Percentile rank calculator
Paste a list of scores and enter the value you want to place. The calculator counts how many values are below and equal to it and gives its percentile rank, the share of the data it beats, in the four ways it is commonly defined.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Paste the data: test scores, times, prices, any numbers.
- Enter the value you want to rank. It does not have to be in the list.
- Read the percentile rank and, below it, the other definitions and the counts they come from.
With B values below the score, E equal to it and N in total:
- Percentile rank = (B + E ÷ 2) ÷ N × 100 (ties counted as half);
- strictly below = B ÷ N × 100;
- at or below = (B + E) ÷ N × 100;
- interpolated = position of the value in the sorted list, counted from 0, ÷ (N − 1) × 100; between two values the position is interpolated. This is how spreadsheets’ PERCENTRANK.INC works, and it is not defined outside the smallest and largest value.
Worked example
Data: 55, 62, 68, 70, 70, 74, 81, 85, 90, 95 (N = 10). Rank the score 70:
- 3 values are below it (55, 62, 68) and 2 are equal;
- percentile rank (3 + 2 ÷ 2) ÷ 10 = 40 %;
- strictly below 3 ÷ 10 = 30 %, at or below 5 ÷ 10 = 50 %;
- interpolated: 70 first appears at position 3, 3 ÷ 9 = 33.33 %.
Tips
- Small data sets jump in big steps: with 10 values each one moves the rank by 10 %.
- Say which definition you use when you report a percentile rank, especially when there are many ties.
- To place a score on a normal curve from a mean and standard deviation instead of raw data, use the percentile calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How is percentile rank calculated?
PR = (B + E ÷ 2) ÷ N × 100, where B is the number of values below the score, E the number equal to it and N the number of values. Counting ties as half puts a value in the middle of its own group.
What is the difference between percentile and percentile rank?
A percentile is a value in the data (the 90th percentile is the score 90 % of the data fall below); a percentile rank goes the other way and tells you which percentage a given score sits at.
Why do different tools give different percentile ranks?
They use different definitions. Some count only values strictly below, some include the equal ones, and spreadsheets' PERCENTRANK.INC places the value along the sorted list over N − 1. The calculator shows all four so you can match the one you need.
Can a percentile rank be 100?
With the strict or tie-halving definitions only when nothing is equal or above, which never happens for a value in the data. The inclusive and interpolated versions give 100 % for the largest value.