Can data have no mode?

Yes, when every value appears once. It can also have several when there is a tie, and both are reported here rather than one being chosen arbitrarily.

When is the mode the right average?

For categories, where mean and median make no sense, and for anything where the most common outcome matters more than the typical one.

Math & Statisticsstatistics

Mode Calculator

The mode alongside the mean and median. Comparing all three is the fastest read on whether a distribution is skewed, and the mode is the only one that works on categories.

Also called: most frequent value, mean median mode.

Mode

The mode is 7, appearing 3 times out of 8. The mean is 5.38 and the median is 6. The mean sits below the median, which suggests a long left tail.

How often it appears

Mean

5.38

Median

How many values

Distinct values

What the three averages suggest

The mean sits below the median, which suggests a long left tail.

How this is calculated

Method and background

How this is calculated

The mode is the value that appears most often. A dataset can have two modes or none, which is reported rather than forced into one answer. The reason to show all three averages together is that their relationship describes the shape: in a symmetric distribution they coincide, and when the mean is pulled well above the median a long right tail is doing it.

the mode is the most frequent value, and there can be more than one or none at all

x: Each distinct value

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

a clear single mode

Values: 3, 7, 7, 2, 9, 7, 3, 5

Mode7

Seven appears three times

Open this example

every value once means no mode

Values: 1, 2, 3, 4

Modeno mode, every value appears once

boundary

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

Exact matches. Continuous data usually needs binning before a mode means anything.

What it deliberately does not model

Continuous measurements rarely repeat, so a mode on them is often meaningless.

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Frequently asked questions

Can data have no mode?: Yes, when every value appears once. It can also have several when there is a tie, and both are reported here rather than one being chosen arbitrarily.
When is the mode the right average?: For categories, where mean and median make no sense, and for anything where the most common outcome matters more than the typical one.