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How To Calculate Percentiles

Percentiles tell you the percentage of measurements in a data set that are less than a given measurement. To calculate the percentile of a measurement: 1) Sort the data from lowest to highest, 2) Count the measurements less than the given measurement, 3) Divide that number by the total measurements to get a decimal, then multiply by 100 to get the percentile as a percentage. For example, if 113 of 150 total measurements are less than a score of 87, then 87 is at the 75th percentile.

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124 views

How To Calculate Percentiles

Percentiles tell you the percentage of measurements in a data set that are less than a given measurement. To calculate the percentile of a measurement: 1) Sort the data from lowest to highest, 2) Count the measurements less than the given measurement, 3) Divide that number by the total measurements to get a decimal, then multiply by 100 to get the percentile as a percentage. For example, if 113 of 150 total measurements are less than a score of 87, then 87 is at the 75th percentile.

Uploaded by

rockyexpress123
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Calculate Percentiles

People compile data on income, academic test scores, weight, lifespan, and many
more tings. A particular measurement will tell you something like how much a person
earned or how well he/she did on a test. However, the measurement itself does not
tell you how the person did compared to other people represented in a particular set
of data. Percentiles are values from 0 to 99 that tell you the percentage of
measurements which are less than an individual measurement. If the percentile of a
particular measurement is 75, this means the measurement is higher than 75% of all
the measurements in the set of data.
Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need:

 Data set of measurements (in this guide, we will assume a set of 150
measurements)
 Calculator
 Computer spreadsheet or pencil and paper for sorting the data set

1. Step 1

Sort the data set so measurements are in order from lowest to highest. Normally
this is done by entering the numbers in a computer spread sheet and then
clicking on the sort command. You can do this manually by listing the possible
measurements in order and then making a hash mark beside the appropriate
number for each individual measurement.

2. Step 2

Start to calculate the percentile of an individual measurement (as an example


we’ll assume this is a test score of 87 out of a possible 100) in a data set of 150.
The formula to use is L/N(100) = P where L is the number of measurements less
than 87, N is the total number of measurements in the data set (here 150) and P
is the percentile. Count up the total number of measurements that are less than
87. We’ll assume this total is 113. This gives us L = 113 and N = 150.

3. Step 3

Divide out L/N to get the decimal equivalent. (113/150 = 0.753). Multiply this by
100 (0.753(100) = 75.3).

4. Step 4

Discard the digits to the right of the decimal point. For 75.3 this leaves 75. This is
the percentile of a measurement of 87 in our example and means this
measurement is higher than 75 percent of all the measurements in the data set.

5. Step 5
Calculate the measurement which is at a given percentile. Let’s say you want to
know what the median of the data set is (the number for which 50% of the
measurements are less and 50% are greater). We use the same variables but a
slightly different equation. The formula is P/100(N) = L. In our example, P = 50
and N = 150 so we have 50/100(150) = 75.

6. Step 6

Count the number of measurements starting with the lowest until you get to 75.
The next higher measurement (#76) is at the 50th percentile.

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