.SNGL returns a single number even for 5, 5, 7, 7, 9. Quoting 5 alone hides the second peak.
    Calling a flat list multimodal. When every value ties, no value is typical. "No mode" describes that list better than a list of every value.
    Hunting for an exact mode in measurements. Weights, times and lengths rarely repeat to the last decimal. Group them with a class width and read the modal class.

    Things people ask about the mode

    Can a data set have more than one mode?
    Yes. Two tied values make it bimodal and three or more make it multimodal. In 5, 5, 7, 7, 9 both 5 and 7 are modes, and each covers 40.0% of the list.
    Is "no mode" the same as a mode of zero?
    No. A mode of 0 means zero is the most common value, as in -3, -3, 0, 0, 0, 4. "No mode" means nothing repeats more than anything else.
    Why does Excel show a mode when this calculator says there is none?
    MODE.SNGL returns the first value that reaches the top count, even when every value reaches it. For 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 it prints 1. The calculator shows that answer next to its own, so the two can be matched.
    How do I find the mode of words or colors?
    Put one answer per line. For red, blue, red, green, red, blue the mode is red, 3 of 6. Spreadsheet MODE functions only count numbers, so they cannot do this.
    What class width should I use for grouped data?
    Start with a width that gives roughly 5 to 15 classes. Too narrow and every class holds one value; too wide and the peak disappears. The tool refuses widths that would create more than 60 classes.

    Related tools

    Percentile Calculator

    Where a value sits in its list: any percentile or percentile rank, three methods - See calculator

    Coefficient of Variation Calculator

    Spread as a share of the mean, for one data set or two - See calculator

    Median Calculator

    The middle value of a sorted list, odd or even count - See calculator

    Average Calculator

    Arithmetic, weighted, geometric and harmonic means - See calculator

    Interquartile Range Calculator

    Quartiles, the IQR, outlier fences and a box plot - See calculator

    Standard Deviation Calculator

    Spread around the mean, sample and population - See calculator

    Wilcoxon Test Calculator

    Compares two groups by ranks instead of means - See calculator

    Fisher Exact Test Calculator

    Exact p-value for a 2 x 2 table of counts - See calculator

    Similar calculators from this section