Median of DataFrame

To find the median of the values over rows or columns in DataFrame in Pandas, call median() method on this DataFrame. median() method returns a Series with the median calculated over specified axis.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to find the median of values along index or columns of a DataFrame using DataFrame.median() method.

Syntax

The syntax of pandas DataFrame.median() method is

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DataFrame.median(axis=None, skipna=None, level=None, numeric_only=None, **kwargs)

where

ParameterValueDescription
axis{index (0), columns (1)}.
default value is 0.		Axis for the function to be applied on.
skipnabool.
default value is True.		Exclude NA/null values when computing the result.
levelint or level name.
default value is None.		If the axis is a MultiIndex (hierarchical), count along a particular level, collapsing into a Series.
numeric_onlybool.
default value is None.		Include only float, int, boolean columns. If None, will attempt to use everything, then use only numeric data. Not implemented for Series.
**kwargsAdditional keyword arguments to be passed to the function.

Return Value

  • Series or
  • DataFrame (if level specified)

Examples

Median of DataFrame for Columns

By default, the median is calculated for columns in a DataFrame.

In the following program, we take a DataFrame two columns containing numerical data, and find the median of columns in this DataFrame.

Example.py

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import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'a': [1, 4, 7], 'b': [3, 4, 2]})
result = df.median()
print(result)

Output

a    4.0
b    3.0
dtype: float64

Median of DataFrame for Rows

To compute the median of DataFrame along rows, pass axis=1 in call to median() method.

Example.py

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import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'a': [1, 4, 7], 'b': [3, 4, 2]})
result = df.median(axis=1)
print(result)

Output

0    2.0
1    4.0
2    4.5
dtype: float64

Do not skip NA while finding Median

By default, NA values like None, np.nan, etc are ignored. But if we would like consider those values as well, pass skipna=False to median() method.

Example.py

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import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'a': [1, None, 7], 'b': [3, 4, 2]})
result = df.median(skipna=False)
print(result)

Output

a    NaN
b    3.0
dtype: float64

If any of the values is NA, then the median would be considered as NaN.

Conclusion

In this Pandas Tutorial, we learned how to find the median of DataFrame along rows or columns using pandas DataFrame.median() method.