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In this article, you will learn how to use the AVERAGEIF function in Google Sheets. The AVERAGEIF function is beneficial when you need to compute the average of values under a condition. To calculate the average of values depending on multiple criteria, you need to use the AVERAGEIFS formula instead.
The general syntax is as follows:
Criteria_range: This is the range in which the formula searches for the criterion. The formula counts the number of items that meet the specified standard in the range (for the denominator)
Criterion: This is a condition that an item incorporated in the average needs to meet. This value could be text, date, number, etc.
Average_range: This is the range containing the values (for numerator) based on which the formula calculates the average number. You can input a range you include as “criteria_range” in the “average_range”.
As mentioned at the beginning, this function is proper when you want to compute the average figure within a condition. With this function, you don’t need to calculate a total figure for a numerator and the number of items for a denominator separately to find an average number. Assume you are a finance manager and need to get three average numbers with the following separate standards from a data set of companies.
(i) The average number of employees of companies established on or after 1/1/2015
(ii) The average number of employees of companies in the "East" country
(iii) The average revenue of companies that have less than 1000 employees
For each case, we will show two AVERAGEIF functions, one with a condition by cell reference and the other with a criterion by manual input.
(i) The average number of employees of companies established on or after 1/1/2015
The formula in the screenshot above incorporates the following arguments.
Criteria_range: $C$3:$C$17
Criterion: D20 (cell reference) or “>=1/1/2015” (manual input)
Average_range: $E$3:$E$17
Note: When you want to input a criterion manually in the formula and use a date criterion together with marks such as “=”, “<” or “>”, do not forget to enclose them with quotation marks entirely, as shown above.
The formula finds companies that meet the date requirement (highlighted in red in the picture) and then computes their average employee number.
(ii) The average number of employees of companies in the "East" country
The formula in the picture above includes the following arguments.
Criteria_range: $D$3:$D$17
Criterion: D24 (cell reference) or “East” (manual input)
Average_range: $E$3:$E$17
Note: Do not forget to surround “East” with quotation marks when manually inputting the criterion.
In this example, compared to the first example, although “average_rage” has not changed as we still calculate the average number of employees, “criteria_range” has moved to Column D from C due to the change in the condition.
(iii) The average revenue of companies that have less than 1,000 employees
The function in the screenshot above contains the following arguments.
Criteria_range: $E$3:$E$17
Criterion: D28 (cell reference) or “<1000” (manual input)
Average_range: $F$3:$F$17
In this third example, all arguments are different from one for the first example because we calculate the average revenue instead of the number of employees. Also, the criteria have changed to the number of employees from a date (in the first sample).
The difference between AVERAGE and AVERAGEIF functions is that the AVERAGE function simply calculates the average of values in a specified range, whereas the AVERAGEIF function allows you to compute the average of values in a particular field that meets a specific criterion.
The AVERAGEIFS function can contain multiple criteria, while the AVERAGEIF can include one standard. Thus, the AVERAGEIFS formula is beneficial when you need to compute the average of values under more than one criterion. Check this article to learn the AVERAGEIFS function.
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If you don’t get the solution you are looking for in this article, or you have further questions related to mathematics or statistics, you may find the answers in the following articles.
Go to the following articles to learn basic formulas in Google Sheets.
How to Do Math in Google Sheets for Beginners
ADD Function in Google Sheets: Explained
MINUS Function in Google Sheets: Explained
DIVIDE Function in Google Sheets: Explained
MULTIPLY Function in Google Sheets: Explained
PRODUCT Function in Google Sheets: Explained
How to Use SUM Function in Google Sheets
How to Use SUMPRODUCT Formula in Google Sheets
How to Use MAX Function in Google Sheets
How to Use MIN Function in Google Sheets
How to Use MEDIAN Function in Google Sheets
How to Use AVERAGE Formula in Google Sheets
How to Use MODE Function in Google Sheets
MOD Function in Google Sheets: Explained
Navigate to the pages below to learn how to sum, count, or average numbers with a condition or multiple conditions.
How to Use SUMIF Function in Google Sheets - sum up the numbers that meet a criterion
SUMIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - sum up the numbers that meet multiple criteria
How to Use COUNTIF Function in Google Sheets - count the number of cells that meet a requirement
How to Use COUNTIFS function in Google Sheets - count the number of cells that meet multiple requirements
AVERAGEIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - average the figures that meet multiple standards
AVERAGE.WEIGHTED Function in Google Sheets: Explained - use this formula to calculate the weighted average
MAXIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - seek for the maximum value that meets specific criteria
MINIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - seek for the minimum value that meets specific criteria
Visit the following post if you are interested in learning how to count the number of specific cells.
COUNT Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of cells containing numeric values (except for blank ones)
COUNTA Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of cells incorporating all types of values containing text and date, except for blank ones
COUNTBLANK Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of blank cells
COUNTUNIQUE Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of unique cells
You can learn about other Google Sheets formulas and tips that are not mentioned here on this page: LiveFlow‘s How to Guides
Learn how to do this step-by-step in the video below 👇
