How to Calculate the Upper Quartile

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Reviewed by Grace Imson, MA

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Fact Checked

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Data Set Prep

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Calculating the Upper Quartile

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Using Excel

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Q&A

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Quartiles are numbers used to divide a set of data into four equal parts, or quarters.^{[1]
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Research source} The upper quartile, or third quartile, is the top 25% of numbers in the data set, or the 75th percentile. The upper quartile is calculated by determining the median number in the upper half of a data set.^{[2]
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Research source} This value can be found by calculating with pen and paper, but you can also easily find the upper quartile using statistical software, such as MS Excel.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Data Set Prep

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1
Arrange the numbers of the data set in ascending order. This means ordering them from the smallest value to the largest value. Make sure to include all repeated values.^{[3]
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Research source}
- For example, if your set of numbers is [3, 4, 5, 11, 3, 12, 21, 10, 8, 7], you would reorder them like this: [3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 21].
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Determine how many numbers are in the data set. To do this, simply count each number in the set. Don’t forget to count each instance of a repeated value.^{[4]
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- For example, the set [3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 21] has 10 numbers.
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The formula is $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(n+1)$ , where $Q_{3}$ is the upper quartile, and $n$ is the number of numbers in the data set.^{[5]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Calculating the Upper Quartile

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$Step 1 Plug the value of n {\displaystyle n} into the formula.$

1
Plug the value of $n$ into the formula. Remember that $n$ $n$ is the number of numbers in the data set.^{[6]
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Research source}
- For example, if there are 10 numbers in your data set, your formula will look like this: $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(10+1)$ .
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Complete the calculation in parentheses. According to the order of operations, you must attend to the parentheses first when evaluating a mathematical expression. In this instance, add 1 to the number of numbers in the data set.
- For example:
  $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(10+1)$
  $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(11)$
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Multiply the sum by ${\frac {3}{4}}$ . You could also multiply by $.75$ $.75$ . This will show you the placement of the value in the data set that is at the three-fourths, or 75 percent mark, and thus the place where the data set is split into the upper quartile and the lower quartiles. This will not give you the number of the upper quartile.^{[7]
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Research source}
- For example:
  $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(11)$
  $Q_{3}=8{\frac {1}{4}}$
  So, the upper quartile is given by the number at the $8{\frac {1}{4}}$ position in the data set.
4
Determine the number representing the upper quartile. If you calculated a whole number, simply find that number in the data set.
- For example, if you calculated 12 using the formula, then the upper quartile is the 12th number in the data set.
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Calculate the upper quartile, if necessary. Usually, you will calculate a fraction or decimal using the formula. In this instance, find the value above and below this position in the data set, and find their mean, or average. To do this, divide the sum of the two values by 2. This will give you the upper quartile of your data set.^{[8]
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Research source}
- For example, if you calculated $8{\frac {1}{4}}$ using the formula, then the upper quartile is between the 8th and 9th number in the data set. In the set [3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 21], 11 and 12 are the 8th and 9th number. Calculate ${\frac {11+12}{2}}$ to find the average:
  ${\frac {11+12}{2}}$
  $={\frac {23}{2}}$
  $=11.5$
  So, the upper quartile of the data set is 11.5

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Using Excel

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1
Input your data into Excel. Enter each value into a separate cell. Don’t forget to include any repeated values. You can enter your data in any cells in the spreadsheet.
- For example, you might enter the data set [3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 21] into cells A1 through A10 in the spreadsheet.
The quartile function is =(QUARTILE(AX:AY, Q)), where AX and AY is the data range, and Q is the quartile.^{[9]
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Research source} Begin typing this function into Excel, then when it pops up in the menu, double-click on it to select.
Select the first cell of the data range, then scroll down or across to select all the cells in the range.
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Enter 3 into the function to denote the upper quartile. Make sure you include a comma after the data range, and two closing parentheses.^{[10]
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Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

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- For example, if you want to find the upper quartile of cells A1 through A10, your function will look like this: =(QUARTILE(A1:A10, 3)).
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Show the upper quartile. To do this, hit enter after typing the function into Excel. This will show you the actual upper quartile, not the position of the quartile in the data set.
- Note that with the release of Office 2010, there are two different quartile functions: QUARTILE.EXC and QUARTILE.INC. These functions cannot be used in earlier versions of Excel, and QUARTILE can still be used.
- The two Excel quartile functions use a different formula to calculate the upper quartile. QUARTILE/QUARTILE.INC uses the formula $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(n-1)$ , and the QUARTILE.EXC function uses the formula $Q_{3}={\frac {3}{4}}(n+1)$ . Both formula are accepted ways to calculate quartiles, although the former is becoming standardized in statistical software.

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How do you find the upper and lower quartiles?

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Use the methods above to find the upper quartile. To find the lower quartile using the formula, use Q1 = 1/4(n+ 1), or enter 1 into the Excel function instead of 3.

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How do I determine the inter quartile range of data?

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The IQR can be calculated by subtracting the lower quartile from the upper.

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How do I calculate the upper quartile for a large group of numbers?

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Same as for a small group of numbers. Or better use script language like Matlab or Python to load the dataset and do the calculations.

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You may sometimes see a reference to the “interquartile range.” This is the range between the lower and upper quartiles, which is calculated by subtracted Quartile 1 from Quartile 3.

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