About the Percentile Calculator
This percentile calculator works in both directions. Paste a list of numbers and choose a percentile to find the value at that point — the 90th percentile of response times, the 25th percentile of salaries — or enter a score to see what percentile rank it has within the data.
Teachers use it to see where a test score sits in a class, analysts use it for latency and income percentiles, and students use it to check statistics homework. Numbers can be separated by commas, spaces or new lines; anything that is not a number is ignored.
There is more than one accepted way to compute a percentile, and small data sets show the differences clearly. The main result uses linear interpolation (Excel PERCENTILE.INC, NumPy’s default); the exclusive method (PERCENTILE.EXC) and the nearest-rank method are shown too so you can match your textbook or software.
With the default inputs, the value at percentile (inclusive / linear) is 92.7. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the percentile calculator
- 1Paste or type your numbers, separated by commas, spaces or new lines.
- 2Enter the percentile you want (e.g. 90 for the 90th percentile).
- 3Read the value at that percentile using your preferred method.
- 4Enter a score to see its percentile rank within the data.
Formula and method
The data are sorted from smallest to largest. For the inclusive (linear) method, the position i = (p/100)(n − 1) is counted from 0; when i falls between two data points, the value is interpolated between them. The exclusive method uses position p(n + 1) counted from 1, and the nearest-rank method simply takes the value at position ⌈p × n / 100⌉ with no interpolation.
The percentile rank of a score counts the values below it (B) plus half of the values equal to it (E) and divides by the number of values n. Some sources count only values strictly below, which is shown separately.
- p
- Percentile, 0–100
- n
- Number of data values
- x₍k₎
- The k-th smallest value (0-indexed for the inclusive method)
- B, E
- Count of values below and equal to the score
Worked examples
90th percentile of 12 test scores
Sorted, the scores run 64 … 95. The inclusive position is 0.9 × 11 = 9.9, so the value is 90 + 0.9 × (93 − 90) = 92.7. The exclusive method uses 0.9 × 13 = 11.7, giving 94.4, and nearest rank picks the 11th value, 93.
Percentile rank of a score of 85
Seven of the twelve scores are below 85 and one equals it, so the rank is (7 + 0.5) ÷ 12 = 62.5%. Counting only lower scores gives 7 ÷ 12 = 58.3%.
Textbook example: 40th percentile of 15, 20, 35, 40, 50
The inclusive position is 0.4 × 4 = 1.6, so the value is 20 + 0.6 × 15 = 29. The exclusive position 0.4 × 6 = 2.4 gives 26, and nearest rank (⌈2⌉ = 2nd value) gives 20.
Frequently asked questions
What does 90th percentile mean?+
It is the value below which about 90% of the observations fall. If your score is at the 90th percentile, you did better than roughly 90% of the group — it does not mean you scored 90%.
Why do different calculators give different percentiles?+
There are at least nine published methods that differ in how they position and interpolate between data points. On large data sets they converge, but on small sets they can differ noticeably, so this tool shows the three most common.
What is the difference between PERCENTILE.INC and PERCENTILE.EXC in Excel?+
PERCENTILE.INC includes the minimum and maximum as the 0th and 100th percentiles and uses position p(n − 1) + 1. PERCENTILE.EXC excludes them, uses position p(n + 1) and returns an error for percentiles too close to 0 or 100.
How is percentile rank different from percentage?+
A percentage is your score out of the maximum possible, while a percentile rank tells you what share of other people scored lower than you. A 70% test score could be the 95th percentile on a hard exam.
Are quartiles percentiles?+
Yes. The first quartile is the 25th percentile, the median is the 50th and the third quartile is the 75th. The table above lists these for your data.