Python Median of List – It Can’t Get Easier than This

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PythonStatistics

This short tutorial will teach how to use Python for the median of the list and set and how to use Numpy to find the median of an array – matrix columns and rows.

Python Median of List

In python, you can use the native module statistics and import median to compute the median of a list or set as we show below

import statistics

my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

list_median = statistics.median(my_list)

my_set = {1, 2, 3, 4}

set_median = statistics.median(my_set)

print("The List Median is {}".format(list_median))

print("The Set Median is {}".format(set_median))

Which should print

The List Median is 2.5
The Set Median is 2.5

Numpy Median of Array – Matrix

In case you need to find the median for the columns or rows of a matrix, you can use numpy.

import numpy

# create matrix
my_matrix = [[1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 1, 1, 1]]

# axis=1 will find the median for the rows
matrix_rows_median = numpy.median(my_matrix, axis=1)

# axis=0 will find the median for the columns
matrix_columns_median = numpy.median(my_matrix, axis=0)

print("The Matrix rows Medians are {}".format(matrix_rows_median))
print("The Matrix Columns Medians are {}".format(matrix_columns_median))

which should print

The Matrix rows Medians are [2.5 1. ]
The Matrix Columns Medians are [1.  1.5 2.  2.5]

More Resources

Here are three of my favorite Python Books in case you want to learn more about it.

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